Return Could Mean Back-to-Back-to-Back

Matt Leinart can’t top this. It can’t get any better for the Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Most Valuable Player of the Orange Bowl, holder at last of the bowl championship series version of the national championship. That’s exactly why he should stay in school.

At this point it’s not about surpassing, it’s about sustaining. I wouldn’t blame him for leaving a year early and seeking a two-comma salary in the NFL, for wanting the challenge of playing against the best in the world.

But he’ll never get a chance to be a part of something this special again, to be in the center of a mini-dynasty like the one Pete Carroll has going. He can be a pro, maybe a good one. He won’t be a star again, though.

Right now he is the upper-case Man.

He threw for an easy 332 yards Tuesday and he could have thrown for so much more if the Trojans weren’t so completely dominant in their 55-19 victory over the second-ranked Oklahoma Sooners.

What we revere in sports is the athlete coming through when it matters most. That’s what Leinart has done every chance he gets. If you thought last year’s three-touchdown passing performance in the Rose Bowl was good, he had that beat by halftime Tuesday night. By the third quarter he had tied a team and Orange Bowl record with five touchdowns. And talk about accuracy: he was so locked in by the third quarter that he hit Steve Smith right in his solitary number 2.

He completed 18 of 35 passes, and many of his incompletions came when he worried only about protecting the lead, so he was content to throw the ball away rather than risk an interception.

He didn’t throw any Tuesday. He’s as valuable for the mistakes he doesn’t make as he is for the plays he does.

“He’s terrific, isn’t he?” offensive coordinator Norm Chow said. “He’s absolutely terrific. He’s sharp as a tack.”

Never hold a college player accountable for what he says about going pro immediately after a big game. So take that under consideration for this Leinart quote: “I still plan on coming back,” he said. “It’s going to take a lot for me to leave.

“It’s something special that we’re a part of, to have a chance to do a third national championship in a row at the Rose Bowl in our backyard and the young guys we have ... I can’t answer right now. It’s going to take a lot for me to leave.”

It could mean a lot of money, the kind that goes to a high first-round draft pick. California quarterback Aaron Rodgers jumped into the pool, and right now he’s the lead quarterback.

As for the rest of the college quarterbacks, Leinart sure left Jason White, his supposed peer, in the dust. Yeah, their passing numbers were similar, but there is no need to have the Leinart-or-White discussion anymore. Not when White keeps coming up small in bowl games. Last year he completed 13 of 37 passes for only 102 yards with two interceptions in Oklahoma’s loss to Louisiana State in the Sugar Bowl.

. Through three quarters Tuesday night, White completed 17 of 28 passes for 119 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions. White padded the numbers in garbage time. He completed 24 of 36 passes for 244 yards with two touchdowns and three interceptions. Leinart had 243 yards by halftime.

Leinart had a hand in all the yardage on USC’s first touchdown, completing five passes for 75 yards, including the 33-yard scoring strike to Dominique Byrd. Byrd made a leaping one-handed grab in the end zone, one of many great assists Leinart had from teammates.

Smith somehow kept the ball off the grass with his fingertips on his first touchdown reception and cradled the ball to his chest with one hand while falling down on his second.

LenDale White, bad ankle and all, established the ground game with his first two carries, gaining 16 yards with a touchdown and a first down, enough to keep the Oklahoma defense honest and give Leinart all the time he needed.

What do all of those players have in common? They all have more eligibility. So does Reggie Bush, who drew oohs and aahs and produced 72 yards from scrimmage on one of his lower-impact games.

So does Dwayne Jarrett, Leinart’s other touchdown recipient Tuesday night.

That’s the talent Leinart can work with next season as the Trojans will try to become the first team in school history to win three consecutive national championships.

History. It’s that simple.

Of course, coming back to school also means studying history, or economics, or some other subject when he could be sitting in the Jacuzzi of his new home in the suburbs of some NFL city.

Even so, Carroll likes to remind his players: “This is the time of their life. These are the best times they’ll ever have. The NFL does not feel like this when you play and you perform.”

Said Bush: “I would love for him to stay. I would love to have Matt back. I would love nothing more. He also has to look out for himself. He has to do what’s best for him.”

He could spend the next few years playing for a directionless franchise, running for his life behind a porous line.

Or he could play for the biggest force in major college sports right now. One reason you have to put trust in his choice: his best asset has always been his decision-making.

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Heisman Factor

Of the 70 Heisman Trophy winners, 45 played in bowl games after they were awarded the trophy and only 22 won. Houston’s Andre Ware is the only recipient to miss a bowl game since 1969. The Cougars were on probation when he won the award in 1989. Matt Leinart is the eighth Heisman Trophy winner to go to a bowl game the same season with a chance to win the national championship. He is the fourth to win. (Year listed is for Heisman victory):

WINNERS

* 2004: USC quarterback Matt Leinart completes 18 of 35 passes for 335 yards and five touchdowns as the Trojans defeat Oklahoma, 55-19, in the Orange Bowl.

* 1997: Michigan cornerback Charles Woodson makes seven tackles and has one interception in a 21-16 victory over Washington State in the Rose Bowl.

* 1996: Florida quarterback Danny Wuerffel completes 18 of 34 passes for 306 yards and three touchdowns, with one interception, in a 52-20 Sugar Bowl win over Florida State.

* 1993: Charlie Ward completes 24 of 43 for 286 yards with no touchdowns and no interceptions in an 18-16 Orange Bowl win over Nebraska.

LOSERS

* 2003: Jason White of Oklahoma completes 13 of 37 for 102 yards and no touchdowns with two interceptions in a 21-14 Sugar Bowl loss to Louisiana State.

* 2001: Nebraska quarterback Eric Crouch completes five of 15 passes for 62 yards with one interception and no touchdowns, and rushes 22 times for 114 yards as the Cornhuskers are routed, 37-14, by Miami in the Rose Bowl.

* 2000: Florida State quarterback Chris Weinke completes 25 of 52 for 276 yards with no touchdowns and two interceptions in a 13-2 Orange Bowl loss to Oklahoma.

* 1992: Miami quarterback Gino Torretta completes 24 of 56 for 278 yards and no touchdowns with three interceptions in a 34-13 Sugar Bowl loss to Alabama.

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J.A. Adande can be reached at j.a.adande@latimes.com. To read previous columns by Adande, go to latimes.com/adande.