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Heisman Watch: Top candidates
Dec. 2, 2000
SportsLine.com staff
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Heisman Watch Home Page
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Josh Heupel, Oklahoma (Sr.,
6-2, 210) |
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His Big 12 title game performance wasn't his best, but it was true grit. Appearing bothered by an inflammation of the bursa sac in the elbow of his throwing arm, the left-hander looked less than Heisman-worthy with three interceptions (that's nine in his past four games), and yet he won. Again. That's his potential trump card in this two-man race. He's 5-0 against ranked teams, including four who were in the Top 10. Take that, Chris Weinke. |
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Passing |
Rushing |
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Comp. |
Att. |
Yds. |
TD |
INT |
Att. |
Yds. |
Avg. |
TD |
| vs. K-State |
24 |
44 |
220 |
2 |
3 |
11 |
9 |
0.8 |
1 |
| Season |
280 |
433 |
3,392 |
20 |
14 |
70 |
144 |
2.1 |
7 |
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Chris Weinke, Florida State (Sr., 6-5, 225) |
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The nation's leader in passing yards, Weinke made a final pitch for the Heisman with his 353-yard performance in a 30-7 dismantling of No. 4 Florida on Nov. 18. Was it enough? He's got Josh Heupel beat when it comes to stats, size and arm strength ... and he can hardly be blamed for FSU's loss to Miami because he led the 'Noles to a late touchdown and got then got them in position for a game-tying field goal in the final seconds. Negatives: The age issue. He's 28, and the award has never gone to anybody older than 23. |
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Passing |
Rushing |
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Comp. |
Att. |
Yds. |
TD |
INT |
Att. |
Yds. |
Avg. |
TD |
| Season |
266 |
431 |
4,167 |
33 |
11 |
30 |
-97 |
-3.2 |
1 |
WORTHY OF A TRIP TO NEW YORK CITY |
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Damien Anderson, Northwestern (Jr., 5-11, 208) |
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Anderson made a nice final bid to earn one of those expenses-paid trip to the Downtown Athletic Club in early December, with 179 yards and four TDs in a rout of Illinois on Nov. 18. He's no danger to the Heisman leaders, but should be invited to the party anyway. He finished second behind LaDainian Tomlinson for the national rushing title, and only a few boast a better per-rush average than his 6.5. |
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Rushing |
Receiving |
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Att. |
Yds. |
Avg. |
TD |
Rec. |
Yds. |
Avg. |
TD |
| Season |
293 |
1,914 |
6.5 |
22 |
15 |
120 |
8.0 |
0 |
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Drew Brees, Purdue (Sr., 6-1, 206) |
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Brees has the thing he covets most -- Purdue's first Rose Bowl berth since 1966 -- but the Heisman thing likely slipped out of his hands in the loss to Michigan State on Nov. 11. Purdue has only eight regular-season victories … and no quarterback since 1970 (Jim Plunkett, Stanford) has won the Heisman with less than nine victories in the regular season. |
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Passing |
Rushing |
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Comp. |
Att. |
Yds. |
TD |
INT |
Att. |
Yds. |
Avg. |
TD |
| Season |
286 |
474 |
3,393 |
24 |
12 |
95 |
516 |
5.4 |
5 |
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LaDainian Tomlinson, TCU (Sr., 5-11, 220) |
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Tomlinson's regular-season finale against SMU included a 74-yard touchdown run, which helped him jump to the fourth-best rushing season in Division I-A history. He ended with 2,158 yards, behind Barry Sanders (2,628, 1988), Marcus Allen (2,342, 1981) and Troy Davis (2,185, 1996). Of the seven other rushers who topped 2,000 yards, five won the Heisman Trophy -- Davis and Texas Tech's Byron Hanspard were the exceptions. |
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Rushing |
Receiving |
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Att. |
Yds. |
Avg. |
TD |
Rec. |
Yds. |
Avg. |
TD |
| Season |
402 |
2,158 |
5.4 |
22 |
10 |
40 |
4.0 |
0 |
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