Which QB will it be for Heisman?

By Richard Rosenblatt

AP Football Writer

For those trying to sort out the national championship puzzle, here's something else to ponder: Who's the leading contender for the Heisman Trophy?

With three weeks to go before Heisman ballots are due at New York's Downtown Athletic Club, the race has turned into a mad scramble. All that seems certain is a quarterback will win college football's top individual prize the night of Dec. 8.

Which quarterback is anyone's guess, especially after Saturday's games. So take your pick from this final four: Nebraska's Eric Crouch, Miami's Ken Dorsey, Florida's Rex Grossman and Oregon's Joey Harrington.

One of these guys will become just the third quarterback since 1993 and 21st overall to win the Heisman, first presented in 1935.

Other quarterbacks, including Texas' Chris Simms, Mississippi's Eli Manning, Fresno State's David Carr and BYU's Brandon Doman, have received Heisman support, but none are likely to make the A list.

The contending running backs, meanwhile, took themselves out of the race either by getting in trouble or just playing poorly.

UCLA's DeShaun Foster and Boston College's William Green missed games on Saturday due to suspensions, and their playing status is uncertain; Northwestern's Damien Anderson, recently injured, and Oregon State's Ken Simonton were eliminated early thanks to poor performances.

For now, the leader is Crouch. He has run for 953 yards and 16 touchdowns, passed for 1,312 yards and seven touchdowns, and has his Heisman-defining moment - a 63-yard TD catch off a trick play in the biggest game of the year, a 20-10 win over Oklahoma on Oct. 27.

With the Huskers ahead 13-10, wingback Thunder Collins took a handoff from Crouch around right end and pitched it to freshman Mike Stuntz, a quarterback playing receiver this season.

Stuntz threw a perfect pass to Crouch, who caught the ball at the 40 and sprinted into the end zone with 6:10 left.

Of greater importance, Crouch's team is 11-0 and in the middle of the national championship chase. On Saturday, Crouch was steady in a 31-21 win over Kansas State, running for 106 yards and a TD and passing for 60 yards with two interceptions.

Dorsey was the leader before Saturday's 18-7 escape at Boston College, a game in which he threw four interceptions to give him eight for the season.

In the worst game of his career, the Miami junior was 20 of 41 for 222 yards and did not throw a TD pass. For the season, he's passed for 2,004 yards and 15 touchdowns.

To get back in the race, he needs to come up big in Miami's final three games - against No. 14 Syracuse, No. 16 Washington and No. 18 Virginia Tech. Plus, the Hurricanes (8-0) must keeping winning.

Grossman has been not only the model of efficiency, but he's piled up the biggest numbers of all in leading the Gators to an 8-1 record. The sophomore - no sophomore has ever won the Heisman - is the nation's pass-efficiency leader, completing 199 of 302 for 3,244 yards and 30 TDs.

He was 21 of 33 for 302 yards and three TDs - and ran for another - in the Gators' 54-17 rout of South Carolina on Saturday.

If he wins the Heisman, he may not attend because of a prior commitment - the Southeastern Conference title game is the same day.

Not to be forgotten is Harrington, the kid with the giant billboard in New York touting him for the Heisman even before the season started.

Joey Heisman, er, Harrington, has Oregon (9-1) a win over Oregon State away from taking the Pacific-10 Conference title and perhaps getting a shot at the national title.

Harrington has completed 175 of 300 passes for 2,311 yards and 23 TDs. He's also the master of late-game comebacks. He did it for the ninth time in his career on Saturday, throwing a 1-yard scoring pass to Josh Line on fourth-and-goal with 9:56 left and giving the Ducks a 21-20 win over UCLA.

So take your pick, and don't be surprised if Crouch becomes the third Nebraska player to win the Heisman. The others were flanker Johnny Rodgers in 1972 and running back Mike Rozier in 1983.