Joey Harrington took a big step Tuesday to become Joey
Heisman.
The Oregon senior quarterback was named one of four
finalists for the Heisman Trophy award, given annually
to the nation’s top college football player. Three
other quarterbacks were also named finalists – Miami’s
Ken Dorsey, Nebraska’s Eric Crouch and Florida’s Rex
Grossman.
The finalists were selected based on 20 percent of the
923 ballots that have already been submitted for the
award. Harrington was third in the balloting Tuesday
with 12 first-place votes; Crouch was in first place
with 30 first-place votes followed by Grossman (20
first-place votes).
The winner will be announced Saturday during a dinner
ceremony at New York’s Marriott Marquis. The event
will be broadcast on ESPN at 4 p.m. PST.
“These players have had phenomenal seasons across the
board and anyone of them would be deserving of college
football’s highest honor,” Rudy Riska, the executive
director of the Heisman Memorial Trophy Trust, told
the Associated Press.
Harrington’s Heisman campaign began last summer when
donors paid $250,000 to have a 100-foot poster of
Harrington draped on the side of building in downtown
New York.
The Portland native led the Ducks to a school-record
10-win regular season and the Pacific-10 Conference
championship, capped off by a 17-14 win over Oregon
State in the Civil War on Saturday. Harrington may
have hurt his chances in the game, though, as he
fumbled with less than two minutes to play and the
game still undecided.
On the season, Harrington has thrown for 2,415 yards
and 23 touchdowns.
While throwing for 2,652 yards and 23 touchdowns this
season, Dorsey, a junior, has led No. 1 Miami (11-0)
to the national championship game at the Rose Bowl.
Crouch has thrown for 1,510 yards and seven touchdowns
and ran for 1,115 yards and 19 scores for No. 5
Nebraska (11-1).
Grossman has thrown for 3,896 yards and 34 touchdowns
for No. 6 Florida (9-2). The sophomore also leads the
nation in passing efficiency.