New York, NY (My Sportsbook) - Southern California quarterback Carson Palmer has been named the winner of the Heisman Trophy, college football's most prestigious individual honor. The award was presented on Saturday evening at the Yale Club in New York City.

The senior QB beat out four other finalists, Miami-Florida quarterback Ken Dorsey, Iowa QB Brad Banks, Miami-Florida running back Willis McGahee and Penn State running back Larry Johnson.

Palmer won five of the six regions and garnered 242 first-place votes. He totaled 1,328 points, 233 more than second-place finisher Banks, who won the Midwest region.

Palmer, who is the first West Coast player to win the coveted award since Trojans' running back Marcus Allen in 1981, led USC to a 10-2 mark and will face Banks and Iowa in the Orange Bowl.

"A lot of people have been talking about the East Coast bias and I think this takes care of that," Palmer said.

Johnson was third with 726 points, McGahee came in fourth with 660, and Dorsey rounded out the voting with 643 points. It was the first time in history that all five finalists received more than 100 first-place votes.

There was no clear cut favorite this year, and many thought it would be the closest Heisman vote since Auburn's Bo Jackson beat Chuck Long of Iowa by 45 points in 1985.

Palmer has thrown for 3,639 yards while completing 288-of-458 passes. He has tossed 32 touchdown passes and was intercepted 10 times. He is averaging 303.2 yards passing per game.

He twice topped the 400-yard mark this season in wins over Oregon and Notre Dame. He threw for 448 yards and five touchdowns against the Ducks, while throwing for 425 yards and four scores against the Fighting Irish.

Palmer is the fifth Heisman winner in Trojan history, joining Allen, Charles White (1979), O.J. Simpson (1968) and Mike Garrett (1965).

Banks, also a senior, came out of nowhere to lead Iowa to an 11-1 record and a berth in the Orange Bowl as a first-year starter, while Johnson became the ninth player in Division I-A history to reach 2,000 rushing yards. Johnson had already claimed the Walter Camp Award and Maxwell Award as the nation's top player.

Banks completed 155-of-258 passes for 2,369 yards and 25 touchdowns. He was intercepted just four times. The Hawkeyes only loss came on September 14 against Iowa State. Two weeks later, Banks threw for 261 yards and four touchdowns and ran for 41 yards as Iowa upended then 12th-ranked Penn State. Banks later threw for 222 yards and three touchdowns when the Hawkeyes knocked off 11th-ranked Michigan in Ann Arbor.

Johnson finished the season with 2,015 yards on 251 carries. He broke the 2,000-yard barrier in the Nittany Lions' 61-7 win over Michigan State, when he rushed for 279 yards on 19 carries. His 8.03 yards per carry average leads the nation and is a new NCAA record, breaking the mark held by Mike Rozier. Johnson also leads the nation averaging 214.6 all-purpose yards per game and his 2,575 all-purpose yards are ninth-best in NCAA history.

Johnson set the school record for rushing yards in a game on three separate occasions this year. The first came when he rushed for 257 yards, on 23 carries, against Northwestern. Two weeks later, Johnson carried the ball 31 times for 279 yards versus Illinois. Then two games later, he ran 28 times for 327 yards and four touchdowns at Indiana. Penn State (9-3) won all three of those games and will square off against Auburn in the Capital One Bowl.

Dorsey and McGahee, who together led the Hurricanes to their second straight national championship game, were the first teammates among the five finalists since 1994, when Penn State's Kerry Collins and Ki-Jana Carter were among the finalists.

McGahee, a third-year sophomore, ranks fourth in the nation, averaging 140.5 yards rushing per game. He carried the ball 262 times for 1,686 yards and 27 touchdowns. The rushing yards and touchdowns are school records. He has also caught 24 passes for 350 yards.

McGahee twice topped the 200-yard mark this season. He ran for 204 yards on 24 carries in the Hurricanes' win at Florida. He later ran 30 times for 205 yards in the Miami's final conference win of the season against Virginia Tech. He also posted 200 or more total yards in victories over Boston College and Rutgers.

Dorsey, a senior and three-year starter, has posted a 38-1 record as a starter for the Hurricanes. He finished third in the voting for the 2001 Heisman Trophy, which was won by Nebraska quarterback Eric Crouch. This season, Dorsey has completed 194-of-350 passes for 3,073 yards. He has thrown 26 touchdown passes and been intercepted 10 times, while leading the Hurricanes to a 12-0 record this year and a berth in the national championship game against Ohio State.

Dorsey posted his best statistics in back-to-back weeks when Miami defeated 16th-ranked Florida State and won at 13th-ranked West Virginia. In those contests, he threw for 362 yards and two touchdowns against the Seminoles and for 422 yards and two more touchdowns versus the Mountaineers.