By Mark Long
The Associated Press

CORAL GABLES, Fla. - The Maxwell Award sat in a corner of Ken Dorsey's house for six months, collecting dust and taking up space next to the cat's litter box. Dorsey didn't even care.

His roommate, Brett Romberg, decided to clean it up and display it prominently in the living room with many of Dorsey's other trophies. Dorsey didn't even help.

A few weeks ago, the cat knocked the Maxwell Award to the ground and snapped it at the base, prompting Romberg to glue it back together. Dorsey didn't even notice.

"He doesn't really pay much attention to the awards and accolades that he gets personally," Romberg said. "I take more pride in his trophies than he does."

All Dorsey cares about is winning football games, something he has done better than any quarterback the last two seasons. His success has top-ranked and defending national champion Miami riding a 34-game winning streak as they return to the national championship game. It also has earned Dorsey a second consecutive trip to New York for the Heisman Trophy presentation.

Dorsey finished third last year and entered this season as a front-runner for the award given annually to the nation's most outstanding player. Although he is the only one remaining from many preseason Heisman lists, Dorsey is not considered the favorite to win Saturday night.

The senior quarterback has been criticized maybe as much as the Bowl Championship Series this season, and having teammate Willis McGahee in the running could prevent either of them from taking home the bronze statue. Nebraska's Johnny Rodgers (1972) and Mike Rozier (1983) are the only players in the last 30 years to win the Heisman Trophy when a teammate also was a finalist.

The criticism bothers Dorsey, but he won't lose any sleep if he doesn't win the Heisman.

"Don't get me wrong, I'd love to win the award," he said. "It would mean so much to me, but if I don't, I'm not going to sit there and cry about it. It's not going to take a win off the board in the end. My biggest thing is winning games."

Dorsey is 38-1 as a starter at Miami, winning every game since a 34-29 loss at Washington in September 2000 - his first start on the road. He has three wins against Florida State and two against Florida. He has victories at Penn State, at Virginia Tech and at Tennessee. He also has a national championship ring and a shot at another when the top-ranked Hurricanes play No. 2 Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl on Jan. 3.

"I think that winning is important, and that's the only thing I've been concerned about since I've been here," he said. "I've never been concerned about individual awards. My focus is strictly on winning football games and not letting down my family or these guys on my team."

Dorsey got a taste of losing at an early age and has hated it ever since. His older brother used to beat him at everything, especially basketball. The two would play all afternoon, then take lamps from inside their home, remove the shades, connect them to long extension cords and place them around the basketball court so they could play long into the night. As hard as Dorsey tried, he never won.

Dorsey wasn't the best at football, either. He played receiver on the "B" squad of his middle school's flag football team and didn't move to quarterback until high school.

"I was always a second thought in a lot of situations," said Dorsey, who grew up in Orinda, Calif., a suburb of Oakland. "I've always felt like I had something to prove. I've always been eager just to play and have success. I love to prove critics wrong."

He has had plenty of opportunity this season, constantly having to answer for his supposed deficiencies: He lacks arm strength, accuracy and mobility. He has average numbers and is surrounded by so much talent that any of the team's cheerleaders could run the offense. And not only is Dorsey far from the best player in the country, he's not even the best player in his own backfield.

"I would love to rip people for being critics," he said. "I'd love to do it, but it's not my place."

Instead, Dorsey defends himself on the field, where he has completed 55 percent of his passes for 3,073 yards and 26 touchdowns this season. He is just 18 yards shy of 10,000 in his career and has thrown 91 touchdowns against 29 interceptions. And he has been sacked about 10 times in 39 starts.

Think it's the system? Think again, the Hurricanes say.

"Without Ken Dorsey, we're not playing for the national championship," coach Larry Coker said emphatically. "Without Willis McGahee, who knows?"

Dorsey won the most valuable player award at the team's banquet Tuesday night. He hasn't decided where it will go. Maybe next to his two Big East offensive player of the year awards. Maybe next to his Rose Bowl MVP trophy or his Sugar Bowl MVP trophy. Maybe next to the glued-together Maxwell Award.

Or maybe next to the Heisman Trophy.

"I don't care if I win or lose it. It doesn't bother me," Dorsey said. "I've been in a situation where somebody thinks I'm going to win it, then the same guy thinks I'm going to come in last. It's not worth even thinking about. All I'm worried about is winning the game."