A New Bronze Age Out West

Matt Leinart became the second USC quarterback in three years to win the Heisman Trophy when he was awarded college football’s most prestigious award Saturday night in New York.

So much for that “West Coast bias” theory.

“Oh my goodness,” an emotional Leinart said as he leaned into the microphone.

It was a sentiment shared by many -- including Leinart’s mother, Linda, who dabbed back tears, and father Bob, so proud he might have busted his shirt buttons.

Meanwhile, across a continent, Santa Ana Mater Dei High football Coach Bruce Rollinson was so thrilled one of his former players won that he almost flew to New York without a jet.

Watching ESPN’s Heisman telecast from his Orange County home, Rollinson said, “I jumped off the couch” after hearing Leinart’s name announced.

Leinart, a junior, finished first in balloting with 267 first-place votes and 1,325 points. Oklahoma freshman tailback Adrian Peterson finished second with 997 points, followed by Oklahoma senior quarterback Jason White (957), Utah junior quarterback Alex Smith (635) and USC sophomore tailback Reggie Bush (597).

Leinart is the sixth USC player to win the Heisman and he joined Notre Dame quarterback John Huarte (1964) as the second Mater Dei player to win the award.

“It was very emotional for me,” Rollinson said of Leinart’s award. “To know that we coached him, and watched him grow and develop. I’m very proud of my staff, very proud of the high school. I guess we have a little corner of that thing.”

Leinart has led USC to a 12-0 record this year and a berth in the bowl championship series title game Jan. 4 in the Orange Bowl. Leinart has passed for 2,990 yards and 28 touchdowns this season. He is 24-1 as a starter.

Prior to Carson Palmer’s earning the Heisman Trophy in 2002, no player from the Pacific 10 Conference had won the award since USC’s Marcus Allen in 1981.

“Filling in his shoes, I could have never imagined this,” Leinart said of taking over at quarterback for Palmer. “I just wanted to play and try to help my team win. Now, here I am today. It’s a dream come true. I’m still living the dream and, I don’t know, I feel like it’s never going to end.”

It was thought this year’s race was going to be one of the closest ever, yet Leinart ended up winning five of the six Heisman voting regions -- White taking the Southwest.

Leinart likely clinched the Heisman win with his 400-yard, five-touchdown performance against Notre Dame on Nov. 27. Some Heisman prognosticators thought Leinart’s touchdown-less game against UCLA on Dec. 4 might have hurt his chances in the race, but it is likely many voters had already cast their ballots.

Leinart’s victory, in fact, may have mirrored that of last year’s winner, White, who probably cinched the award before his less-than-stellar season-ending game in the Big 12 Conference championship.

Peterson’s second-place finish was the highest for any true freshman. Georgia’s Herschel Walker finished third as a freshman in 1980 and Michael Vick of Virginia Tech was a redshirt freshman when he finished third in 1999.

White, who has passed for 2,961 yards and 33 touchdowns this year, was trying to become the second player to win a second Heisman, but that distinction still belongs to Ohio State’s Archie Griffin (1974 and ‘75).

White told Leinart that winning the Heisman will change his life.

“He’ll realize what I’m talking about in a couple of weeks,” White said.

Leinart’s win was also another triumph for USC offensive coordinator Norm Chow, who has now mentored three Heisman Trophy-winning quarterbacks. The others were Palmer in 2002 and Ty Detmer in 1990, when Chow was an assistant coach at Brigham Young.

Interestingly, Leinart wasn’t really in the Heisman mix this year until a breakout five-touchdown (four passing, one rushing) performance in USC’s sixth game against Arizona State.

His ascent from Palmer’s raw-boned replacement to Saturday night is more remarkable when you consider Leinart had not thrown a pass in a college game until the 2003 opener at Auburn.

His first career toss, by the way, was a touchdown -- five yards to Mike Williams.

Leinart completed 17 of 30 passes for 192 yards in USC’s 23-0 win against Auburn. Rollinson remembers nervously watching Leinart’s debut.

“I knew the potential was there,” Rollinson said. “I saw him do incredible things under pressure.”

Leinart threw 38 touchdown passes as a sophomore, yet was viewed by many as the main benefactor of a tremendous supporting cast.

