A Heisman Favorite Goes Poof in Off-Season

Danny Wuerffel might end up being the first player to lose the Heisman Trophy in the off-season.

The Florida quarterback left the Downtown Athletic Club last December as the third-leading vote-getter behind winner Eddie George of Ohio State and runner-up Tommie Frazier of Nebraska.

Considering George and Frazier were seniors, you figure Wuerffel returns as the man to beat.

Didn’t happen.

Between December and the start of fall drills, Tennessee quarterback Peyton Manning, a rival quarterback from a rival school, became the hotshot Heisman pick with the presumption it was Manning’s hardware to lose.

Manning finished sixth in last year’s Heisman balloting.

Must have been Manning’s sensational performance in spring practice.

Actually, there were three factors:

1--After the Heisman was awarded, Wuerffel and Florida were trounced by Nebraska in the Fiesta Bowl, 62-24. Manning and Tennessee beat Ohio State, 20-14, in the Citrus.

Downgrading Wuerffel on those grounds is a specious argument: Had the roles been reversed, you don’t think Nebraska would have put a similar hurt on Manning and Tennessee?

2--The national media, infatuated with Manning’s tremendous skills, work habits and relationship to former Mississippi and NFL star Archie Manning, Peyton’s father, picked up on the fact that Peyton was a much hotter summer story.

Wuerffel, in the meantime, got more ink for turning down Playboy’s offer to make him the national scholarship athlete of the year. Wuerffel, a devout Christian, declined for moral reasons.

3--The perpetual tag still looms that Wuerffel is a robot in Coach Steve Spurrier’s sophisticated offense, a mere extension of Spurrier’s mind and arm.

Even Manning isn’t buying that one.

“People get on him for being a product of the system and his throwing motion,” Manning said of Wuerffel. “But the last three years, the Gators are the only ones laughing.”

Florida and its system defeated Tennessee three consecutive times en route to Southeastern Conference titles.

To take back the Heisman he lost in magazine racks in July, Wuerffel needs to substantially outpoint Manning on the road Saturday when No. 4 Florida travels to Knoxville to face No. 2 Tennessee.

Doesn’t matter what Wuerffel has done before.

Last year, in Gainesville, the Gators overcame a 30-14 second-quarter deficit against the Volunteers and scored 48 unanswered points in a 62-37 rout.

Wuerffel competed 29 of 39 passes for 381 yards and six touchdowns.

Manning had a terrific first half (13 of 16, 216 yards, two touchdowns) but was mediocre when it counted (10 of 20 for 110 yards).

The Heisman has never been about selecting the best NFL prospect. If so, Joe Montana, Terry Bradshaw, Phil Simms, Troy Aikman, Steve Young, Dan Marino or John Elway would have won the trophy, and Spurrier, Pat Sullivan, Doug Flutie, Ty Detmer, Desmond Howard, Gino Torretta and Vinny Testaverde would not.

Manning, if he decides to come out after his junior season, will be the No. 1 pick in next April’s NFL draft.

Wuerffel has that mid-to-late-round look, yet will leave Florida as one of college football’s greats. His quarterback rating of 178.9 last season set an NCAA record. His career rating of 161.7 is second to the NCAA record of 162.7 set by Brigham Young’s Detmer. Wuerffel, with 78 touchdown passes, needs 14 more to move ahead of David Klingler into second place all-time. He won’t catch Detmer at 121.

The problem is Wuerffel is not jealous of Manning, is not self-centered, is not a publicity monger, is not a good quote and does not care if he wins the Heisman.

“People don’t believe me when I say it, but that’s not anything I really think about,” Wuerffel said Wednesday. “It’s not something I desire, that I sit around worrying about. If that comes, fine; if not, fine too. We got a lot of other things that honestly are more important around here, and that’s team goals.”

Spoken like a true Heisman runner-up.

FIESTA, II

Strike up the band, Tempe.

“Three Cheers For Victory”?

Maybe not.

The mood might call for “Just a Closer Walk With Thee.”

It can’t be much of a thrill being 2-0, ranked 17th in the country, playing at home and knowing Phoenix has a better chance of freezing over than you do of beating Nebraska.

Arizona State Coach Bruce Snyder, please tell.

“Last year’s team could have been the best college football team I have ever seen,” Snyder said of the Cornhuskers. “And this year they don’t look that much different.”

Last year, Nebraska drop-kicked Arizona State, 77-28, in Lincoln. It was 63-0 at the half.

Snyder, in the fifth year of a five-year plan, has the Sun Devils back in Pacific 10 contention after finishing 6-5 a year ago and dead last (3-8) in 1994.

The Sun Devils have a sensational pass-catch team in quarterback Jake Plummer and receiver Keith Poole and have a puncher’s chance of beating out USC for the conference title.

But Saturday, at Sun Devil Stadium, against Nebraska, Arizona State is playing for respect only.

This cable just in from Pac-10 headquarters: “Not asking for much. Stop. Try to keep it close, for pride’s sake. Stop. Will accept three-touchdown loss or less.”

Incentive? How often do you get a chance to lose a game and move up in the polls?

The guess here is that a seven-point loss boosts No. 17 Arizona State at least three rungs on the AP ladder.

Give Sun Devil players credit for not coming out with false bravado.

