Heisman Talk

I'm sure it's no secret that I think Brady Quinn should be leading the Heisman race right now. If you click on my Heisman Label at the bottom of this post, you'll see a couple of posts that go further with this. But here's a little op-ed from some of the writers at ND Nation about the Troy Smith vs. Brady Quinn choice:

Brady Quinn is having a hell of a year. It's not his fault we started off with Georgia Tech, Penn State and Michigan. Hell, Troy Smith had his worst game of the year against Penn State and Brady Quinn rolled the Lions. If Quinn were on Ohio State, who do you think would start? In their two games against like opponents Quinn has dominated and that's with no running game and a crappy offensive line. Quinn has been sacked 21 times this year. Smith? 8. Ohio State's running game is 15th in the country. I can't count how far down Notre Dame's running is. Defenses? Uh. Let's not go there. Brady Quinn has done it on his own with a constant rush in his face. The Heisman doesn't go to the best team, it goes to the most outstanding player. Any idiot who says that Ohio State winning out locks up the Heisman doesn't understand the award. If Quinn were on OSU, they'd still be undefeated. If Smith were on ND, we might have two more losses.

The key thing here is the point that the Heisman goes to the best player period, not the best player on the best team. Doesn't matter what the record of that team is. Hell, Paul Hornung won the Heisman back in 1956 despite having a 2-8 season.

Sportswriters of today need to rethink their hype machine and actually report facts. Sure, Troy Smith's having a great season. But he hasn't been THE DIFFERENCE in any of those games. Quinn most certainly has.