Heisman Not Completely Out of the Question for Brady Quinn
Saturday threw a giant monkey wrench into the Brady Quinn Heisman campaign, but it might not have derailed it all together. While Quinn’s performance was certainly not Heisman worthy, he still has 9 more games to impress Heisman voters, and if we’ve learned anything over the last few years, it’s more about how you finish, not how you start.Here’s a comparison between Quinn and Carson Palmer and Matt Leinart, two USC quarterbacks who have recently won the award after three games into their Heisman seasons.
Statistics Through 3 games – Quinn/Leinart/Palmer |
|||
| Brady Quinn (2006) | Matt Leinart (2004) | Carson Palmer (2002) | |
| Com/Att | 72/122 | 61/93 | 63/109 |
| Comp % | 59% | 66% | 58% |
| Yards | 767 | 739 | 732 |
| TD | 6 | 7 | 3 |
| INT | 3 | 1 | 2 |
| Record | 2-1 | 3-0 | 2-1 |
| Rush TD | 1 | 1 | 2 |
Brady’s stats are very comparable with Palmer’s through three games and are similar to Leinart’s as well to a lesser extent. Palmer got hot at the end of the season and used a shellacking of Notre Dame in the Coliseum to secure the award. Should Brady rebound and the Irish go into USC with just 1 loss, he could find himself in a similar position to Palmer.
For now however, Troy Smith is running away with the Heisman. It’s his to lose right now and unless Ohio State loses, he will most likely win the award this year. A loss to say Michigan at the end of the year however and things could even out.
This is also assuming that Quinn starts playing more like he did in 2005 and not like he did this past weekend against Michigan.
Frank Vitovitch has been Co-Owner and Editor in Chief of UHND.com since joining forces with Kyle Flavin in 1999. Since that time, he has written over 2,000 articles covering Notre Dame football, recruiting, and basketball. He also works with all staff and external writers on all articles published on UHND.com. Frank's love for Notre Dame football started at a young age watching Rocket Ismail give opposing coaches ulcers in the late 1980's. By day Frank works in marketing and holds a degree in Digital Media from Drexel University. Frank's work has been cited by online/print editions of NBC Sports, ESPN, and Sports Illustrated and has been quoted on air by ESPN's Collin Cowherd. He's conducted interviews with Notre Dame legends Rocket Ismail, Randy Kinder, Lee Becton, Reggie Brooks, Michael Stonebreaker, and Ned Bolcar among others over his 20+ years of covering Notre Dame football. He's also been published in the print edition of USA Today Sports Weekly and the USA Today College Football Preview multiple times. Other Published Works/Citations for Frank Three Reasons Notre Dame Will Beat Alabama - USA Today Notre Dame Suspends WR Kevin Stepherson, RB C.J. Holmes Indefinitely - Bleacher Report Notre Dame / Ohio State Fiesta Bowl Preview - Eleven Warriors Brace Yourself: The Fighting Irish are Relevant Again - Sports on Earth Interviews with the Enemy: A Q&A with Frank Vitovitch of UHND - Yahoo! Sports Five Good Minutes: Notre Dame Football Preview With UHND.com - BC Interruption Vicious Electronic Questioning with UHND - MGO Blog
It is all about how hot you are in the last month leading up to the vote. We were Palmer’s poster child for his Heisman. Like you said, an OSU loss vs UM and a ND victory with BQ impressing could do it. He needs to compile an impressive list vs the have nots.