Jeff: Heisman Voters Got It Right

Weeks from now, when Longhorn fans finally stop celebrating a well-earned National Championship, the first thing they should do is send thank you notes to the folks at the Downtown Athletic Club in New York City. Texas QB Vince Young was seated at the famous club, along with last year's winner and last night's adversary, Matt Leinart, and watched Leinart's teammate Reggie Bush walk off with the Heisman trophy. A trophy Young thought HE deserved, and boy did he ever make a convincing argument at the Rose Bowl. In what at times seemed to be single-handedly guiding the #2 Horns past #1 USC in one of the best college football games ever, Young proved he was the best player on the best stage. However, this doesn't mean the Heisman voters got it wrong.

Based on the games played in 2005 BEFORE the bowls, Reggie Bush was the nation's best player, and the one most deserving of the Heisman trophy. I totally agree with the argument that has been made before, and certainly will be many times again after last night, that they shouldn't hand out the Heisman, or any other award, until after the Bowl games. I mean, if bowl game stats count for the regular season, and they're THE most important game, why shouldn't that factor into the Heisman voting? That would be like the NFL naming its Pro Bowl lineups with 2 games left to play...ok, ok bad example, but you know what I mean. If the Heisman was handed out AFTER the bowl games, which it should be, then no question Vince Young is your winner. But because they don't, Reggie Bush was still the deserving recipient. Remember that when people are anointing Vince Young the greatest player in the history of the world and how unfair it was for him to get shafted. If it hadn't happened, who knows how this game turns out? As a matter of fact, let's put a little perspective on the three guys EVERYONE was talking about before the game:

VINCE YOUNG: 30-40, 267 YDS passing, 19 car 200 yds, 3 TD rushing
What a performance. Watching the game at my buddy Luke's house with 9 other guys (on a 52" HDTV-the ONLY way to watch a game), we were all amazed at Young's balance. When he runs he looks like he's jogging (or maybe it's a silent J, like "yogging" I don't know, apparently you just run), and he doesn't have the breath-taking moves that Mike Vick or Bush does, and yet the guy runs for almost 200 yds and at least 3 TD's for his 2nd consecutive Rose Bowl. Just the subtle cut or shake and guys could not tackle him. Plus he threw the ball really well last night too, which has always been the question with him. He's as crazy as he is gifted if he returns for his senior season. After that performance he has nothing left to prove, and nothing more to gain. He'll get better as a passer in an NFL system than he will coming back to the run-heavy Texas system, and after last night, he's a slam-dunk top 5 pick.

However, he's NOT as fast as Mike Vick. I point that out because Vick tore up college football in much the same fashion as Young has done, and yet Vick is rarely able to duplicate that on the next level. VY needs to keep improving as a passer, because running QB's do not win Super Bowls with their legs. Steve Young and John Elway both won Super Bowls by staying in the pocket, and using their feet to buy time. Yes, he's an incredibly gifted young man, and was a man among boys last night, but he's not going to be able to run all day in the NFL. Guys up there are too fast, and even a kid as strong as VY will get hurt running too much. Just ask Daunte Culpepper. He's not as fast as Vick, but he's much further along as a passer as Vick was. Vince should enter the draft, but I'd be shocked if he went ahead of Leinart.

MATT LEINART: 29/40 365 1 TD, 1 INT
People will probably remember the last play where he couldn't get rid of the ball and time ran out, but I put that on the two dumb timeouts his team called (the third was called after Leinart got his bell rung on the 2nd half run, and looked like he couldn't remember if he was in Pasadena or Portland), and his line breaking down. You can't blame Leinart for USC's loss. The game wouldn't have been close without him. In the biggest game of his life he completes 72% of his passes, and was absolutely unconscious in the 2nd half. He is example numero uno, however, on why Vince Young should go pro: Leinart, like VY, was the Golden Boy last year. Now? The same people who put him on the pedestal are the same ones trying to throw him off. Go out on top. The only positive for Leinart getting outplayed by VY is that maybe the Saints will draft Young instead of him. And you know what that means: he either goes to Tennessee and dates a different hot country singer every week, or he goes to New York where he breaks Wilt Chamberlain's scoring record. No, not that one...yeah, THAT one!

REGGIE BUSH: 13 car 82 YDS 1 TD, 6 CTH 95 YDS
Yes, the lateral was dumb, but look at those numbers: that's 177 yds on just 19 touches, an average of 9.3 per touch. He's still every bit the deserving Heisman winner he was all season. Please don't let the Bush haters fool you: nothing about last night should change the perspective on Mr. Bush. We KNEW going into the game he's not going to be a 25 carry-a-game-guy. He should, and will, be the #1 pick to the Texans, and if used correctly in the NFL (like Marshall Faulk) he'll be a star for a long, long time. The guy is a game-breaker and will dramatically change whichever team drafts him. Vince Young was just better last night.

What surprised me last night is that SC didn't use Lendale White more. The man had 20 carries for 124 and 3 TD's (Mr. Wilf, PLEASE DRAFT LENDALE WHITE!!!), and at 235 pounds, was killing anybody who tried to tackle him. Up until last night, the Trojans coaching staff had exploited the easiest matchup; if a team had a good run D, well then Leinart would throw all day. If they were stout up the middle or slow to the edges, like Fresno State, then that meant a big day for Mr. Bush. Coming into the game the Texas D was ranked 33rd against the run, and despite the presence of behemoth DT Rodrique Wright, SC had an obvious advantage going between the tackles. Maybe the fact this was Bush and Leinart's last game was the reason they didn't use White more, but if they had, they might be talking 3-peat instead of what could have been (oh and that Dwayne Jarrett guy's pretty good too, hey? There's your Trojan Heisman candidate for 2006. You know the Detroit Lions are pissed he won't be available in the first round this year).

All in all, that's probably the best college game I've ever seen, and one of the best individual performances by VY. UT fans will be saying a lot of "I told you so's" and deservedly so, but they should also be thanking those same people who doubted the Longhorns, because it gave Young and his boys the Texas-sized chip on their shoulder that helped spur them to victory.