With the eyes of the Heisman Trophy voters watching Saturday, three quarterback candidates passed for more than 230 yards.
But Joey Harrington wasn’t one of them.
In Florida, Rex Grossman completed 33-of-51 passes for 362 yards and two touchdowns, but the Gators lost 34-32 to Tennessee.
In Virginia, Miami quarterback Ken Dorsey was 21-of-44 passing for 235 yards and one touchdown as the Hurricanes survived, 26-24, at Virginia Tech.
And down in Fresno, Calif., there was senior quarterback David Carr, a Heisman longshot after losing two games this season, throwing for 432 yards and six touchdowns in a 70-21 blowout against Utah State.
Meanwhile, in Eugene, Harrington connected on 11-of-22 passes for a modest 104 yards in Oregon’s 17-14 Civil War win. But he might get the benefit of the doubt in some voters’ minds, given that the weather wasn’t exactly favorable.
Harrington didn’t need to worry about impressing his teammates.
“Joey should win the Heisman, why shouldn’t he?” Oregon cornerback Rashad Bauman said. “He’s the best quarterback by far. If you’re going to pick the Heisman off stats, that’s B.S. because everybody has a different format. Rex Grossman is at a passing school. If Joey put the ball up 50 times every game, then he would throw for 800 yards.
“Joey has two 1,000 yard rushers behind him, and he’s still up for the Heisman. Nobody’s done that. Nobody.”
Saturday was an important day for Harrington and other candidates as it was their last chance to impress the voters. The four final candidates for the Heisman Trophy will be announced today during ESPN’s “SportsCenter” at 3 p.m.
Should Harrington be included, he would get a free trip to New York to be on hand for the Heisman Trophy presentation, which will take place Saturday at 4 p.m. PST on ESPN.
“I’d love to (go),” Harrington said. “It’s an honor. It’s a thrill to even be considered at this point. We won the football game, and that’s all you can do. Leave it up to the voters.”
If it were up to Oregon head coach Mike Bellotti, there would be no doubt that Harrington would be included. Bellotti hopes the Civil War game won’t hurt his quarterback’s chances.
“Joey is one of the best football players to play here or anywhere,” Bellotti said. “I don’t think he’s worried about stats. I never have either. There’s only one stat that counts and that’s winning.”
Now it’s time to see whether “Joey Heisman’s” 24-3 career record as a starter is enough for him to win college football’s top individual award.