Which QB? Heisman race is too close to call

NEW YORK -- Best athlete? Best career? Best stats? Best team?

The Heisman Trophy means many things to many voters, and that's why this year's race has been one of the more unpredictable in the 67-year history of the award.

Four quarterbacks -- Miami's Ken Dorsey, Oregon's Joey Harrington, Nebraska's Eric Crouch and Florida's Rex Grossman -- are the finalists for college football's top individual award, which will be presented tonight at a midtown hotel.

For the first time, the Heisman will not be presented at the Downtown Athletic Club because the building was damaged in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

Each finalist has attributes worthy of Heisman consideration, but none has the perfect package that stamps him as the favorite.

Harrington, who led Oregon (10-1) to its best regular-season record, was asked this week to handicap the rest of the field.

"Are you going to give the award based on a career? Absolutely give it to Eric," Harrington said. "If it's on numbers this year, you give it to Rex. Early in the season, people were saying Crouch gets the award because he's the best player on the best team. If that's still the case, you give it to Ken."

There are no voting guidelines set by the DAC, which simply asks its 924 voters to select the "Outstanding College Football Player of the United States."

The athlete part?

Crouch, the only finalist who runs first and passes second, has his own take.

"The first thing is their athleticism and their throwing the football and stacking up the yards and being successful for their team," he said. "Every time I see these guys on TV, I get a little jealous because they are throwing the ball quite a bit."

Crouch produced a school-record 7,915 yards at Nebraska, and his 59 rushing TDs are the most by a I-A quarterback. In leading the Huskers to an 11-1 record this year, he ran for 1,115 yards and passed for 1,510.

Naturally, Huskers coach Frank Solich says his guy is the best athlete.

"You ask anybody that's played against him and they will tell you the same thing: They'd rather play against anybody else in the country than Eric Crouch," Solich said.

The excitement factor counts, too. In 1999, Virginia Tech quarterback Michael Vick was probably the nation's most electrifying player and wound up third in the Heisman voting -- as a freshman.

Harrington might have that category wrapped up. Three times, he brought Oregon back in the fourth quarter for victories.

"I've said this many, many times before," Ducks coach Mike Bellotti said. "Joey is one of the best -- if not the best -- to ever play here, and ever play anywhere."

Grossman is fighting Heisman history. No sophomore has ever won the award, and only 13 juniors have finished first, most recently Michigan's Charles Woodson in 1997. Grossman, whose Gators went 9-2, had awesome numbers, too -- 259 of 395 for 3,896 yards, 34 touchdowns and 12 interceptions.

"I thought I had a pretty good year," he said. "Our offense looked good at times. The two losses are all we can think about right now, but we're going to try to move on."

And then there's Dorsey, who played on a team loaded with fellow future NFL stars. His selling point? 25-1 as a starter, including 11-0 this year with a trip to the Rose Bowl to play for a national championship.

Dorsey was solid but unspectacular in throwing for 2,652 yards with 23 TDs and nine interceptions.

"It's always been my belief that the Heisman isn't just an individual award," he said. "Naturally it's given to who people think is the best player in the country. But at the same time, he's the best player because his team played well and the people around him played well."

Not even a handful of awards earlier this week could make the Heisman picture clearer. Grossman was chosen The Associated Press Player of the Year on Wednesday. On Thursday, Dorsey won the Maxwell Award as the nation's top all-around player, and Crouch took the Davey O'Brien quarterback award and the Walter Camp Award as the nation's most outstanding player.

The tightest Heisman race was Bo Jackson's 45-point win over Chuck Long in 1985. The last close three-player race was 1995, when Ohio State's Eddie George won over Nebraska's Tommie Frazier and Florida's Danny Wuerffel.

Twice before, Heisman winners did not receive the most first-place votes -- Notre Dame's Paul Hornung in 1956 and Oklahoma's Billy Sims in 1978.

The winner is determined on points, with voters listing three choices. Three points are awarded for a first-place vote, two for a second, and one for a third.