QBs lead Heisman hunt again
Arkansas' Darren McFadden was to lead a highly contested race for the Heisman, with West Virginia's Steve Slaton, Rutgers' Ray Rice and Michigan's
Mike Hart in hot pursuit. Boise State's Ian Johnson was the dark horse candidate, and everything was all but set: for only the second time in the last eight years, a running back would win college football's highest honor.
But almost overnight, quarterbacks started overshadowing their backfield counterparts.
Hawaii's Colt Brennan - one of the only quarterbacks given a shot to win the Heisman at the beginning of the year - along with
Boston College's Matt Ryan, West Virginia's Pat White,
Florida's Tim Tebow and
Kentucky's Andre Woodson, began to receive more recognition than McFadden & Co.
The reasons are fairly obvious: BC, Kentucky and Hawaii stayed undefeated while the running backs' schools all lost early in the season. In six of the past seven years, the Heisman has gone to a player on a
BCS Championship Game-bound team. Additionally, Johnson's and Hart's candidacies have been hurt by their respective injuries, Slaton has regressed statistically, and Rice and McFadden, despite having impressive rushing totals, play on mediocre teams.
The "Year of the Running Back" has become just another "Year of the Quarterback." But unlike many previous seasons, the contest is far from over. And while little separates these specialists from one another, Dennis Dixon, Oregon's senior quarterback, has emerged from the pack to become the frontrunner in the race, a position he probably won't relinquish.
Dixon, a former baseball player in the Atlanta Braves farm system, is in his second year as the Ducks' full-time starter. He's smart (Pac-10 All-Academic second-team) and well-built (6-foot-4, 205 pounds). He has a remarkably strong arm and is very fast (4.5 seconds in the 40-yard dash) for an athlete his size. Considered a bit immature earlier in his collegiate career, his leadership skills are now a strong suit.
