Making the final case in the Heisman race
ESPN.com
Dec 12, 2008
Heisman finalists Sam Bradford, Colt McCoy and Tim Tebow
have the impressive numbers. Each produced a Heisman moment this season.
Each elevated his team. Each is a talented quarterback and possesses the
attributes of a Heisman winner. No wonder this figures to be one of the
closest Heisman races in history.
But only one can walk off with the statue Saturday (ESPN,
8 p.m. ET). Should it be Bradford, McCoy or Tebow? Our experts make the
case for each finalist:
Sam Bradford, QB, Oklahoma By Ivan Maisel
Heisman attribute He has the arm. He has the intellect.
He has the numbers. But what separates Sam Bradford from his peers is his
pulse rate, or lack thereof. He is cooler than Vince Chase. It's not that
Bradford has shown the poise in a last-minute rally; Oklahoma hasn't needed
one. It's that nothing rattles him. He slices up defenses with a surgeon's
acumen. Like most patients, defenses can't do anything about it.
Heisman moment The Leap. First of all, it was a mistake.
Bradford should have slid or stepped out of bounds. Instead, he leaped for
the end zone late in the third quarter of the Oklahoma State game, and a
pair of Cowboys knocked him up and out of bounds. Bradford sailed wide of
the mark as if he were a member of, oh, Iceland's Olympic team. But the
athleticism and desire that leap showed captured who Bradford is. It captured
the nation, too.
Why Bradford should win There are two schools of thought
in Heisman voting. Some people like to vote for the player who accumulates
statistics by the shipload. Some people like to vote for the player who
led his team to top of the rankings. With Bradford, one size fits all. He
is on the verge of setting an NCAA FBS record for passing efficiency, and
the Sooners are playing for the crystal football. The redshirt sophomore
is the Heisman Everyman.
Colt McCoy, QB, Texas By Pat Forde
Heisman attribute You've heard endless hosannas to the
leadership ability of defending Heisman winner and current Heisman finalist
Tim Tebow -- and they're all deserved. But Colt McCoy is at least a comparable
alpha male and clutch performer. He has won a school-record 31 games as
a starter, more than even Vince Young, and he has another year of eligibility.
He has led nine second-half comebacks to victory and came within a dropped
interception of a 10th (and a subsequent unbeaten season and BCS Championship
Game spot) against Texas Tech. Among those comebacks: the one against No.
1 Oklahoma and Sam Bradford in Dallas.
Heisman moment In the old Cotton Bowl against Oklahoma,
Oct. 11. Everyone remembers Jordan Shipley's 96-yard kickoff return, right?
It wasn't the turning point most folks made it out to be. What most people
don't remember is that Oklahoma came right back and scored to reclaim an
11-point lead. It was at that point, with the Sooners leading 21-10 in the
second quarter, that McCoy became unstoppable in leading a memorable comeback.
He completed 21 of his last 24 passes that day and contributed several key
scrambles, guiding five scoring drives in a 45-35 victory.
Why McCoy should win McCoy's all-around value to the team
is unquestioned, after leading the Longhorns in rushing (576 yards, more
on the ground than Tebow in one fewer game) and passing (3,445 yards, 32
touchdowns and only seven interceptions). Oh yeah, and he set the NCAA record
for single-season accuracy at 77.6 percent. Lacking a reliable running back,
McCoy had to tote the rock -- and paid dearly for it through the course
of the season, taking hit after hit. Lacking Tebow's size -- he's 210 pounds,
not 240 -- McCoy showed remarkable toughness to withstand the pounding and
keep coming back.
Tim Tebow, QB, Florida By Mark Schlabach
Heisman attribute Tebow is the reigning Heisman Trophy
winner -- he became the first sophomore to win the award last year -- and
is arguably the best college football player in the country. He could become
the second two-time Heisman Trophy winner, joining former Ohio State running
back Archie Griffin, who won the award in 1974 and 1975. Tebow can beat
opponents with his arm and legs. He is fifth in the nation in passer rating
(176.7) with 28 touchdown passes and only two interceptions, and he has
rushed for 564 yards and 12 touchdowns.
Heisman moment After the Gators were stunned by unranked
Ole Miss in The Swamp on Sept. 27, Tebow vowed Florida wouldn't lose again.
"You have never seen any player in the entire country play as hard
as I will play the rest of this season," Tebow said at the time. "And
you'll never see someone push the rest of the team as hard as I will push
everybody the rest of this season, and you'll never see a team play harder
than we will the rest of this season." The junior was spectacular in
the Gators' last nine games, throwing for 22 touchdowns with only two interceptions.
He played his best in Florida's biggest games, throwing for three touchdowns
in a 31-20 win over No. 1 Alabama in Saturday's SEC championship game.
Why Tebow should win Tebow's statistics are overshadowed
by those of more prolific Big 12 passers such as McCoy, Bradford and Texas
Tech's Graham Harrell. But if the award were determined by strength of schedule,
Tebow would be a landslide winner. In 13 games this season, Tebow faced
eight of the country's top-30 defenses. In those eight games, Tebow completed
63 percent of his passes with 18 touchdowns and no interceptions. Nine of
his 12 touchdown runs also came against top-30 defenses. Conversely, Bradford
faced only two of the country's top-30 defenses, and nine that ranked 66th
or worse. McCoy didn't face a defense ranked better than 65th and had his
way with eight defenses ranked 86th or worse.
