Sports News
Quarter Back’s Heisman Formula to Win
Though he did catch a respectable number of passes — 45 — last season for the Thundering Herd, Marshall wideout Darius Passmore is hardly a viable Heisman Trophy threat in 2008. Instead, Passmore, or at least his surname, serves as a 21st century guidepost. A declaration. A Heismantra, if you will.
Seven of the past eight Heisman Trophy winners have been quarterbacks, and that trend will likely continue this season. Once running backs seemingly owned the bronze bust. From 1972-1983 the award was strictly the domain of running backs, and if Gerard Phalen of Boston College had not been so sure-handed in 1984 — it was he who hauled in Doug Flutie's prayer as time expired at Miami — that streak may have extended longer.
Whereas the 1970s and early '80s were the RB era, a time when iconic coaches such as John Robinson (USC) and Woody Hayes (Ohio State) produced multiple Heismans from the tailback slot — it was Hayes who grumbled, "Three things can happen when you attempt a pass, and two of them are bad" — the 21st century is so far a passer's fancy.
The irony is that the most prolific passers have not been taking home the Heisman this decade — the ones with the highest-ranked team have.
In 1999 Wisconsin running back Ron Dayne won the Heisman. All the Badger back had to do to earn his bust was finish his career in Madison as Division I-A's all-time leading rusher. Dayne gained 6,397 yards in four seasons.
To win the Heisman as a running back, you have to post massive yardage. To do so as a quarterback, you simply have to win.
During that 12-year running backs run (1972-1983), for example, no pretenders won the award. From 1976-1983 all but one of the seven Heisman Trophy winners was also that season's leading rusher in I-A: Tony Dorsett, Earl Campbell, Billy Sims, Charles White, George Rogers, Marcus Allen and Mike Rozier. Memorable figures, those. The exception was Georgia's Herschel Walker who in 1982 had a lower yards-per-game figure than Oklahoma State's Ernest Anderson. Walker, few will argue, was the most devastating rusher college football has ever seen. The only dispute concerning Herschel was why he did not win the award twice.
It was an era in which the Heisman was bestowed on the most prolific rusher in America. And if that back happened to also play for a national championship-caliber team (all but Rogers played in a New Year's Day bowl), well, that was a function of what the most successful programs did offensively at the time. It was a FedEx Ground era in college football.
This decade? Seven of the eight Heismans have gone to quarterbacks. And whereas the yardstick on rushers has always been yardage — six of the top dozen all-time rushing leaders have won the award — the standard for passers is different.
Consider these five names: Chris Weinke, Eric Crouch, Jason White, Matt Leinart and Troy Smith. All five quarterbacks won the Heisman this decade, though none of them are anywhere near the top in all-time or single-season NCAA passing records lists. None of them led the nation in passing the year they won the award. What those five had in common was an appearance in the national championship game the year they visited Manhattan in December.
A sixth quarterback, Carson Palmer of USC, never made it to the national championship game, but at least in NFL scouts' (and Fantasy Leaguers') eyes, he's by far the best Heisman winner of the bunch. The seventh, Florida's Tim Tebow, played in the national championship game the year before he won the trophy.
The oddity is that passers, with apologies to the Houston slingers of the late '80s-early '90s, have never been more prolific than in this decade. Hawaii's Timmy Chang (2000-04) is the sport's all-time passing yardage leader (17,072) while his successor, Colt Brennan, holds the NCAA record for most touchdown passes in a season (58). Neither won the Heisman, and only Brennan was even invited to the ceremony.
Two of the six most prolific passing yardage seasons of all-time were turned in last year. Graham Harrell of Texas Tech tossed for 5,705 yards while Paul Smith of Tulsa passed for 5,065. Neither played finished in the top 10 in Heisman voting, while neither of their schools finished in the Top 20 in the final AP poll. Meanwhile, five QBs who finished ahead of Harrell and Smith in the voting (Brennan, Pat White, Chase Daniel, Matt Ryan and the winner, Tebow) all played for teams that did finish in the Top 20.
Prolific running is a talent, the argument suggests. Prolific passing is a gimmick.
