Leinart? Frickin' Matt Leinart?

I was fully prepared for neither of OU's guys to win the Heisman this week. Peterson, after all, is a freshman, and a freshman has never won a Heisman (although his second place finish did make him the highest finishing freshman ever). When he didn't even when the Doak Walker award (for best college running back), I could see that this was one of those last bastions of tradition that the good ol' boy network that still controls most of the awards voting was not willing to abandon just yet. (I'm also wondering, if, however subconciously, some of the voters were thinking how great Maurice Clarett looked the year he was a Heisman finalist -- and he hasn't played organized football since that season.) And even though they are supposed to vote on this year's games alone, I know lots of the media voters were pissed when White won last year despite his team tanking the last two games. (If anyone wants to check my blogs from last year, I did not think Jason deserved the Heisman last year -- he was more deserving this year, but if the voters are going to punish him for their own mistake, whatever.)

But Matt Leinart? Look, he seems like a nice kid and all, but once again the Heisman's complete irrelevance to the football season has been proven. It was Jason White, after all, who beat Leinart out for both the Maxwell (best QB) and Davey O' Brien (best offensive player) -- and yet Leinart is somehow the best overall college football player? He's not even the best player on his own team -- that would be Reggie Bush, his running back, who was also a finalist.

Also, there is an uncomfortable pattern the last few years of the winners (and a majority of the finalists) being white quarterbacks. The only times a non QB or a minority ever seems to win is in those years when they are really the clear cut favorite and the media darling (i.e, Michael Vick, Ron Dayne, or Charles Woodson). I'm not saying this is out and out racism on the part of the Heisman voters. I'm saying it's clear that the old image of the All-American Golden Boy quarterback leading his team to victory still has a stranglehold on the imaginations of many of them; they automatically use it as a template when they start looking for the best college football player. Case in point: you could make an argument that someone like OU's Jammal Brown, who recently won the Outland Trophy for best interior lineman, is in large part responsible for both White and Peterson's success this season -- after all, if the lineman doesn't do his job, there is no hole for Peterson to run through and White doesn't have enough time to look for an open receiver (which he had enough of this year to go 199 straight attempts without throwing an interception). But an offensive lineman get considered for a Heisman? Even as a dark horse candidate? Most voters (and non voting sportswriters) would put freshmen 1-2-3 on their ballots before even considering a stellar senior lineman, offensive or defensive.

However, there is a big bright spot in this for Sooner fans: it has been some years since the Heisman trophy winner was on the national championship team. OU has also played the identical conference schedule they played in 2000, will be again heading to the Orange Bowl for the championship game, and now will be facing the QB who beat their own QB out for the Heisman, despite the Sooner QB winning the Maxwell and O'Brien. Though I don't see another tight defensive battle happening with the high powered offenses on both teams, it certainly looks good for yet another Heisman trophy winner to be completely embarrased in the National Championship game.