In Columbus Ohio it is impossible not to become an Ohio State Buckeye football fan. During Saturday games local businesses even forgo their employee uniforms in favor of OSU football shirts and jeans. Mayor Coleman even jokes about how tough it is to get any kind of customer service from shops during “the game” because everyone drops what they’re doing to watch TV.
Therefore it was a foregone conclusion months ago that quarterback Troy Smith would win college football’s highest individual honor, and after defeating Michigan, we here in Columbus considered it a lock. In probably football’s most intense rivalry, bar none, Smith beat Michigan 42-39 November 18. As if that weren’t enough, he had bested the Wolverines for the third time in a row (a feat in itself), presenting coach Jim Tressel with an undefeated season of 12-0 and the Big Ten Conference Championship.
As for the Heisman Award, presented at the Nokia Theater on December 9, it was revealed that Smith had received 1662 points from 801 votes. That is a record only bested by the infamous O.J. Simpson in 1968, who took the prize with 1750 points.
In terms of cumulative Heisman points, Smith holds third place at 2,540, trailing only USC’s O.J. Simpson at 2,853 in first, and USC’s Reggie Bush with 2,541. In terms of percentage of votes, Smith took 86.7%, which is a record the quarterback can be proud of.
Smith’s incredible ability to find nearly anyone anywhere with the ball has earned him fourth place in the nation with 2,507 yards passing, 30 touchdown passes, and a rating of 167.9, with five interceptions.
This year’s Heisman votes brought second place to Arkansas running back Darren McFadden (878 points). Notre Dame’s Quarterback Brady Quinn took third place (782 points). Fourth went to West Virginia’s running back Steve Slaton. Fifth place went to Michigan running back Mike Hart. Sixth place went to Hawaii quarterback Colt Brennan. Regarding the lopsided vote Brady Quinn was quoted as saying, "I would have voted for Troy. I really think he did a great job all year not allowing the pressure to get to him, doing a good job for his team and getting his team to the national championship game."
Article comments
1 - Jet in Columbus
God help the Columbus Ohio and OSU campus police departments if OSU doesn't beat Florida!
2 - sr
Dear Mr. Incredible Hulk. Ohio is going down. Be ready to save Columbus Jet. Hey dude your the Hulk. sr.
3 - Jet in Columbus
I'll turn green if it does Sr, and then watch out.
4 - RJ Elliott
That picture of you just burned out my retinas. Thanks for nothing. Bitch.
5 - Jet in Columbus
So RJ I'm glad you liked the article... and aren't you sweet.
6 - RJ Elliott
Oh yeah, good article! ;-P
7 - Jet in Columbus
Brady Quinn showed a lot of class, a damned lot of class, and until I researched this article I had no idea that O.J. held the record for most all-time points in Heisman votes.
8 - RJ Elliott
OJ also holds the all-time points record for killing white people with his bare hands.