Luck wins Walter Camp award as player of the year

Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck has won the Walter Camp Foundation's award as college football's player of the year.

The award, in its 45th year, is voted on by the nation's 120 Football Bowl Subdivision head coaches and sports information directors.

Luck threw for 3,170 yards and a school-record 35 touchdowns as a senior, leading No. 4 Stanford to an 11-1 record and a bid to play No. 3 Oklahoma State in the Fiesta Bowl.

He beat out Baylor quarterback Robert Griffin III, Houston quarterback Case Keenum, Alabama running back Trent Richardson and LSU defensive back Tyrann Mathieu.

Luck joins former Cardinal quarterback Jim Plunkett as the only Stanford players to win the Walter Camp award.

Luck is 31-6 as a starter at Stanford and holds school career records with 80 touchdowns passing, a 66.4 percent completion percentage and 10,043 yards of total offense. He has a 3.48 grade-point average as an architectural design major.

Luck also was a finalist for the 2010 Walter Camp award, losing out to eventual Heisman Trophy winner Cam Newton.

But the award is not always a bellwether for the Heisman. Since 2000, only five players - Newton, Troy Smith (2006), Reggie Bush (2005), Matt Leinart (2004) and Eric Crouch (2001) - have won both awards in the same season. Bush later had his Heisman stripped from him.

Luck and members of the Walter Camp 2011 All-American team will be honored at the foundation's national awards banquet Jan. 14 at Yale University.