By ANDREW GROSS
The (Westchester, N.Y.) Journal News

Carson Palmer smiles with the Heisman Trophy at a press conference. (AP photo) | ZOOM |

NEW YORK - This Heisman Trophy race, presumed all along to be too close to call, turned out to be a landslide.

Southern California senior quarterback Carson Palmer tallied the most first-, second- and third-place votes to become the first West Coast player to win the award for college football's most outstanding player since the Trojans' Marcus Allen in 1981.

Palmer received 242 first-place votes and 1,328 points to easily beat out Iowa senior quarterback Brad Banks, who had 199 first-place votes and 1,095 points.

"I was shocked," said Palmer, who threw for 425 yards and four touchdowns in a 44-13 win over Notre Dame on Nov. 30. "I think it was that Notre Dame game. If any one of those guys had been playing that late in the season, they would have won the trophy."

Palmer led the balloting by the 921 electors in five of the six geographic regions. Banks carried the Midwest but his season ended Nov. 16 and 67 percent of the ballots were received after Dec. 7.

Penn State senior tailback Larry Johnson (108 first-place votes, 726 points) was third, followed by Miami sophomore tailback Willis McGahee (101-660) and the Hurricanes' senior quarterback Ken Dorsey (122-643). As expected, the first two teammates to finish in the top five since Penn State's Kerry Collins and Ki-Jana Carter in 1994 damaged each other's candidacy.

"I was very surprised, I thought it was going to be a close race," said McGahee, who would have been the first sophomore to win the award. "That's how everybody was pumping it up."

Palmer is the Pac-10's all-time leading passer but this season marked a dramatic improvement over his first three seasons as a starter when the Trojans were 16-16.

"I wasn't discouraged with my career. I was discouraged with the results," Palmer said. "We weren't playing the right way to beat the people around us."

The Trojans went 10-2 this season against a schedule rated the toughest in the nation. Palmer completed nearly 63 percent of his passes for 3,639 yards and 32 touchdowns.

He also inspired famed gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson to write on ESPN.com, "(Palmer) has a bitchin' arm and a nice habit of lulling a defense to sleep with normal stuff, and then breaking their backs with long weird strikes to the heart. Sudden death: whack! Right down the middle, so fast that it catches you flat-footed, two steps behind and stupid."

Banks led the nation in passing efficiency as he completed 155 of 258 attempts for 2,369 yards and 25 touchdowns with just four interceptions.

He had never started a Division I-A game prior to this season but led the Hawkeyes to an 11-1 finish and their first unbeaten Big Ten season since 1922. Iowa faces Palmer's Trojans in the Orange Bowl.

"I didn't think about me winning the Heisman, I was too concerned about my play on the field," Banks said. "I was shocked by the whole thing."

Johnson rushed for 2,015 yards and 20 touchdowns while setting an NCAA record with 8.0 yards per carry. He became the ninth running back in NCAA Division I-A history to surpass 2,000 yards and four of those won the Heisman, most recently Texas' Ricky Williams in 1998.

"If you add up all my awards, it kind of equals the Heisman," said Johnson, who won the Maxwell and Doak Walker awards and was the Walter Camp player of the year.

Dorsey finished third in last year's balloting behind Nebraska's Eric Crouch. His candidacy was based in part on athletic accomplishments - 3,073 passing yards and 26 touchdowns - and partly on the Hurricanes' overall success.

Top-ranked Miami (12-0) plays No. 2 Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl Jan. 3 hoping to win its second straight BCS title and Dorsey brings a 38-1 record as a starter into that game.

"I think the expectations coming into the season were definitely high," said Dorsey, who acknowledged he wouldn't mind "ripping" some critics but didn't want to set a bad example. "In some people's mind. I didn't meet those expectations by throwing for 5,000 yards and completing 75 percent of my passes."

The last time five players received more than 100 first-place votes was 1956, when Notre Dame's Paul Hornung won the Heisman.

Heisman Winners

2002-Carson Palmer, Southern Cal, QB

2001-Eric Crouch, Nebraska, QB

2000-Chris Weinke, Florida St., QB

1999-Ron Dayne, Wisconsin, RB

1998-Ricky Williams, Texas, RB

1997-Charles Woodson, Michigan, CB

1996-Danny Wuerffel, Florida, QB

1995-Eddie George, Ohio St., TB

1994-Rashaan Salaam, Colorado, RB

1993-Charlie Ward, Florida State, QB

1992-Gino Torretta, Miami, QB

1991-Desmond Howard, Michigan, WR

1990-Ty Detmer, Brigham Young, QB

1989-Andre Ware, Houston, QB

1988-Barry Sanders, Oklahoma State, RB

1987-Tim Brown, Notre Dame, WR

1986-Vinny Testaverde, Miami, QB

1985-Bo Jackson, Auburn, TB

1984-Doug Flutie, Boston College, QB

1983-Mike Rozier, Nebraska, TB

1982-Herschel Walker, Georgia, HB

1981-Marcus Allen, Southern Cal, TB

1980-George Rogers, South Carolina, HB

1979-Charles White, Southern Cal, TB

1978-Billy Sims, Oklahoma, HB

1977-Earl Campbell, Texas, FB

1976-Tony Dorsett, Pittsburgh, HB

1975-Archie Griffin, Ohio State, HB

1974-Archie Griffin, Ohio State, HB

1973-John Cappelletti, Penn State, HB

1972-Johnny Rodgers, Nebraska, FL

1971-Pat Sullivan, Auburn, QB

1970-Jim Plunkett, Stanford, QB

1969-Steve Owens, Oklahoma, HB

1968-O.J. Simpson, Southern Cal, TB

1967-Gary Beban, UCLA, QB

1966-Steve Spurrier, Florida, QB

1965-Mike Garrett, Southern Cal, TB

1964-John Huarte, Notre Dame, QB

1963-Roger Staubach, Navy, QB

1962-Terry Baker, Oregon State, QB

1961-Ernie Davis, Syracuse, HB

1960-Joe Bellino, Navy, HB

1959-Billy Cannon, LSU, HB

1958-Pete Dawkins, Army, HB

1957-John David Crow, Texas A&M, HB

1956-Paul Hornung, Notre Dame, QB

1955-Howard Cassady, Ohio State, HB

1954-Alan Ameche, Wisconsin, FB

1953-John Lattner, Notre Dame, HB

1952-Billy Vessels, Oklahoma, HB

1951-Dick Kazmaier, Princeton, HB

1950-Vic Janowicz, Ohio State, HB

1949-Leon Hart, Notre Dame, E

1948-Doak Walker, SMU, HB

1947-John Lujack, Notre Dame, QB

1946-Glenn Davis, Army, HB

1945-Doc Blanchard, Army, HB

1944-Les Horvath, Ohio State, QB

1943-Angelo Bertelli, Notre Dame, QB

1942-Frank Sinkwich, Georgia, HB

1941-Bruce Smith, Minnesota, HB

1940-Tom Harmon, Michigan, HB

1939-Nile Kinnick, Iowa, HB

1938-Davey O'Brien, Texas Christian, QB

1937-Clint Frank, Yale, HB

1936-Larry Kelley, Yale, E

1935-Jay Berwanger, Chicago, HB