The University of Florida's quarterback Tim Tebow is going to win the Heisman Trophy this year because he deserves it and therefore will be one of the three in The Downtown Athletic Club in New York City on Saturday to receive college football's most prestigious award.
He's accounted for 51 touchdowns this season, and, as many of you know by now, he is the first player EVER to have 20 passing and 20 rushing touchdowns in a single season. Note: The Mid-American Conference's own Dan LeFevour has 23 passing and 17 rushing touchdowns this season, and that shouldn't go without mentioning.
The Heisman is given to "the most outstanding" player each season and Tebow, more than anyone else, has defined that, but the person who comes in a very, very close second has gotten little to no Heisman chatter.
That player also plays in the state of Florida. No, he's not a player from Florida State University or the University of Miami, but rather he suits up as a Knight for the University of Central Florida. His name is Kevin Smith.
Who? Oh, he's just the nation's leading rusher this season with an unfathomable 2,448 yards, good for the second most in history, 180 shy of Barry Sanders' record of 2,628, set in 1988.
The only person within 700 yards of Smith is Tulane University's Matt Forte, and he is more than 300 behind.
Smith also leads the nation with 29 rushing touchdowns, six more than second-place Forte, and eight shy of Sanders' record of 37 in 1988.
As some of you are probably thinking, the knock on Smith, the reason he won't be one of the three invited to New York, is because he plays in Conference USA and therefore has played lesser opponents all season.
This argument would normally hold some weight, but not in this case. Central Florida played two top ten teams this season, and, in the game against then No. 6 University of Texas, Smith ran for 149 yards and two touchdowns.
Central Florida won C-USA this season with a 10-3 overall record. En route to the championship Central Florida beat a second-place University of Tulsa team that will be playing in the GMAC Bowl twice.
In those two games, Smith ran for a combined 454 yards and seven touchdowns, further showing that when the pressure was on in the big games Smith was the brightest shining star.
Seven of Central Florida's 11 opponents in Division I-A had records of 7-5 or better, so let's not say Smith is undeserving due to inferior opponents.
Put it this way: Smith has had the second-best season in NCAA history for a running back. In any year that should be good enough for at least an invite to New York, however, it won't be this year if ESPN "experts" have anything to say about it.
In ESPN's Heisman Watch, a poll that ranks the Heisman hopefuls based on 15 "experts" ranking of the top five candidates, that came out Saturday, Smith got a whopping zero votes. Not one "expert" had Smith in their top five, bringing new meaning to the word "expert."
The running back who is a near lock to be in New York on Saturday is the University of Arkansas's Darren McFadden. He stole a spot in New York last season as he had fewer rushing yards, touchdowns, and receiving yards than West Virginia University's Steve Slaton. Like last year, he will steal a slot despite having 723 fewer yards than Smith and barely more than half his 29 touchdowns with 15.
Another reason Smith deserves to go before McFadden is that the person who McFadden splits carries with, Felix Jones, is averaging 9.1 yards per carry or 3.4 more yards than McFadden. In other words McFadden might not even be the best running back on his team.
Oh, and when Jones missed the entire game against Mississippi State University late in the season, McFadden picked up the slack by rushing for 88 yards on 28 carries and no touchdowns.
Tebow and Smith should finish one and two in the Heisman voting, and joining them in New York should be my Heisman pick from last year, the University of Hawaii's Colt Brennan (set the career record for touchdown passes and led Hawaii to the nation's only undefeated season).
Unfortunately the last two won't even get to New York. Inferior talents like McFadden and the University of Missouri's Chase Daniels will be taking their place, keeping the Heisman's tradition of awarding only candidates from BCS schools alive.
Write to Levin at ltblack@bsu.edu
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