The 2008 CFN
Heisman Endorsement
The CFN choice for the 2008 Heisman Trophy
-
CFN Heisman
Central
2000-2006 | 1990-1999
| 1980-1989
| 1970-1979
1960-1969
| 1950-1959
| 1940-1949
| 1935-1939
By
Pete Fiutak
There's no
right answer here
between Texas QB Colt McCoy, Oklahoma QB Sam Bradford, and Florida QB
Tim Tebow when it comes down to the 2008 Heisman Trophy.
There but for the grace of a few style points and/or a Blake Gideon drop
and this thing is over. Had Texas held on to beat Texas Tech, it would
be the Longhorns vs. the Gators for the national title, there would be
no controversy, and nothing to talk about. McCoy would've won the
Heisman rather easily, no one would've had a problem with it, and the
BCS Championship pregame talk would've been in full gear in early
November.
It's not fair that McCoy got hosed by the system, but there might be a
sympathy vote or three out there to try to make up for it. Don't be
shocked if some voters picked Oklahoma in their poll, and then eased
their conscience with the make-up call by voting for McCoy to win the
Heisman.
If the award was purely for the Most Valuable Player, it would be hard
to pick against the junior. Quick, name the Texas star tailback. You
can't because McCoy leads the team in rushing. Quick, name the
All-America Texas wide receiver? (Fair enough. If you're reading this,
you immediately came up with Jordan Shipley). McCoy has elevated a
decent receiving corps that could be fantastic over the next few years.
McCoy was the main reason Texas was second in the nation in passing
efficiency completing 78% of his passes for 3,445 yards and 32
touchdowns with just seven interceptions. That's along with his 576
rushing yards and 10 touchdowns.
Talk about guts, McCoy willed his team back into the Texas Tech game
when things weren't going the right way. Lost because of the epic
pitch-and-catch from Graham Harrell to Michael Crabtree was a
Heisman-caliber 11-play, 80-yard drive engineered by McCoy that finished
with a four-yard Vondrell McGee touchdown run for a 33-32 lead with 1:29
to play. That drive, along with the way McCoy picked apart Oklahoma in
the second half of the 45-35 win, would've been the slam-shut closing
argument to give McCoy the Heisman, but in the end, the system ruined
the fun. When splitting hairs in a dead-even three-way race, Bradford
and Tebow are playing for the national title. McCoy isn't. And yes,
that's ridiculously unfair.
But how do you not vote for Bradford? If he's great on January 8th and
Oklahoma wins the national title, get ready for the We Reserved The
Right To Flip-Flop article soon after.
What Bradford is doing with Oklahoma is on the same
we've-never-seen-this-before level as Tebow's epic 2007 season. It's not
like the Sooners were dealing with a WAC schedule down the stretch.
Sometimes numbers do tell the story.
- 311 yards, five touchdowns, one interception, 62-28 win over Nebraska.
- 320 yards, four touchdowns, one rushing touchdown, 66-28 win over
Texas A&M.
- 304 yards, four touchdowns, 65-21 win over Texas Tech.
- 370 yards, four touchdowns, one rushing touchdown, playing hurt and
getting wildly flipped around, 61-41 win over Oklahoma State.
- 384 yards, two touchdowns, one Big 12 championship, 62-21 win over
Missouri.
This is no run 'n' shoot; this is a
get-the-ball-out-of-his-hands-quickly Sooner offense making play after
play after play with Bradford making right read after right read. Okay,
fine, so he gets 14 days to throw thanks to one of the nation's best
offensive lines, and the Sooners would probably be 12-1 by just running
the ball 80 times a game, and they'd probably be going to the national
title with Joey Halze under center. And yeah, Bradford seemed to be in
there a wee bit too long in most games, but that's always how Bob Stoops
has coached, and to Bradford's credit, he keeps getting sharper and
sharper as the spotlight gets hotter and hotter completing 62% of his
throws for 4,464 yards with 48 touchdowns and six interceptions, while
rushing for five scores. How has he gotten better? He has thrown one
interception in the last seven games.
