It’s a Coronation for Howard : Heisman Trophy: To the surprise of no one, Michigan wide receiver is crowned king of college football.

What with Saturday’s Heisman Trophy presentation reduced to a mere formality--surprise, Michigan’s Desmond Howard won--a nation turned its eyes to subplots. For instance:

--Would the Wolverine wide receiver score more first-place votes than anyone in Heisman history?

--Exactly when did Howard begin memorizing his acceptance speech, October or November?

This was some ceremony. After a brief wait, long enough to parade former Heisman winner O.J. Simpson in front of the television cameras, Howard was summoned to the podium to take possession of his very own stiff-arming statuette. All things considered, the Downtown Athletic Club of New York could have mailed it to him weeks ago.

Howard not only won the award, he outdistanced the competition as if it were some befuddled cornerback assigned to cover him on one of his patented end zone fade routes. In the second-most lopsided Heisman victory ever, Howard earned 640 of the 753 first-place ballots, an impressive 85%. It surpassed the 82% Simpson received in 1968. Howard received 2,077 points, awarded as three points for first, two for second and one for third in the balloting. His 1,574-point margin ranks behind Simpson’s 1,750-point margin over Leroy Keyes of Purdue.

Second-place finisher Casey Weldon, quarterback at Florida State, was a voting afterthought. Weldon (503 points), Brigham Young quarterback Ty Detmer (445), who won the award last season, and Washington defensive tackle Steve Emtman (357)--all of whom attended the ceremony--served only as window dressing. They could have stayed home and spared themselves a trip.

Instead, they witnessed what everyone, including Howard, knew for weeks: that the Michigan star was a Heisman lock.

Howard became the fourth consecutive junior to earn the trophy, joining Detmer, Houston’s Andre Ware and Oklahoma State’s Barry Sanders. Howard is only the second Wolverine player to win the award, an honor now shared with running back Tom Harmon, who won in 1940.

And for those keeping count, Howard is one of five Heisman winners who didn’t play quarterback or running back.

Still to be decided is whether Howard will forgo his senior season and turn pro. Rumors persist that the Canadian Football League’s Calgary franchise is preparing an offer, to say nothing of the money available to Howard if he chooses to join the NFL.

At the moment, Howard said he plans to return to Michigan in 1992 to pursue a graduate degree in sociology. Ware, who won the Heisman in 1989, and Sanders, who won in 1988, made similar pledges to come back, but then changed their minds and joined the NFL.

“It may be a tough decision, but it’s not in my thought process right now,” Howard told a Downtown Athletic Club and national television audience. “The only thing that’s in the forefront of my mind is getting my degree and going out there and playing a tough Washington team in the Rose Bowl.”

No one would welcome him back more than Wolverine Coach Gary Moeller. Moeller watched Howard score 23 touchdowns, second best in the nation. The wide receiver/punt returner averaged 159 all-purpose yards and scored at least two touchdowns in nine of 11 games.

He didn’t begin to attract widespread attention until Michigan’s second game of the season, a 24-14 victory over Notre Dame. The most lasting memory of that game will be Howard, body parallel to the end zone turf, arms outstretched, catching a scoring pass on a fourth-down play late in the fourth quarter.

“After the Notre Dame catch, (winning the Heisman) became a realistic goal,” he said. “But I didn’t think I would win it. With the notoriety and things that (were) coming from the nation from that one catch, I thought I was a viable candidate.”

From there, Howard began to separate himself from the other contenders, including Houston quarterback David Klingler, California running back Russell White, UCLA’s Tommy Maddox, Weldon, Detmer, Emtman and Florida quarterback Shane Matthews, who finished fifth in the balloting. Detmer ended the season strong--he was ranked first in total offense--but it didn’t matter. BYU’s three consecutive losses at the beginning of the season saw to that.

Klingler, who finished second in total offense, was doomed by a bad team and an early and convincing loss to Miami, which exposed the Cougars’ many weaknesses.

Weldon had a chance, but when Florida State lost to Miami Nov. 16 and then to Florida two weeks later, the Seminole star became no factor.

Emtman, who recently won the Outland Trophy and Lombardi Award, was a victim of history. Since 1935, when the Heisman was established, no defensive star has claimed the award.