Bradford wins Heisman

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/14/sports/ncaafootball/14heisman.html?em

Oklahoma quarterback Sam Bradford arrived in Norman three years ago with modest hype and low expectations. The Sooners’ coaches acknowledged that they had recruited him for depth behind Rhett Bomar, who had been the country’s top quarterback prospect.


But Bradford’s rise from relative obscurity to national pre-eminence was sealed Saturday night when he won the Heisman Trophy, which is given annually to the country’s most outstanding college football player.

Bradford, a redshirt sophomore, seemed giddy and overwhelmed as he hugged his parents and his coach, Bob Stoops, and shook hands with a row of former Heisman winners.

“I was definitely surprised,” Bradford said. “I think it was everything I imagined. It’s going to take a few weeks for it to sink in.”

His victory did not come without a dash of drama. Bradford edged Texas quarterback Colt McCoy in the voting, 1,726 to 1,604, in the closest finish since Eric Crouch beat Rex Grossman by 62 points in 2001.

In a sign of how top-heavy the balloting was, McCoy’s second-place total was high enough to have won four of the past eight Heismans.

“Now I know what it’s like for those people on ‘American Idol,’ ” McCoy said. “My heart was pounding. What a great experience.”

The third-place finisher, Florida quarterback Tim Tebow, received more first-place votes than Bradford (309-300), becoming the first third-place finisher to do so since 1956. That did not seem to matter to Tebow, who last season became the first sophomore to win the Heisman.

“You lose, you lose,” he said with a smile. When told he had been left off 154 of the 904 ballots, Tebow added, “Either they love us or they hate us — that’s Florida.”

In leading No. 2 Oklahoma (12-1) to the Bowl Championship Series title game against Tebow and the Gators, Bradford orchestrated the highest-scoring season in college football’s modern era. The Sooners scored 702 points, the first modern team to break the 700 mark. They finished with a flourish, scoring more than 60 points in each of their final five games.

Bradford led the nation with 48 touchdown passes and threw only 6 interceptions. He finished with an average of 14.78 yards a completion.

“It’s as good of an offense as I’ve ever seen on video,” Florida Coach Urban Meyer said of Oklahoma.

Bradford is the fifth Sooner to win the Heisman, joining Billy Vessels (1952), Steve Owens (1969), Billy Sims (1978) and Jason White (2003). Only Southern California, Ohio State and Notre Dame have had more Heisman winners; each university has had seven.

Bradford will also hold a place in Heisman history in that he became the first American Indian to win the trophy since Jim Plunkett of Stanford in 1970. Bradford is one-sixteenth Cherokee and has become a role model in Oklahoma, a state with a rich American Indian heritage.

“I feel like that’s another blessing God gave me,” Bradford said. “He’s given me a great platform within the Cherokee Nation.”

Bradford’s victory set up a thick subplot in the title game Jan. 8. He will square off with Tebow, who led the No. 1 Gators to their second national title game in the past three seasons.

The last time two Heisman winners played for the national title came at the end of the 2004 season, when Southern California and Matt Leinart (the 2004 winner) blew out White and Oklahoma, 55-19, in the B.C.S. title game.

Tebow said he was looking forward to the opportunity to beat Bradford on the field.

“We still get to play on Jan. 8 and decide something a little bit bigger,” Tebow said.

He added that Bradford’s Heisman victory had already provided some motivation for the Gators’ defense.

“I think so,” Tebow said when asked if his defense would be eager to face Bradford. “They’re a little bit excited. I already got quite a few texts from some guys.”

It was an odd year in the Heisman voting in that none of the three finalists were seniors, the first time that has happened in the award’s 74-year history. There is a chance that all three players could return next season.

“Hopefully, we’ll be here again,” said McCoy, who has said he will return to Texas.

In a bitter twist to what has been a tough few weeks for Texas fans, the Sooners beat the Longhorns again. Texas defeated Oklahoma, 45-35, on a neutral field earlier this season. But Oklahoma won the Big 12 South and a spot in the conference championship game because of a tie breaker that used the B.C.S. rankings over the teams’ head-to-head result.

Not only did the Big 12 championship game give Oklahoma an avenue to the B.C.S. title game, it also gave Bradford a final platform to impress Heisman voters.

“I feel like having the opportunity to play in the Big 12 championship, things would have been a little bit different,” McCoy said.

But Bradford’s winning the Heisman was another example of how it has been a good year to be a Sooner. On Jan. 8, he will have a chance to extend that success into 2009. It will be a chance for an overlooked player from Oklahoma City to write another improbable chapter in his rapid ascent to the top of college football.

“There weren’t a whole bunch of people recruiting him,” Stoops said of Bradford, who was considered a three-star prospect. “So much for those guys giving out the stars.”