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Heisman awarded to Crouch

The Nebraska senior quarterback edges Rex Grossman and Ken Dorsey in a close vote.

©Associated Press
December 9, 2001

NEW YORK -- Eric Crouch must be glad he didn't quit the team.

Three years after briefly leaving when he lost the starting job, the Nebraska quarterback won the Heisman Trophy on Saturday night in one of the closest races in the history of the award.

Crouch capped a sensational career by keeping the Huskers in the national title race.

Crouch beat out Florida sophomore quarterback Rex Grossman by 62 points, the fourth-closest race in the Heisman's 67-year history.

"A long time ago, I never thought I could do something like this. But I always believed in myself," Crouch said. "Deep down inside, you want that trophy, but win or lose, I always want to be the same person -- keeping my character and keeping composed."

The 6-foot-1, 200-pound senior ran for 1,115 yards and 18 touchdowns, passed for 1,510 yards and 7 scores and caught a 63-yard touchdown in a win over Oklahoma. He's one of only three major college quarterbacks to run for 3,000 yards and pass for 4,000.

"I've enjoyed myself greatly," Crouch said. "It's been a great ride."

Miami quarterback Ken Dorsey was third and Oregon quarterback Joey Harrington fourth.

Crouch's winning point total was the smallest since Oregon State's Terry Baker won in 1962.

"I'm going to get another shot at it next year to prove that I'm a pretty good player," Grossman said. "I'm not going to dwell on it like a loss or not playing in the SEC Championship Game."

The Heisman ceremony was held at a midtown hotel, the first time it has been away from the Downtown Athletic Club. The club was damaged in the terrorist attacks.

The closest Heisman vote was Bo Jackson's 45-point victory over Chuck Long in 1985.

With the race wide open the past two weeks, voters were looking for one of the four finalists to produce a breakout game. It did not happen. Nebraska and Florida lost, and Miami and Oregon won close games. In the end, Crouch's season won out despite a loss to Colorado.

"When that game was over, some people may have had doubts," he said. "But I think most people realized what happened. I did everything possible to bring my team back to victory. "

In 1999, after Crouch started five games for the injured Bobby Newcombe, coach Frank Solich went back to Newcombe. Crouch was crushed. He got in his car, drove home and considered leaving the team.

But Solich drove to Omaha, too. The coach convinced him to return. And three games into the season, Newcombe was benched for ineffectiveness and Crouch was calling signals again.

Crouch is 35-6 as a starter and led the nation's top rushing offense with a knack for breaking big runs and hitting key passes. Crouch completed 55.6 percent of his passes, but critics saw more interceptions (10) than touchdown passes (seven).

Even though he had surgery twice on his right throwing shoulder, he has not missed a snap due to injury in his final three seasons.

The 23-year-old Crouch, who has a 2-year-old daughter with his fiancee, Nikki, is the third Heisman winner from Nebraska but the first quarterback. Running back Mike Rozier won in 1983, and wingback Johnny Rodgers in 1972.

Unlike some of the top Nebraska quarterbacks before him, Crouch was the main man in crucial situations. Tommie Frazier, for example, had star I-backs Ahman Green and Lawrence Phillips from 1992-95. And in the early '80s, Turner Gill had Roger Craig, Rozier and All-American receiver Irving Fryar.

This season's Huskers ran for 314.7 yards per game, with I-back Dahrran Diedrick producing a 1,000-yard season. But when a game was on the line, Crouch came through.

"We literally put the ball in his hands to win football games, and he responded," Solich said.

While Grossman put up big numbers, Dorsey's team didn't lose and Harrington led the Ducks to 10 wins, it was Crouch who convinced the voters he had the best Heisman-winning combination.

In a season when there was never a true favorite, the four finalists took turns topping the weekly Heisman polls.

Grossman kept breaking records and topped 300 yards passing in 10 of 11 games. Dorsey was solid but unspectacular, and Harrington pulled out three games in the fourth quarter as the Ducks won the Pac-10 title.

"It's kind of been an up in the air type of thing all year long," Crouch said.

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