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 Monday, December 10, 2001
Dorsey happy to be playing for title
By Marc Connolly
ABC Sports Online
NEW YORK -- The Heisman voters have made it be a known fact over time that its annual winner has to play for a winning team, if not one of the top squads in the nation. All four candidates at the New York Marriott Marquis for the Heisman Trophy award presentation Saturday night certainly fit that bill, including this year's winner, Nebraska quarterback Eric Crouch.
|  | | Ken Dorsey led a Miami offense that averaged 43.2 points per game. |
But none of the QB quartet invited to the ceremony had the kind of overall talent that surrounded Ken Dorsey, ye of the undefeated, top-ranked Miami Hurricanes who are bound to the Rose Bowl Presented by AT&T to play for the national championship. Dorsey had a bevy of athletic receivers to throw to, including one of the nation's top tight ends in Jeremy Shockey and Andre Johnson, who NFL scouts are already drooling over. He also had a one-two running back punch of junior tailback Clinton Portis and fullback Najeh Davenport, who is likely to go in the first round of next spring's NFL draft that no offense in the nation could boast.
And that O-line keeping his white uniform clean and his boyish face intact? It might have been the finest the college game has seen in over a decade, led by All-American bookend tackles Bryant McKinnie and Joaquin Gonzalez.
After finishing in third-place behind Crouch (770) and Florida sophomore Rex Grossman (708) with 638 points on Saturday night, the question begs to be answered: Could the collection of sure-fire future NFL studs surrounding Dorsey, the only QB with an unblemished record in the land, have hurt his Heisman chances?
"Shoot, if it did, so be it," was the first response the perma-grinned junior quarterback said to such a pondering. "I wouldn't trade our talent for a lack of talent so I could win a Heisman Trophy, that's for darn sure."
After thinking about it for a moment, the Maxwell Award winner added, "I think it might have hurt me, but at the same time, I have a hard time commenting on that. The fact that it would hurt me is shocking."
Heisman voters whispered how he never had to worry about his blindside because of the 6-foot-9, 336-pound monster McKinnie. His four-interception debacle against a Willie Green-less Boston College Eagles squad was brought up ad nauseum in recent weeks. They called him "Gino Torretta," the winner of the 1992 Heisman Trophy, who had the luxury of throwing to future NFL receivers such as Horace Copeland and Lamar Thomas. Others also mentioned -- off-the-record, of course, -- that they could not vote for a player who wasn't even the best football player on his own team.
Some even went as far as to vote McKinnie, a senior and the possible No. 1 selection of the Houston Texans in April, ahead of his QB for the bronzed statue. In fact, the left tackle racked up 116 total points, including an astounding 26 first-place votes, good enough for eighth place in the voting.
Dorsey says he can't blame anyone for voting for him.
"He deserves it," said the Orinda, Calif., native who threw for 2,652 yards and 23 touchdowns this season despite playing the entire game only twice due to Miami's dominance. "Heck, he has my vote that's for sure. Him and (All-American safety) Ed (Reed)."
In a way, history was stacked against him. In 67 chances, only 13 past winners played on unbeaten teams. There's also an unbelievable nugget that shows that the last quarterback to win the Heisman Trophy and lead his team to an unbeaten season was 1947 when Notre Dame signal-caller John Lujack beat out a field that included Doak Walker. Torretta, who may not have beaten out San Diego State's Marshall Faulk had the "sophomore bias" not been in effect, won his Heisman with an unblemished mark before playing horribly in the Sugar Bowl against Alabama in a stunning defeat to the Crimson Tide in the national championship game.
Dorsey knows which situation he'd rather have on his mark.
"The Big One," he said. "That's the one I want. If I didn't win on January 3rd, winning tonight wouldn't have meant anything."
He also said it will be easier in a way not having the Heisman Trophy label pinned to his No. 11 jersey come that night in Pasadena.
"It's almost a relief," said Dorsey. "Eric has to play in the bowl game with all that pressure."
It could be against the 'Canes, as well, which would give Dorsey ample opportunity to take on the victor head-to-head.
Either way, it is Dorsey who will be back next fall, not Crouch, nor three of the other signal-callers that helped make quarterbacks the top six vote getters -- Joey Harrington (fourth place), David Carr (fifth) and Antwaan Randle El (sixth). Along with Grossman, Dorsey will put up with endless Heisman hype as the award's front-runner for the next 365 days.
But with three of his five lineman, his fullback possibly his tight end (if Shockey opts for the NFL) moving on from Coral Gables after the Rose Bowl, no one will be able to knock Dorsey for being "carried" in any way should he lead the 'Canes back into a BCS bowl.
Marc Connolly is a senior writer for ABC Sports Online. He can be reached at marc.connolly@abc.com.
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 Eric Crouch is chosen as the 2001 Heisman winner.
RealVideo: 56.6
 Ken Dorsey takes home the 2001 Maxwell Award.
wav: 384 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
Ken Dorsey finds Clinton Portis in the end zone against Washington.
avi: 1131 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
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