Manning Heisman Preview?

Tennessee quarterback Peyton Manning, a favorite for the Heisman Trophy, swept three other awards Thursday night.

Manning beat out Michigan defensive back Charles Woodson for the Maxwell Award, which goes to the best all-around player, and also took the Davey O’Brien National Quarterback Award, and the Scholar-Athlete Award.

In the Maxwell balloting, Manning edged Woodson by 55 votes out of a total of 2,500 cast by the Football Writers Assn. Washington State quarterback Ryan Leaf was third. Leaf and Cade McNown of UCLA trailed Manning for the O’Brien award.

Woodson won the Chuck Bednarik Award as the defensive player of the year and the Jim Thorpe Award as the top defensive back.

Ricky Williams of Texas won the Doak Walker Award as the top running back. The Biletnikoff Award for outstanding receiver went to Randy Moss of Marshall.

Aaron Taylor of Nebraska won the Outland Trophy as outstanding interior lineman.

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Michigan Coach Lloyd Carr, whose No. 1 Wolverines are 11-0 and poised to win a national championship, was named as winner of the 1997 Paul “Bear” Bryant Coach of the Year Award. Other finalists were Joe Tiller of Purdue, Jim Donnan of Georgia, Tom Osborne of Nebraska, Joe Paterno of Penn State and Mack Brown of North Carolina. . . . Auburn will sign Coach Terry Bowden to a new, seven-year contract that will include a raise, a source told the Associated Press. The Auburn coach has a 45-12-1 record in five years with the Tigers (9-3). . . . Georgia raised Coach Jim Donnan’s pay almost $300,000 to $650,000 a year and extended his five-year contract by a year to reward him for the Bulldogs’ 9-2 season. Donnan, 14-8 in two seasons at Georgia, decided Sunday to stay in Athens rather than accept what he called “the deal of a lifetime” at North Carolina.