This year, with Williams gone and USC having to rebuild its offensive line, Leinart got more credit for being a team leader as he battled a season-long bout of tendinitis in his throwing elbow.

Smith and Bush were believed to be the first finalists to have played on the same team in high school -- both were stars at Helix High in the San Diego area.

Helix Coach Donnie Van Hook took a red-eye flight to New York on Friday night to attend the Heisman ceremony. He was expected to take another red-eye flight home to resume preparations for Tuesday’s sectional championship game against Oceanside.

Van Hook said he was reluctant to leave his team but was encouraged by his players to go.

“Alex and Reggie are neat young kids,” Van Hook said Friday before he left for New York. “Reggie is just a meticulous, classy-looking guy. Alex is the boy next door. That’s why we’re going. We’ll never get to see this again.”

Smith, who has led Utah to an 11-0 record and a berth in the Fiesta Bowl, has 28 touchdown passes this season and 10 rushing touchdowns.

Bush, considered by many the most dynamic player in college football, has 2,181 all-purpose yards and 15 touchdowns.

Bush said Leinart, his teammate, deserved the award.

“He’s put in the time and the work ethic,” Bush said. “I see him every day. I look up to him and I idolize that.”

As for his future Heisman fortunes, Bush added, “I’ll be back next year.”

The night, of course, belonged to Leinart, a once-gangly boy -- “I was a fat kid and crosseyed” -- who made it all the way from Mater Dei to Manhattan.

“There’s been a few I’d watch go out the door and said, they could win the Heisman, or they could play on Sunday,” Rollinson said. “But to now have one, well, that’s a whole different story.”

Times Staff Writer Gary Klein contributed to this report.

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Stiff-arming the competition

Matt Leinart became the sixth USC player to win the Heisman Trophy. Other Trojans to win college football’s top individual award: Mike Garrett, 1965; O.J. Simpson, 1968; Charles White, 1979; Marcus Allen, 1981; Carson Palmer, 2002.

A breakdown of this year’s voting:

THE VOTING

Top-five voting for the Heisman Trophy, with first-, second- and third-place votes and total points (voting on 3-2-1 basis):

*--* Player 1st 2nd 3rd Total Matt Leinart USC 267 211 102 1,325 Adrian Peterson Oklahoma 154 180 175 997 Jason White Oklahoma 171 149 146 957 Alex Smith Utah 98 112 117 635 Reggie Bush USC 118 80 83 597

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REGIONAL BREAKDOWN

Matt Leinart won every region except for the Southwest. A regional points breakdown of the finalists:

NORTHEAST

Leinart...242

Peterson...174

White...154

Smith...104

Bush...103

MID-ATLANTIC

Leinart...215

Peterson...162

White...126

Smith...126

Bush...110

SOUTH

Leinart...204

Peterson...155

White...128

Bush...95

Smith...79

SOUTHWEST

White...263

Peterson...197

Leinart...179

Smith...96

Bush...72

MIDWEST

Leinart...253

Peterson...181

White...169

Smith...102

Bush...102

FAR WEST

Leinart...232

Peterson...128

Smith...128

White...117

Bush...115

Source: Associated Press

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Trophy hives

Schools with the most Heisman winners:

*--* Notre Dame (7) Player Pos Year TIM BROWN WR 1987 JOHN HUARTE QB 1964 PAUL HORNUNG QB 1956 JOHN LATTNER HB 1953 LEON HART E 1949 JOHN LUJACK QB 1947 ANGELO BERTELLI QB 1943 USC (6) Player Pos Year MATT LEINART QB 2004 CARSON PALMER QB 2002 MARCUS ALLEN TB 1981 CHARLES WHITE TB 1979 O.J. SIMPSON TB 1968 MIKE GARRETT TB 1965 Ohio State (6) Player Pos Year EDDIE GEORGE TB 1995 ARCHIE GRIFFIN HB 1975 ARCHIE GRIFFIN HB 1974 HOWARD CASSADY HB 1955 VIC JANOWICZ HB 1950 LES HORVATH QB 1944 Oklahoma (4) Player Pos Year JASON WHITE QB 2003 BILLY SIMS HB 1978 STEVE OWENS HB 1969 BILLY VESSELS HB 1952

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NOTE: Three schools are tied with three and nine have two.