That may be so, but it narrows the field and it also insults the achievements of so many. Harrell's favorite target at Texas Tech last season, Michael Crabtree, caught 134 passes for 1,962 yards and 22 touchdowns. As a redshirt freshman. All three marks are NCAA freshman records. Crabtree was named a first-team All-America and won the Biletnikoff Award, but he, like Harrell and Smith, could not crack the Heisman top 10.
Was it because Crabtree is a freshman? Or because he plays for the Houston Cougars of the 21st century? Likely both.
As for the running backs, one problem they encounter as a class is that some of the most exhilarating runners in the country these days play … quarterback. Is there any player in the nation more exciting to watch in the open field than West Virginia's Pat White, who well could become the second quarterback named White with no NFL future as a passer to win the award this decade? And how many running backs had more rushing TDs than Tim Tebow's 23 last season? The answer is two: Ray Rice of Rutgers (24) and Kevin Smith of Central Florida (29).
Smith is an interesting case, by the way. As a junior he led the nation in rushing (183.4 yards per game, the highest average since LaDainian Tomlinson's 196.2 in 2000) and rushing TDs, but Smith finished no better than eighth in Heisman balloting.
What's a running back to do? First, your team better advance at the very least to a BCS bowl, though the national championship game is probably what's required. Second, you must finish at worst among the top three rushers in the nation. Last year just two BCS bowl teams — Illinois and Ohio State — had running backs among the nation's top dozen, but Rashard Mendenhall of the Illini was eighth in the country in rushing and Chris 'Beanie' Wells of the Buckeyes was 11th. And as for the inestimable "Wow!" factor that a Heisman candidate must elicit, both Big Ten backs were flat-liners.
Which brings us to Reggie Bush. The 2005 Heisman winner is the only non-quarterback to win the award since Dayne did so in '99. Bush rushed for nearly 40 fewer yards per game than that season's rushing leader (DeAngelo Williams of Memphis), but he compensated for it in two ways: 1) by being a sublime all-purpose player, returning punts and kickoffs and catching passes out of the backfield, and 2) by being a Pete Maravich of the gridiron, producing no shortage of "Did-you-see-that?!?" plays.
Is there any running back like that on the '08 horizon? No. West Virginia's White is the only player with the gifts to approach Bush's bedazzling scampers through the secondary.
And, thus, your Heisman finalists could very well be a short list: Though Harrell and Crabtree will continue to shatter aerial marks this year like NASA test pilots out of "The Right Stuff", those achievements will be discounted by voters who nearly gave their hearts to Colt Brennan last season … and then watched the Sugar Bowl in disgust.
It'll likely come down to the quarterbacks who can take their teams to Fort Lauderdale for the BCS Championship Game: perhaps Sam Bradford of Oklahoma or Chase Daniel of Missouri. Tebow, of course, has to be a favorite, while I like West Virginia's White, who has a relatively easy schedule (two toughest games at home), five returning starters from a terrific offensive line, and Dayne-ian Lifetime Achievement Award prospects.
If a running back should claim the trophy? Look to Georgia, a school with the prospects to play for the national title and a sophomore tailback, Knowshon Moreno, who, if not better than Ohio State's Wells, is certainly more exciting to watch. He even has a Heisman-hypeable name: "They call him Moreno. You'd like to see more, no?"
College Football
Return to Sports News.
Bet on sports at i-Sportsbook.com.
SPORTSBOOK
Welcome to I-Sportsbook - a legal, licensed and bonded internet sportsbook serving millions of sports betting enthusiasts around the globe with first-class service, prompt payouts and exclusive bonuses.
Our Sportsbook is the home of the best online sports betting services on the internet. Here you will find live betting lines on all the sports you love, with convenient 24 hour online sports betting. For NFL football betting, NBA basketball betting, college sports betting, and much more, open your FREE online sportsbook account today. Get instant access to numerous betting lines on all your favorite online sports betting events: NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, NCAA, NASCAR, FIFA and more!
I-Sportsbook is an online gambling site with online sports betting and online casino. Bet on sport at our online sportsbook play slots or blackjack.
© 2008 i-Sportsbook.com.
