Palmer’s Leap Should Earn Him More Than a Look From Voters

Carson Palmer rounded the corner and lumbered toward the giant gold “S” and his battered helmet was filled with a single thought.

“Touchdown.”

Across the field, USC Coach Pete Carroll had another thought.

“I was like, ‘Oh no! Get out of bounds!’ ”

A few yards away, guard Eric Torres had the same thought.

“I was terrified he was going to ... “

Then, just like that, he did.

Palmer leaped for the end zone like a giant salmon flopping upstream, throwing his 6-foot-5 body into the air as Ricky Manning Jr. dived at his legs.

He twirled, he somersaulted, he crashed to the ground with a USC ovation thundering in his ears.

It looked like John Elway. It felt like Sam Cunningham. It was coated in bronze.

For a Heisman Trophy candidate whose resume lacked only a single defining moment, this was it.

USC’s 52-21 annihilation of UCLA wasn’t only about a cross-town rivalry, but a cross-country message.

Don’t all you voters out there get it yet?

The hottest team in the country is being led by the best player in the country, period.

Four more touchdown passes with no interceptions, 254 yards. Completed 59% of his passes.

And one large leap that said it all.

“The play was about more than just the leap,” Carroll said. “It was about a culmination of things.”

It was Palmer showing he was willing to grab the biggest game of his career and shake it until it turned cardinal red.

It was Palmer showing that, after a sometimes wobbly five-year marathon, he will finish his college career in a dead sprint.

“It was Carson showing the grit and leadership that has made him the best player in the country,” Carroll said. “I told him it looked like John Elway at the Super Bowl. I also told him it scared me to death.”

Not to mention, it was the former pretty boy showing he could take a punch.

“Surprised?” Manning said, when asked about the hit. “Yeah. I was surprised he got up.”

Not only did Palmer get up, he leaped up with his hands in the air as if he had scored a touchdown.

His 22-yard run actually ended on the one-yard line. The touchdown was actually scored by Justin Fargas on the next play.

But Heisman voters who will watch the video on weekend sports shows might not know that.

And maybe, because the clip is sure to be shown plenty of times, it will encourage them to actually check out the rest of Palmer’s game.

You know, such as how his first pass floated 34 yards into Kareem Kelly’s hands for a touchdown.

Or how he completed his next five passes, culminating in a perfect bomb to Keary Colbert for another touchdown?

In the first quarter, Palmer was seven for eight for 128 yards.

You know Ken Dorsey, the Miami quarterback and Heisman favorite of those who don’t play close attention?

Palmer was as impressive in that first quarter as Dorsey has been in several entire games.

Or how about Brad Banks, the Iowa quarterback and favorite of the Midwestern writers who are also nutty enough to think Ohio State is one of the best teams in the country?

Palmer’s first-quarter yardage was better than Banks’ yardage in his last four quarters combined.

“What more does he have to do?” Carroll asked for the umpteenth time. “This was the biggest game of his career so far, and to come in here and perform like that is incredible.”

Palmer smiled and shrugged and deflected credit like it was a rushing Bruin linebacker.

“Today it was all about our defense,” he said while standing at midfield after the game.

Later, a couple of yards away, he said, “Today, all the credit goes to our offensive line.”

But as he approached the Trojan band in the end zone, waving two fingers in time with the music, it became clear that it was all about him.

“Heis-man, Heis-man,” they had chanted.

“Carson! Carson!” they now screamed.

He walked to the edge of the stands and delivered high-fives as he walked into the Rose Bowl tunnel.

Somebody held up a stuffed bear and he playfully punched it. Somebody else pulled out a jersey, and he carefully autographed it.

“It’s an amazing feeling,” he said. “To come in here and beat them like this. It’s huge. It’s awesome.”

It’s ownership is what it is.

Palmer ends his career dominating the Bruins with a 3-1 record, 1,036 passing yards, 10 touchdown and three interceptions.

If only, on Saturday, he could have leaped one more yard.

“I really thought I had a chance to get into the end zone,” he said. “I wasn’t thinking of getting injured. It was all instinct.”

Is he still that short of convincing Heisman voters?

“I don’t know if this is good enough,” he said, shrugging again.

The Heisman Trophy is not a career award. If it was, well, on Saturday Palmer also became the all-time Pacific 10 Conference leader in passing yards and completions.

But it’s not. It’s about one year, a dozen games, punctuated by that one moment.

Palmer has now offered compelling testimony in all areas.

Closing arguments are next week against Notre Dame.

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Bill Plaschke can be reached at bill.plaschke@latimes.com.

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(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

He’s No. 1

Carson Palmer, with 254 yards against UCLA on Saturday, became the Pac-10’s career passing leader :

*--* QUARTERBACK SCHOOL, YEARS PC PA PCT INT YARDS TDS 1. Carson USC, 1998-2002 874 1,492 586 47 11,090 67 Palmer 2. Steve Stanford, 1991-94 866 1,380 628 38 10,911 74 Stenstrom 3. Cade UCLA, 1995-98 694 1,250 552 41 10,708 68 McNown 4. Jonathan Oregon State, 638 1,261 506 29 9,680 55 Smith 1998-2001 5. Erik Oregon State, 1985-88 870 1,480 588 61 9,393 52 Wilhelm 6. John Stanford, 1979-82 774 1,246 621 39 9,349 77 Elway 7. Jake Arizona State, 632 1,142 553 35 8,664 65 Plummer 1993-96 8. Rob USC, 1991-94 676 1,046 646 28 8,472 58 Johnson 9. Jason Washington State, 579 1,060 546 35 8,344 67 Gesser 1999-2002 10. Bill Oregon, 1987-90 634 1,104 574 40 8,343 60 Musgrave

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*--* PALMER VS. UCLA 1998 2000 2001 2002 Total Result L, 17-34 W, 38-35 W, 27-0 W, 52-21 3-1 PC 28 26 14 19 87 PA 43 37 23 32 135 Pct 651 703 609 594 644 Int 2 0 1 0 3 Yards 252 350 180 254 1,036 TD 1 4 1 4 10

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*--* PALMER SEASON BY SEASON 1998 2000 2001 2002 USC Record 8-5 5-7 6-6 9-2 PC 130 228 221 256 PA 235 415 377 412 Pct 553 549 586 621 Int 6 18 12 8 Yards 1,755 2,914 2,717 3,214 TD 7 16 13 28

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*Totals include Palmer’s three games in 1999 before he suffered a broken collarbone that sidelined him for the season, receiving a medical redshirt.