Cam Newton kicked off his awards night with a win: he was the recipient of the Walter Camp Award as the nation's best player Thursday night.

Newton is the 44th recipient of the award. He is the third Auburn player to win the award, joining Pat Sullivan (1971) and Bo Jackson (1985).

The award is voted on by the nation's 120 FBS head coach and sports information directors.

Newton beat out Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck and Oregon running back LaMichael James for the award.

Auburn left tackle Lee Ziemba and defensive tackle Nick Fairley were also named first-team Walter Camp All-Americans.