Before even reading the answers I absolutely knew that Gary Beban, Gino Toretta and Eric Crouch would predominate the responses. http://www.collegefootballnews.com/2006/TQ/Tuesday_Question.htm
Not too much anti-Domer in those lists is there. Strange, not one thought that Peyton Manning should have gotten the award over Woodsen. And while everyone wants to pick on the all time Raider recieve Tim Brown, no one thought that the Rocket deserved the award over Ty Detmer?
I loved watching Eric Crouch play, he was one of the most exciting option type QB's I've ever seen. I think people take shots at him because he played in an era where if you don't throw the ball for a lot of yards then you aren't a good QB. But in the Neb offense those days that wasn't going to happen. He was great and I think he deserved the Heisman, plus as a college player he was tough as nails. As far as running QB's go besides him I liked Dee Dowis and the Morgan brothers at Air Force, and of course Tony Rice. Terry
Yes Terry but Grossman had a phenomenal season in 2001 with Qb stats that blew Crouch away. The Heisman is a season award not a career award.
:? These lists are all dog doo-doo by people who don't know anything about college football. Not one list even mentioned the generally recognized worst Heisman winner of all-time: Terry Baker of Oregon State. The Rams drafted him #1, then sheepishly announced that they were moving him to running back AFTER THE FIRST PRACTICE! The guy couldn't throw! But it got worse... he couldn't run either and the Rams cut him after never using him for anything. Basically speaking...the guy couldn't play football! I see the Irish haters were out again, mentioning nearly every Notre Dame Heisman winner as undeserving, including College Football Hall of Fame members Johnny Lujak, Paul Hornung, John Huarte and Johnny Latner. What nonsense... Eric Crouch deserved the Heisman too... Rex who? Gary Beban probably didn't deserve it over OJ Simpson, but there weren't many contenders that year and as the general of the "Gutty Little Bruins" he certainly deserved something... Speaking of the GLBs, ND fans can say "hello" to Jim Colletto when he returns to ND as the line coach at his alma mater: UCLA... Archie Griffin didn't deserve either of his Heismans. Those were salutes to Woody who demanded them...sort of like Bobby Bowden's "Lifetime Achievement" National Championship after he lost to #2 Notre Dame... Pat Sullivan, Andre Ware, Ty Detmer and Gino Torretta were all average QBs who piled up a lot of "so-what" yards. Rex Grossman would have been part of their undeserving group if he had won one...
Keep in mind Jo'Co that after the vote Nebraska went on to get crushed 62-36 by Colorado in the Big 12 Championship game and therefore become the most undeserving BCS title contender ever and then the Crouch led offense was absolutely anemic in a big, boring loss to Miami in the Rose Bowl. Look at the huge difference in stats between Grossman and Crouch in this article and you tell me how Crouch won this award over Grossman. http://www.dailytexanonline.com/media/storage/paper410/news/2001/12/07/Sports/Tight.Qb.Race.For.Heisman-505533.shtml?norewrite200608160857&sourcedomain=www.dailytexanonline.com Also, Grossman led UF to the SEC title in 2000 and UF was waylaid by the 9-11 schedule shuffle allowing Tenn's 2 point win in a high scoring game in Dec. to keep UF from it's second straight SEC title and a probable berth in the Rose Bowl instead of Nebraska. Baker is a good one to add but Crouch will be on a list of this nature of every knowledgeable writer or fan in the country.
I just don't think it's all about stats, if it were all about stats then you'd just say OK who lead the Nation in rushing, passing and pass recieving and have the voting restricted to those players. And if you took into account the performance of the Heisman Trophy winner after he won, then that's more fuel for the year the Rocket finished 2nd to Ty Detmer who threw 5 picks in his next start after winning it. And you certainly couldn't compare who they played against competitively. You can always find a reason why a guy shouldn't have won it in most years. Jason White had an incredible regular season but looked terrible in the Nat'l Chmapionship game against LSU his Jr. year after winning it. I still like Crouch as the winner, he was a great college football player, one of the most exciting that I have seen. Terry
Well then we choose to disagree in that I don't feel he was the best college footballer in 2001. The AP agreed with me fyi in that Grossman was AP player of the year in 2001. Also, this was the 4th closest vote in the history of the Heisman so many voters obviously felt Grossman had a better season than Crouch. Look at who Nebraska actually beat in 2001 and it comes down to one game...Oklahoma...in which Crouch won the Heisman. That's b/s in a big way.
I will say that if Grossman had won I wouldn't be complaining that Crouch was robbed. I just happened to really like Crouch and was happy that he won. I will also admit I'm not a fan of the Spread, the Run'n Shoot, the Fun'n Gun, the Spread Option, even the Vince Young Texas style of offense, any offense where the shotgun is the primary formation. I know those offenses put up tremendous yardage and score a lot of points, esp against average or less opponents. I have always preferred an offense like the old Neb offense or the Lou Holtz offense where the QB has to be able to run some option. I actually like the Miami offense where they always seem to be able to come up with a great running game to complement the passing game. I have to admit that Michigan in a lot of years also has a good power running/passing game style. Terry
"Biggest game: Passed for 464 yards and five touchdowns in mid-season win over LSU." LSU went on to win the SEC and pound Big Ten Champ Illinois in the Sugar Bowl.
Quite frankly I always thought that Bob Griese should have won the Heisman over Steve Spurrier. Griese always was a better QB. His son was probably also a better QB than Spurrier.
I agree with Gip re: Spurrier vs. Griese. where's the outrage over that pick??????? This is an agenda-driven issue, fomented by hack writers with a burr up their you-know-wheres, who are trying desperately to distort history to suit their private agendas.
It's pretty rare that there is a Heisman winner who everybody says no doubt that is the guy. Even Reggie Bush, I give him credit he was a great college football player, but if I were starting a College Football team I would take Vince Young over him 10 times out of 10. To me there was no doubt that Vince Young was the best college football player last year, I really didn't even think it was close. Terry
One other thing, I really think the Heisman should be presented after the Bowls are over. Not so much that the last game should be the determining factor, although in close races it probably should be taken into consideration. Maybe some of those guys who we are arguing over would have won or not won. But I really don't like the distraction that the award becomes for the player when he still has games to play and in some cases some very important games. I'd rather that the focus remain on the team and not the player.
I thought about mentioning Spurrier vs. Griese but I didn't because my glasses are tinted. :lol: Archie Griffith may not have been the best pick for Heisman his second year but he was a hell of a college football player. Pete Johnson scored all those TD's because he was THE man in short yardage situations...criticizing Griffith because Johnson had more TD's is like criticizing him because the kicker had more extra points. :roll: (Different pair of glasses but still tinted. :wink: )