Two for the Trophy : Heisman Race Narrowed to Two Players, One Game

They come from opposite coasts seeking a Heisman Trophy. Heisman Contender East vs. Heisman Contender West.

They play football some 3,000 miles apart, about as far apart as you can get in the United States, and they play for programs even further away from each other in terms of prestige and success.

They met in person once, last May, at a Fiesta Bowl function.

“I liked him,” Gino Torretta said of Marshall Faulk. “He was the youngest out of the bunch, but we had a good time.”

“He made the comment that nobody would beat them and that they would continue to be No. 1,” Marshall Faulk said of Gino Torretta. “It turns out he was right. I had no answer for him--I just had to look at him as if he was crazy.”

Now Torretta and Faulk are the top two contenders for the Heisman Trophy, and they are scheduled to meet again Saturday in San Diego. Miami and San Diego State. It is as if, in this college football television age, Universal Studios somehow got hold of the 1992 football schedule and stuck a ridiculously tidy, pat ending on it.

The only thing missing is a casting call. Dennis Quaid and Wesley Snipes, perhaps? The only problem is this: Faulk sustained a sprained right knee Saturday against Fresno State, has not practiced this week and is listed as questionable for Miami.

Still, the subplots simmer. Even if Faulk doesn’t play, is it right to count him out of the Heisman race for missing one big game after a season’s worth of thrills? Should it hurt him at all? You need to stiff-arm your way through drama like this.

“It’s kind of weird how it came down to these two playing,” said Ramondo Stallings, an SDSU defensive lineman. “It’s kind of cool. Hopefully, he’ll be able to play and those two can go at it.

“I think it will be really good for fans across the country. For those who don’t respect our conference or the defenses we play against, when (Faulk) shows the country how good he is, they’ll shut up.”

Said Miami defensive tackle Mark Caesar: “I would rather he play. I want to see the Heisman showdown like everybody else.

“It would be nice if we shut him down and Gino wins it because then we can say we contributed.”

The quarterback and the running back; the director and the stunt man.

Torretta is California (Pinole Valley) and golf and Lee Corso.

Faulk is New Orleans and basketball and Craig James.

Torretta is “The Enforcer”--he had a bit part, believe it or not, in the Clint Eastwood movie as a child.

Faulk is “Candyman”--he and receiver Darnay Scott saw that movie earlier this fall and couldn’t stop talking about it.

Much like others cannot stop talking about the Heisman race and Saturday’s showdown.

“I hope (Faulk) plays just from a defensive standpoint,” said Miami defensive end Darren Krein. “That’s the competitive nature we have. It’s not fun when you play teams like Temple or Texas Christian because it’s not as much of a challenge. With him in the game, it’s much more competitive.

“We want to see Gino win the Heisman, but as a defense, it’s more of a pride thing.”

SDSU players don’t think there should be any question about the Heisman winner, whether Faulk plays or not.

“First of all, I don’t even think it should be a race,” said SDSU free safety Darrell Lewis. “The only reason they got Torretta in the race is because (the Hurricanes) are undefeated. He doesn’t have the numbers Heisman Trophy winners have. . . . But they were undefeated before he came and they will be undefeated after he leaves.

“Torretta might play Florida State and Penn State, but look at the rest of their schedule. They play Temples and Texas Christians and run numbers up on those schools.

“To me, I feel Marshall Faulk is the bona fide candidate.”

So, too, does Scott.

“He’s a lot better than Torretta is,” Scott said. “Torretta don’t do nothing but throw passes, and half of them are incomplete, anyway.”

Torretta, a fifth-year senior, is a guy who twirls near-perfect games. He has thrown only seven interceptions in 367 passes this season. He has completed 209 of those passes (57%) for 2,750 yards and 18 touchdowns. He holds school career records for yards passing, total offense, attempts and completions, and he is gunning for his second consecutive national championship.

As a starter at Miami, Torretta is 25-1, the loss coming in 1989, when Torretta went 3-1 as a redshirt freshman filling in for Craig Erickson.

“I think he’s a great quarterback,” Faulk said. “He makes very smart decisions. He doesn’t throw the ball in crowds--he’d rather have an incompletion than an interception.”

Faulk, a sophomore, is a guy who pieces together breathtaking runs. He leads the nation in rushing (163 yards per game), having collected 1,691 yards and 15 touchdowns. He holds school career records for rushing and is attempting to become only the fifth player in history to win back-to-back NCAA rushing titles.

“He’s a great running back,” Torretta said. “I haven’t seen any of his games this year, only highlights, but he’s definitely one of the best running backs in the country.”

They played against each other one time, last fall, when top-ranked Miami smoked San Diego State, 39-12. Torretta set a Miami record with 485 yards passing; Faulk rushed for 154 yards, the most against a Miami team since Florida State’s Sammie Smith went for 184 in 1987.

That evening in Miami widens Torretta’s eyes when he thinks about this Saturday.

“If our offensive line gives me the protection I need, with the receivers we have, I look to have a big day (Saturday),” Torretta said.

Faulk? He recalls a Hurricane swarm.

“I just remember one man never made the tackles,” Faulk said. “They never do. Two or three guys will always make their tackles.”

The Miami defense, one of the nation’s best, remembers Faulk well.

“Last year, he left an impression on us and we’d like to say hello again and see what we can do this time around,” said linebacker Michael Barrow. “We’d like to hold him under 100 yards. What we’d like to do is take him out of the game (as a factor) and win the game.”

Added linebacker Darrin Smith: “He’s a tough guy to hit. He’s a strong runner, the kind of back who, when you hit, keeps his legs moving.

“I was impressed, but I was not intimidated in any fashion.”

Miami has had one Heisman winner--quarterback Vinny Testaverde, who won in 1986 by the second-largest margin in the history of the award. SDSU has never had a Heisman Trophy winner--and Miami isn’t eager to help pave the way for the Aztecs’ first.

“We don’t want to embarrass ourselves,” Caesar said. “Two years ago, we gave Ty Detmer the Heisman (Miami lost to Brigham Young that year) and we don’t want to give the Heisman away twice.”

Their coaches realize that they might never again have players with the qualities of Torretta and Faulk. Miami’s Dennis Erickson says Torretta has the strongest arm of any quarterback he has coached. SDSU’s Al Luginbill says Faulk is a once-in-a-decade player.

Torretta entered this season with a string of 100 consecutive passes without an interception. Faulk in 1991 became the only freshman besides Herschel Walker and Tony Dorsett to make the Associated Press All-American team.

But they are each careful not to turn Saturday’s game and its possible consequences into personal, public vendettas.

“I’m not going to take it as an individual game,” Torretta said. “I thank my teammates--they’re the reason we’ve won all these games. . . .

“It feels good just to be mentioned for the award. I don’t like to talk about individual awards--the team put me in this position.”

Said Faulk: “It’s not me vs. Gino because I don’t play defense and he doesn’t play defense. It’s San Diego State vs. Miami. . . .

“Just to have your name mentioned (for the Heisman) is great. The award is so great that it sort of puts a halo over your head. People expect great things from you when you try to go to the next level.”

For now, though, with that sprained knee, Faulk would just like to get through the next practice. Is it fair that Faulk’s Heisman hopes could be damaged if he doesn’t play Saturday? And is it fair that, if he does sit out, he could gain an advantage if Torretta has a lousy day?

“If it’s going to hurt him or help him, I’m going to be there on Saturday and play and do my best,” Torretta said. “That’s all I can concern myself with.”

Said Luginbill: “Everybody favored going into the season, all of the fair-haired boys, fell by the wayside. One guy withstood it. . . .

“Nobody else did that--including Gino Torretta.”

The lines have been drawn.