“If something was to happen in our favor, it would be monumental,” Plummer, a senior, said. “That would go down in history. I thought about it a little bit over the summer, but since the season started we’ve brushed it away and concentrated on each game one at a time.”

Since Nebraska last thrashed Arizona State, the Cornhuskers also debunked a popular myth they might be vulnerable in night games and on natural grass.

Nebraska answered with a 62-24 victory over Florida on the Sun Devils’ home field in the Fiesta Bowl.

Any more questions?

GO SEE SAL

When I last saw him two years ago, running for touchdowns and cover at Pasadena City College, Saladin McCullough reminded me a lot of Marshall Faulk.

He was a tailback with a gear others didn’t have.

Frankly, though, I doubted he’d ever make it to Division I. A dark cloud hovered over McCullough. He dreamed of playing for USC from Pasadena Muir High, and USC pined for him, until McCullough’s Scholastic Assessment Test was challenged.

After sitting out a year, McCullough enrolled at Pasadena, where he spent one turbulent season--he was suspended one game for fighting--before transferring to El Camino.

He obtained his associate’s degree this summer and talked Oregon Coach Mike Bellotti into giving him a chance.

McCullough didn’t suit up in Eugene until after practices began in August, but worked his way up the depth chart and started last weekend against Colorado State because of injuries to backs Kevin Parker and Jerry Brown.

McCullough gained 101 yards and scored two touchdowns in 20 carries in the Ducks’ 35-28 win.

But an MRI exam performed after the game revealed a partial ligament tear in McCullough’s left knee, putting him out for at least four weeks.

McCullough had scored five touchdowns in three games, averaged 4.6 yards per carry and had returned six kickoffs for 146 yards.

He won’t get the chance to run against USC this year--the schools don’t play--and is probably out for UCLA’s Oct. 5 trip to Eugene.

Will this story ever have a happy ending?

SEVEN COACHES WHO AREN’T SLEEPING WELL

Dan Henning, Boston College. Record: 1-1. Last loss: 45-7, Virginia Tech. Comment: The win is a three-point victory over pitiful Hawaii. This week’s loss: Michigan.

Fred vonAppen, Hawaii. Record: 0-3. Last loss: 66-0, Wyoming. Comment: VonAppen summed up the Wyoming game: “They absolutely fractured us. I’m grateful to [Coach] Joe [Tiller], he might have scored 103 on us, or more.” This week’s loss: Boise State (Well, maybe not).

R.C. Slocum, Texas A&M.; Record: 0-2. Last loss: 29-22, Southwestern Louisiana. Comment: The Aggies (cough) were supposed to challenge for the national title. The skinny in College Station: “There’s not anyone walking around here saying ‘Don’t worry, you’ll be OK next week,’ ” Slocum said. “There’s a bunch of people walking around here worried about it.” Next loss: Sept. 28, Colorado.

Jim Donnan, Georgia. Record: 0-2. Last loss: 23-14, South Carolina. Comment: So far, the first-year coach has done little to erase memories of Ray Goff. Next loss: Texas Tech.

Johnny Majors, Pittsburgh. Record: 1-2. Last loss: 42-35 overtime, Houston. Comment: Discount the win, it came against Kent. Majors on the new college tiebreaker: “It stinks.” Majors on his program: “We’re not on schedule.” This week’s loss: Ohio State.

Ron Dickerson, Temple. Record: 1-2. Last loss: 20-16, Bowling Green. Comment: The Owls let a four-point defeat to Washington State on Sept. 7 go to their heads. Dickerson on the Bowling Green game: “We stunk the joint out. I’m really ticked off at this football team right now.” This week’s loss: Penn State.

Lou Tepper, Illinois. Record: 0-3. Last loss: 41-0, Arizona. Comment: The Illini haven’t scored a touchdown in four games dating to last year; outscored, 116-11, in three losses so far this season. This week’s loss: Akron (Well, let’s hope not).

THIS AND THAT

--Don’t believe the hype: After bathing in national publicity last week with its 11-10 nonconference record, 3-1 record against the Big 12 Conference, the Western Athletic Conference went 2-6 in nonconference games last weekend.

--Hype II: What can you say about Prairie View A&M;? You rub a rabbit’s foot for a team, consult astrologers, light candles, and it thanks you with a 42-12 defeat against Hardin-Simmons, the only non-scholarship opponent on the schedule. That’s 60 consecutive losses for the Panthers. I’m officially off the bandwagon.

--Michigan hasn’t won a national championship since 1948--really--or been to the Rose Bowl since 1993, but the Wolverines, frankly, are tired of being underestimated in the national championship race.

“We’re still the same Michigan, we carry on the tradition of Michigan,” senior linebacker Jarrett Irons said after his team’s 20-13 victory over Colorado. “Just because we haven’t gone to the Rose Bowl the last couple of years, doesn’t mean the program has lost its fire.”

Michigan, which began the season ranked No. 14 in the AP poll, has moved up to No. 8.

--This week’s best fib comes from Florida’s Spurrier, speaking on Saturday’s showdown at Tennessee: “We have not talked about it a whole bunch. I think most of the talk has been from Tennessee fans.”

--Need another reason why Manning will turn pro after this season? He has a 3.51 grade-point average and plans on graduating in May.