However, it's the one matzo ball hanging out there over the season:
45-35.
Bradford threw for 387 yards and five touchdowns with two interceptions
in the loss to Texas, but if he's getting credit for being the driving
force who made the engine go, then it's on him, at least partially, for
OU getting outscored 25-7 over the final 27 minutes. Colt McCoy led the
way to a valiant, should've-been-enough comeback late in his loss. In
the fourth quarter against the Longhorns, OU went three-and-out,
five-and-out with an incomplete pass on fourth down, and to end the
game, an interception.
Again, it's ridiculously unfair to look for the pimple on the beauty
queen, but someone's got to be left out. For now.
Tebow also has some wrinkles. In the loss to Ole Miss, he's the one who
overshot a wide open Louis Murphy streaking down the middle of the field
for a certain game-winning score. He's the won who missed a wide open
Percy Harvin on the next play for would've been the game-winning score.
He's the one who was stuffed on 4th and 1 to give Ole Miss the ball to
seal the win.
And he's the one who took the blame and became the lightning rod.
You're not supposed to win the Heisman because of an early season
speech, and a grouchy, rambling one, at that. But by calling himself out
for his effort after the Rebel loss, and for being the one who basically
Joe Namath-guaranteed that Florida was going to carve a patch of college
football destruction, with a "God bless" tacked on for good measure, he
became the one who pulled 'em out and put 'em on the proverbial chopping
block. Part media enhanced myth, part reality, Tebow grabbed the
responsibility for the season. If the team wasn't going to dominate, it
was going to be his fault. If the team went on to play for the national
title, that's because, in part, because he demanded it of himself, and
everyone else was going to follow suit.
Unfortunately, all the garbage with the screaming and the getting in his
teammates' faces in what's starting to become a bit too much
where's-the-camera? mugging has taken away from the simple fact that the
guy really did have a phenomenal regular season.
28 touchdown passes. Two interceptions. No interceptions over the final
six games. 10-of-13 completions against Georgia. 10 rushing touchdowns
since the loss to Ole Miss. And, of course, the most punishingly
effective 17-carry, 57-yard day you'll ever see in the phenomenal 31-20
war over Alabama to win the SEC title.
But while he's known for his running and his leadership, however that's
supposed to be defined, it was a five play drive, all passes, that
showed why Tebow is special football player. Up 21-9 late in the first
half in the monsoon at Florida State, and with the Noles getting a
little bit of momentum after a nice drive and a field goal, and hoping
to be down just the 12 points before getting the ball back to start the
second half, Tebow ended the fun with a surgically-carved scoring march
with just over two minutes to play.
13 yards to Brandon James. First down.
Five yards to Riley Cooper.
Eight yards to David Nelson. First down. It's really, really raining.
26 yards to Louis Murphy. First down.
24 yards to Aaron Hernandez. Touchdown. Ball game.
It was the type of drives that maybe a handful of college quarterbacks
would be allowed to make in those conditions, and it was the type of
drive that almost no one could've made happen with such ruthless
efficiency. One slip by a receiver or a misread or a bad throw, and it
could easily be 21-16 going into halftime. Give the line credit for
giving Tebow time and the receivers for making the plays, but Tebow was
the ringleader and he's the one who made it all happen. He made it all
happen all year long with the exception of the one final drive against
Ole Miss.
Tebow knows that the season is kaput if he gets knocked out, but he has
to do what he can to stay out there and still take the beating. With the
backup quarterback situation fluctuating between sketchy and uh-oh time,
Tebow is in the MVP race, as well as the MOP hunt. He got the 0-5 when
his team is down in the second half monkey off his back against Alabama.
He destroyed the can't-win-the-big-one problem by leading the Gators to
wins over nine bowl bound teams, not including Tennessee and Arkansas.
He has been the signature player of the 2008 college football season ...
so far.
Because the Heisman ballots had to be turned in this week and we can't
wait to see what happens this bowl season, for now, Tim Tebow was "the
most outstanding college football player in the United States for 2008."
Of course, the Rose Bowl and the BCS Championship will be played in
2009.