McFadden and Brennan were among the players who received plenty of preseason Heisman hype, along with Southern California quarterback John David Booty, Louisville quarterback Brian Brohm, Rutgers running back Ray Rice and Michigan running back Mike Hart.

Booty missed time with injuries and never made a serious run. Injuries also held back Hart. Brohm and Rice had big numbers, but their teams slumped.

Midway through the season, Tebow and Oregon quarterback Dennis Dixon started separating themselves from the pack. A knee injury ended Dixon’s season early and probably cost him a trip to New York for the award presentation.

Dixon and the Ducks were No. 2 in the country heading into their 10th game of the season. His left knee buckled early in a loss to Arizona, and without him the Ducks lost their final two games.

Dixon finished the season with 2,136 yards passing and 20 touchdown passes and ran for 583 yards and nine touchdowns.

West Virginia quarterback Pat White was getting lots of Heisman consideration late in the season, when he had four straight 100-yard rushing games and had the Mountaineers a win away from playing for the national title.

But White and West Virginia fell flat in their season finale, losing 13-9 to Pittsburgh. White missed about half the Pitt game with a dislocated thumb on his right (non-throwing hand) and finished the regular season with 1,185 yards rushing and 1,548 yards passing.

Don't miss this on MSNBC.com Pass it on: Sons of infertile men may be next The eight biggest Olympic marketing debacles Reality show judges range from wise to wacko Cosmic Log: Is this your jetpack? Forget your inhibitions: World's sexiest islands

MORE FROM COLLEGE FOOTBALL

College football Section Front

Penn State in BCS picture CFT: Michigan St. players allegedly part of ‘mass assault’   Weis turning focus to finale at Stanford   Kelly says job speculation not a problem CFT: ‘By the Numbers’ — LSU batting .467 Out of Bounds: Easy win for Ole Miss over KKK CFT: Kentucky’s Brooks irate over retirement talk CFT: USC’s leading WR doubtful to play vs. UCLA CFT: FSU’s top lineman probably out vs. Florida CFT: Buyout an obstacle to firing Friedgen? College football Section Front   Add College football headlines to your news reader: