Heisman? It’s Anyone’s Guess

Pick a quarterback, any quarterback, then try to figure out why he should win the Heisman Trophy.

In what could be the closest Heisman voting ever, the finalists--Florida’s Rex Grossman, Nebraska’s Eric Crouch, Miami’s Ken Dorsey, and Oregon’s Joey Harrington--failed to distinguish themselves in the stretch run of the season.

Nonetheless, one will have to step front and center today.

“In a perfect world, the Heisman Trophy winner comes from behind and wins the last game with a great play,” Grossman said.

If that was the case, scratch Grossman from the list. His two-point conversion pass fell incomplete against Tennessee and the Gators lost, 34-32.

He’s not alone.

Crouch guided the Cornhuskers to an 11-0 start, but they were drilled by Colorado, 62-36. Crouch has more interceptions (10) than touchdown passes (seven).

Dorsey’s candidacy was blemished by his four interceptions in an 18-7 victory against Boston College.

“I haven’t even done what it takes to actually win it,” Dorsey said.

Harrington completed only 11 of 22 passes for 104 yards and no touchdowns in the season finale against Oregon State.

“It’s weird being considered for an award that I don’t know what it’s awarded for,” Harrington said.

The Downtown Athletic Club of New York, which presents the award, asks voters to select the “Outstanding College Football Player of the United States.” But that guideline has done little to sort out the unpredictability of today’s announcement.

“People think different things about the award, so it’s a very tough call to make,” Harrington said.

The closest finish in the history of the award came in 1985, when Auburn’s Bo Jackson edged Iowa’s Chuck Long by 45 votes. The last three-player race was 1995, when Ohio State’s Eddie George won over Nebraska’s Tommie Frazier and Florida’s Danny Wuerffel.

“You’d like to see them give it to someone good enough to win that [last] game, but obviously we weren’t good enough,” Grossman said.

The Heisman will be presented at a Manhattan hotel and away from the DAC for the first time. The club was damaged in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

A look at the strengths and weaknesses of each of the finalists:

ERIC CROUCH

The pitch: May be the most versatile, and he has a Heisman-defining play. The Huskers wouldn’t have been 11-0 before the Colorado loss without his play. And even in the loss, he led a comeback that came within 12 points late in the third quarter after his team fell 32 points behind in the first half. He ran for 1,115 yards and 18 touchdowns, and passed for 1,510 yards and seven scores. In a 20-10 victory against Oklahoma on Oct. 27, he was on the receiving end of a trick play that resulted in a 63-yard score.

The catch: Not the most accurate passer, even though the Huskers rely on the option. The shocking 26-point loss to Colorado may cost him votes.

KEN DORSEY

The pitch: His team is 11-0 and will play for the national title. His statistics are strong--184 of 318 for 2,652 yards with 23 touchdowns and nine interceptions. Miami’s other Heisman winners--Vinny Testaverde in 1986 and Gino Torretta in 1992--also won the award on undefeated teams playing for the national title.

The catch: Dorsey struggled against Boston College and in a 26-24 victory at Virginia Tech. Against the Hokies, he had several chances to put Miami comfortably ahead but overthrew open receivers. Perhaps the least charismatic of all the contenders.

REX GROSSMAN

The pitch: Amazing numbers. The 6-foot-1, 223-pound Grossman was the nation’s top-rated passer, completing 259 of 395 passes for 3,896 yards, 34 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. He also played courageously in the loss against the Volunteers, taking hit after hit but completing 33 of 51 for 362 yards, with two touchdowns passing and one rushing.

The catch: No sophomore has won the Heisman, and critics say he’s a product of Spurrier’s system that virtually guarantees big numbers. Plus, Florida lost its last game and finished 9-2.

JOEY HARRINGTON

The pitch: He guided three fourth-quarter comebacks in guiding the Ducks (10-1) to the outright Pacific 10 Conference title and the best regular-season record in school history. Received preseason Heisman hype when school boosters paid $250,000 for a 10-story-tall poster of quarterback on the side of a building in New York. Backed by two 1,000-yard rushers. he still threw for 2,414 yards, with 23 touchdowns and five interceptions.

The catch: Hardly any national TV exposure, and an inadvertent interception that led to the Ducks’ only loss, 49-42 to Stanford. He also struggled mightily in his last game against Oregon State.