Experience, position, team records ... Various voting philosophies make this year's Heisman winner anyone's guess.
By BRUCE LOWITT
Published December 13, 2003
Logically, the Heisman Trophy will be awarded tonight to Oklahoma quarterback Jason White.
Then again, whoever said logic means all that much when writers and sportscasters vote for the nation's premier college football player?
Which is why hope percolates in the hearts of Mississippi quarterback Eli Manning, Pitt wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald and Michigan running back Chris Perry. All no doubt will become wealthy as professionals and dream of Super Bowls. For now, though, there is the matter of this treasured trophy.
"It puts you in a very, very elite group," Fitzgerald said. "It's something that can't be taken away from you regardless of how your career is after college. You know for that one year, you were the best player in college football."
Since the Heisman Trophy's inception 68 years ago, there have been 40 winning running backs, 22 quarterbacks, three receivers, two ends and a cornerback. The past three winners were quarterbacks: Carson Palmer (Southern Cal), Eric Crouch (Nebraska) and Chris Weinke (FSU).
White was named the Associated Press' top player but was beaten by Manning for the Maxwell Award as the best all-around player. The winner of the Maxwell often wins the Heisman, but the past three Maxwell winners have failed to make it a double. And in 1997 Eli Manning's brother, Peyton, won the Maxwell and was second to Michigan cornerback-receiver Charles Woodson in the Heisman.
"Jason White's No.1," ABC college football analyst Terry Bowden said. "He's the best quarterback in the country in passing efficiency (a complex rating system involving 10 passing statistics).
"The only drawback he might have is that he's almost too perfect. Sometimes voters think to themselves, "We're always giving it to quarterbacks, always giving it to running backs. Why don't we do something different,"' Bowden said. "That's how Fitzgerald gets in the mix."
But being a receiver could damage Fitzgerald's shot at the Heisman, said AP college football writer Josh DuBow, who does not vote. "It's just the nature of the game to not give (the trophy) to a guy who touches the ball seven or eight times a game as opposed to a runner who touches it 30-40 times or a quarterback who gets it almost every play.
"Also, it's easier for a defense to take a receiver out of a game," as Miami did, holding Fitzgerald to three receptions for 26 yards and one touchdown.
And there's this: When did the voters send in their ballots, before or after Oklahoma's meltdown in the Big 12 title game against Kansas State? White threw zero touchdowns and was intercepted twice by the Wildcats.
"I don't vote on postseason games," longtime ESPN TV and radio commentator Beano Cook said. "The Big 12 game doesn't count as far as I'm concerned." He sent in his ballot before it.
On the other hand, "I've always waited until all the games have been played," said Jimmie McDowell, veteran sportswriter and founder of the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame. "I believe in voting after all the regular-season games are played. I include the championship games because, as far as I'm concerned, they're part of the season."
Then again, voter Dave Campbell of the Waco (Texas) Tribune-Herald wondered, "How many people are going to vote emotionally because (White) came back from two knee surgeries?"
What other criteria, and how much of each, do voters use?
The candidate's individual stats or his team's performance? Oklahoma is 12-1, Michigan 10-2, Ole Miss 9-3 and are Nos.3, 4 and 16 in the polls; Pitt is 8-4 and unranked. But Paul Hornung, an exceptional runner, passer, blocker, tackler and place-kicker, took home the Heisman in 1956 despite Notre Dame's 2-8 record; he's the only winner on a losing team.
A candidate's play this season or over his career?
"Two years ago, (Nebraska's) Eric Crouch definitely was a career pick," Bowden said. Crouch passed for 1,510 yards, seven touchdowns and 10 interceptions and rushed for 1,115 yards and 18 touchdowns. Runner-up Rex Grossman of Florida passed for 3,896 yards, 34 touchdowns and 12 interceptions.
"(Miami quarterback) Ken Dorsey had a sensational career, but last year Palmer won it on his stats as a senior," Bowden said. "The vote's a funny, quirky sort of thing."
A quick assessment of other candidates' chances:
Bowden on Perry: "Too little too late."
Bowden on Fitzgerald: "He had a terrible game against Miami. That eliminates him."
Cook on Manning: "If Mississippi could've beaten LSU and won the division title, he'd have had a real shot. Oklahoma wins just about all the time; Ole Miss hasn't won the (SEC) crown since 1963."
Cook on Fitzgerald: "No sophomore has won a Heisman. But they used to say a Catholic could never be elected president and (John) Kennedy won."
