HuskerfaninOkieland
Heisman Trophy Winner
To Suh with Love: Colt's edge
Buck Harvey - Buck Harvey
I voted for Colt McCoy, and the decision wasn't easy. It came down to McCoy or Stanford's Toby Gerhart.
For third on my Heisman ballot.
Alabama's Mark Ingram was second, given the weight of the SEC title game. And first went to someone who helped McCoy last Saturday and will help him again in a month.
Nebraska's Ndamukong Suh has the power to influence people, all right.
Suh likely won't win the Heisman, given that he rarely opts for a stiff-arm pose in the end zone. Players such as these aren't Heisman worthy; Suh is only the most disruptive lineman anyone has seen in years.
Such a force can't be, as Heisman instructions direct, the “most outstanding college football player.” Suh will have to settle for being on top of current NFL draft boards.
Still, Suh earned enough votes to be invited to New York for the Heisman presentation. And there he will tower over someone, just as he towered over him in Cowboys Stadium.
“Yeah, we're best friends,” McCoy kidded after the Big 12 title game.
McCoy should see Suh as a friend. Suh chased McCoy on that final pass play, as Suh did all the previous ones, too. And maybe Suh's presence encouraged McCoy to release the football when he did.
If McCoy had taken another step, wouldn't the last second have ticked off the clock?
Suh did something else to McCoy, as well as to Texas, and this plays into everything else going on now. Suh humbled him, and he made sure the Longhorns head to Pasadena feeling as they did the last time.
There are differences. Vince Young didn't win the Heisman in 2005, but it wasn't because he didn't do enough. Reggie Bush had already mesmerized voters.
USC had, too. The Trojans were seen as the Roman army with cheerleaders, playing against history instead of the Longhorns. USC was a touchdown favorite in Vegas and more in most minds.
Texas was merely another 12-0 team coming off a 70-3 conference championship victory.
The Longhorns aren't that today. They've gone from overlooked to underwhelming.
This is just part of their role reversal. A year ago, they had been jobbed by a flawed system; now they represent the system.
Doing enough to get past Suh should mean something. It doesn't. Alabama is a 51/2-point favorite, coming off a rugged beatdown of Tim Tebow, and the theme has already been established.
And if the Longhorns somehow upset the No. 1 team? TCU's Gary Patterson still thinks the Frogs could jump them in the AP poll.
This public mood matters, especially with a month to wait before the game is played. Nick Saban certainly believes that. In trying to control what he calls “clutter,” Saban has downplayed Ingram's Heisman candidacy while questioning whether Alabama should be favored.
“I think you read much too much into one game,” Saban said of Texas' escape against Nebraska. “We played a game like that at Auburn, then came back and played a great game the next week against Florida. It's tough to hit on all cylinders all the time, but the great teams find ways to win.”
He's right. But as logical as Saban is, as often as he tells his players not to believe what they read and hear, nothing gets through the way reality does.
Suh provides that for Texas. And when he's in New York for the Heisman presentation, standing next to McCoy, he will be a 300-pound reminder.
How can the Longhorns take anything for granted now? How can they not feel they have something to prove?
Suh won't have to say anything.
Buck Harvey - Buck Harvey
I voted for Colt McCoy, and the decision wasn't easy. It came down to McCoy or Stanford's Toby Gerhart.
For third on my Heisman ballot.
Alabama's Mark Ingram was second, given the weight of the SEC title game. And first went to someone who helped McCoy last Saturday and will help him again in a month.
Nebraska's Ndamukong Suh has the power to influence people, all right.
Suh likely won't win the Heisman, given that he rarely opts for a stiff-arm pose in the end zone. Players such as these aren't Heisman worthy; Suh is only the most disruptive lineman anyone has seen in years.
Such a force can't be, as Heisman instructions direct, the “most outstanding college football player.” Suh will have to settle for being on top of current NFL draft boards.
Still, Suh earned enough votes to be invited to New York for the Heisman presentation. And there he will tower over someone, just as he towered over him in Cowboys Stadium.
“Yeah, we're best friends,” McCoy kidded after the Big 12 title game.
McCoy should see Suh as a friend. Suh chased McCoy on that final pass play, as Suh did all the previous ones, too. And maybe Suh's presence encouraged McCoy to release the football when he did.
If McCoy had taken another step, wouldn't the last second have ticked off the clock?
Suh did something else to McCoy, as well as to Texas, and this plays into everything else going on now. Suh humbled him, and he made sure the Longhorns head to Pasadena feeling as they did the last time.
There are differences. Vince Young didn't win the Heisman in 2005, but it wasn't because he didn't do enough. Reggie Bush had already mesmerized voters.
USC had, too. The Trojans were seen as the Roman army with cheerleaders, playing against history instead of the Longhorns. USC was a touchdown favorite in Vegas and more in most minds.
Texas was merely another 12-0 team coming off a 70-3 conference championship victory.
The Longhorns aren't that today. They've gone from overlooked to underwhelming.
This is just part of their role reversal. A year ago, they had been jobbed by a flawed system; now they represent the system.
Doing enough to get past Suh should mean something. It doesn't. Alabama is a 51/2-point favorite, coming off a rugged beatdown of Tim Tebow, and the theme has already been established.
And if the Longhorns somehow upset the No. 1 team? TCU's Gary Patterson still thinks the Frogs could jump them in the AP poll.
This public mood matters, especially with a month to wait before the game is played. Nick Saban certainly believes that. In trying to control what he calls “clutter,” Saban has downplayed Ingram's Heisman candidacy while questioning whether Alabama should be favored.
“I think you read much too much into one game,” Saban said of Texas' escape against Nebraska. “We played a game like that at Auburn, then came back and played a great game the next week against Florida. It's tough to hit on all cylinders all the time, but the great teams find ways to win.”
He's right. But as logical as Saban is, as often as he tells his players not to believe what they read and hear, nothing gets through the way reality does.
Suh provides that for Texas. And when he's in New York for the Heisman presentation, standing next to McCoy, he will be a 300-pound reminder.
How can the Longhorns take anything for granted now? How can they not feel they have something to prove?
Suh won't have to say anything.
