Sam Bradford pulled out the Heisman win in what was one of the closest races in the voting results and minds of college football fans.
While there are plenty arguments that can be made for Tim Tebow or Colt McCoy, gaudy numbers and an offense that set an all-time scoring record won Bradford the award. I mean, come on, how can you argue with 48 touchdowns, a 186.3 passer rating and 4,464 total passing yards, all earned while directing a no-huddle offense.
Bradford gained 1,726 total votes, and was only the third player to win the Heisman without receiving the most first-place votes. That distinction belonged to Florida’s Tebow, who had the opportunity to join Archie Griffin as only the second player to earn back-to-back Heisman awards. He instead finished third in total voting with 1,575. McCoy gained 1,640 votes, and is the only player of the three to be left out of the national championship. The highly-publicized snubbing of Texas in the Big 12 South three-way tie between Texas, Oklahoma and Texas Tech was to blame for that.
Although Bradford came out the victor on Saturday night, he has a Jan. 8 date with Tebow, where they will face off for the most coveted award of the year — a national championship.
Winning the Heisman has been an indication of a national-title or bowl-game loss in past years, as shown by Troy Smith in the BCS Championship, Jason White in the Sugar Bowl and Eric Crouch in the Rose Bowl. Each was blown out in their final game of the season, which may not be a great precedence for Bradford to follow.
When asked in weeks leading up to the Heisman presentation, both Tebow and Bradford exclaimed that a national title was atop their list of desirable awards. Come January, we’ll see if Tebow will live up to that riveting speech following the Gators’ loss at Ole Miss, or if Bradford will break a time-honored tradition of being trounced in a bowl game following a Heisman win.
The Prince's Position 