Heisman Suspense: Where’s the Beef?

It was going to be close. That much we realized when ESPN tipped its hand midway through Saturday’s Heisman Trophy Presentation Show, airing a graphic about the closest top-five finish ever--Billy Sims edging Chuck Fusina, Rick Leach, Charles White and Charles Alexander in 1978.

It wasn’t going to be Rex Grossman, because sophomores never win, and because his highlight package, instead of the customary wall-to-wall hosannas, included sound bites of Florida Coach Steve Spurrier dissing the Gators’ candidate after games this season: “Rex struggled tonight.”

It wasn’t going to be Joey Harrington, because his highlight package led off the show, getting the fourth-place finisher out of the way early, and because he really needed this kind of national television exposure before the ballots were completed.

That pared it down to a two-quarterback race, Eric Crouch and Ken Dorsey, and ESPN milked the suspense as long as it could, saving its segment on Crouch until the very end, just before the final commercial break and the official announcement that, yes, the 67th Heisman Trophy would go to Nebraska’s Crouch.

And then it was on to the SEC championship game to see if LSU and Tennessee could wreak more havoc upon the BCS, the Rose Bowl and the 2001 college football title race.

The Heisman Trophy, warmup act for LSU-Tennessee.

That wasn’t what Wendy’s had it mind when it signed on to sponsor ESPN’s annual Heisman hour, buying the bun without the meat.

But there they were:

* Grossman, sidelined in Manhattan because Florida’s trip to Atlanta was canceled a week earlier by Tennessee.

* Dorsey, pining for opening kickoff and a chance to scout the Volunteers, who would emerge as Miami’s Rose Bowl opponent with a victory over LSU.

* Crouch, rooting for an upset by LSU and computer chaos and a back door to the Rose Bowl being cracked open for Big 12 also-ran Nebraska.

* Harrington, marveling once more at his image on the 10-story billboard erected in Manhattan by the University of Oregon publicity department, conclusive proof that when it comes to Heisman Trophy campaigns, bigger isn’t necessarily better.

Crouch won the fourth-closest race in the history of the Heisman with 770 points and 162 first-place votes to Grossman’s 708 points and 137 first-place votes. Dorsey was third with 638 points and 109 first-place ballots and Harrington (364 points, 54 first-place votes) was a distant fourth.

Crouch became the first winner since Syracuse’s Ernie Davis in 1961 to place first in only one of the six geographic voting regions, indicating a couple of things:

a) Every serious candidate in this flawed field was weighted down by some serious baggage.

b) Regional bias is a wonderful thing to behold.

If you hadn’t watched a minute of college football this season, you could have predicted the regional winners with a quick look at the campus addresses of the top five candidates.

The Southwest region went for Nebraska and Crouch.

The Far West took care of Oregon and Harrington.

The South and Mid-Atlantic opted for Florida’s Grossman.

The Midwest lobbed up another name, sixth-place finisher Antwaan Randle El of Indiana.

The Northeast, with no real candidate to call its own, settled on Miami’s Dorsey.

With 1,510 yards passing and 1,115 yards rushing, Crouch had more impressive all-purpose statistics than Grossman, Dorsey and Harrington.

But five of six regions couldn’t overlook one final number: Colorado 62, Nebraska 36.

That loss obliterated Nebraska’s sure ride to the Rose Bowl--and came close to undermining Crouch’s Heisman candidacy. But during this happy hour, devoted mostly to sons saying how much they love their mothers and mothers saying how much they love their sons, that issue wasn’t broached until after Crouch had finished his acceptance speech.

“Were you a little bit afraid it slipped away in Boulder, Colorado, after that game?” host Chris Fowler finally asked Crouch.

“Maybe a little bit,” Crouch answered. “I think initially, right when that game was over with, people wrote me off as not being in contention. But then, after things settled down, I think people realized what had happened in that game and I did everything possible to try and bring our team back to victory.

“Obviously that didn’t happen, but I was just given an opportunity to be here today, and I’m thankful for that.”

Lessons to be learned?

In the Heisman Trophy circus, winning isn’t everything. Dorsey won all 11 games he played and is going to the Rose Bowl, but in this race, he came in third.

Somewhat more surprisingly, money isn’t everything, either. Oregon spent $250,000 on that billboard for Harrington and, in the end, all it meant were 20 more first-place votes than fifth-place David Carr of Fresno State.

As for Spurrier running down the candidate from Florida, that’s nothing new.

“That’s just my style of coaching,” Spurrier told Lee Corso. “If I’m going to yell at the left guard and the right tackle and the linebacker, I’ve got to yell at the quarterback also. He knows that. We’re constantly just trying to push our guys to be the best that they can be.”

That so, Rex?

“He just pushes me to be the best that I can be,” Grossman repeated, “and I appreciate that.”

Finally, captured on national television: Steve Spurrier and his starting quarterback, on the same page.