We live in an age of multitasking, so it figures the Heisman Trophy will be won by a quarterback who can run or a tailback who can pass.
Unless the projections at stiffarmtrophy.com are way off, Florida quarterback Tim Tebow or Arkansas running back Darren McFadden will strike the pose Saturday night in New York.
Tebow became college football’s first 20-20 man, a pioneer who threw 29 touchdown passes and ran for 22 scores.
Only two men in major-college football, Central Florida’s Kevin Smith and Tulane’s Matt Forte, crossed the goal line more often, and neither had to deal consistently with ferocious linebackers from Bowl Championship Series schools.
Tebow even posted the nation’s No. 2 passer rating, behind Oklahoma freshman Sam Bradford. So if you’re a numbers guy, Tebow is your man.
McFadden is the most dazzling player — and his stats were better than last season, when he finished second in the Heisman voting to Ohio State’s Troy Smith.
McFadden boosted his rushing yards per game from 117.6 to 143.8, nearly doubled his receptions from 11 to 21 and added 5 yards to his average kick return.
He tied a Southeastern Conference record with 321 rushing yards against South Carolina, broke an SEC single-season record with 2,172 all-purpose yards and temporarily knocked LSU out of the national title picture with his outrageous performance in a 50-48 triple-overtime thriller.
And did we mention he threw four touchdown passes and took 107 snaps in Arkansas’ “WildHog” formation?
Can the Bears draft him to replace both Rex Grossman and Cedric Benson? Not unless they slide into the No. 1 pick.
But my selection wasn’t Tebow or McFadden.
At times McFadden was the second-best rusher on his own team, giving way to Felix Jones and his 9.1 yards per carry.
Tebow didn’t fare all that well in Florida’s three losses. He threw as many touchdown passes as interceptions — one — against Auburn, completed 12 of 26 passes at LSU and finished with a net of minus-15 yards rushing against Georgia.
I also didn’t cast my top vote for two other worthy quarterbacks: Hawaii’s Colt Brennan and Missouri’s Chase Daniel.
Brennan posted sick passing numbers (4,174 yards, 38 touchdowns) but threw 14 interceptions, including five against Idaho and four against San Jose State. Texas Tech’s Graham Harrell had the same number of picks with more passing yards (5,298) and touchdowns (45).
The fleet-footed Daniel surged to the top of the leaderboard after completing 40 of 49 passes to beat Kansas. But his mediocre performance in the Big 12 title game against Oklahoma (23-for-39, 0 TDs, 1 INT) was his downfall.
My top vote went to Oregon quarterback Dennis Dixon, who played brilliantly in leading the Ducks to an 8-1 start. He toyed with Michigan’s defense in a 39-7 victory, throwing for 292 yards and three touchdowns and scoring on a fake Statue of Liberty play.
Dixon injured his left knee in the fourth quarter of a Nov. 3 victory over Arizona State. At that point, Dixon was a front-runner for the Heisman, having fired 20 touchdown passes, thrown just three interceptions and rushed for eight scores.
Coaches downplayed the injury, and Dixon returned 12 days later at Arizona. With five minutes left in the first quarter, Dixon’s knee buckled. He had torn his ACL.
As it turned out, Dixon risked his future as a football and baseball prospect to help his team. Coach Mike Bellotti acknowledged Dixon knew he had been hurt severely against Arizona State but had asked the Ducks to keep it “quiet.”
Oregon fell apart without Dixon, losing its last three games. If Dixon wasn’t the game’s most outstanding player, he was certainly its most valuable. I’m not sure why more voters didn’t see that.
So my final three: 1) Dixon; 2) McFadden; 3) Tebow.
The finalists
COLT BRENNAN
Hawaii, QB, Senior, 6 feet 3 inches, 196 pounds %% COMP ATT PASS YD PASS TD RUSH TD INT QB RATING
337 472 4,174 38 8 14 166.3
%%
Signature game: Threw for 442 yards and five TDs in comeback victory over Washington that secured team’s berth in BCS bowl game.
CHASE DANIEL
Missouri, QB, Junior, 6-0, 225
%% COMP ATT PASS YD PASS TD RUSH TD INT QB RATING
372 534 4,170 33 4 10 151.9
%%
Signature game: Completed 40 of 49 passes for 361 yards and three scores against Kansas.
DARREN McFADDEN
Arkansas, RB, Junior, 6-2, 205
%% ATTEMPTS RUSHING YARDS TD FUMBLES PASS TD
304 1,725 15 0 4
%%
Signature game: Rushed for 206 yards and three TDs and threw for a score in Razorbacks’ 50-48, triple-OT victory over then-No. 1 LSU.
TIM TEBOW
Florida, QB, Sophomore, 6-3, 235
%% COMP ATT PASS YD PASS TD RUSH TD INT QB RATING
217 317 3,132 29 22 6 177.8
%%
Signature game: Completed 18 of 26 passes for 256 yards and four TDs against Kentucky. Also rushed for 78 yards and one TD.
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tgreenstein@tribune.com
