The Heisman Trophy has now gone to a sophomore for two years in a row. Oklahoma's accurate and quick-thinking quarterback Sam Bradford won college football's biggest award on Saturday night. This came the season he led the Sooners to #1 before a 45-35 loss to huge rival Texas on a neutral site. After that, he rallied his team and led them back to the #1 spot to make the BCS National Championship Game. The Sooners are now the highest scoring team in college football history.
Florida's quarterback Tim Tebow was hoping to become the only person besides Archie Griffin to win the award twice, but Bradford held that off for another year. Tebow will make one last attempt next year, when he is a senior. Tebow's stats were better last year, which probably helped him win. His stats were down this year, but he was a better quarterback on his team this year compared to last year.
"I was definitely surprised and I think it's everything I imagined," Bradford said. "I think it will take a couple weeks to set in." It was a close vote, as Bradford received 1,726 points, Texas QB Colt McCoy received 1,604, and Florida QB Tim Tebow got 1,575. It was the closest vote between the top two since 2001, when Eric Crouch edged Rex Grossman.
Bradford and the Sooners will face Tebow's Florida Gators in Miami on January 8 for the championship game. This will be the second time two Heisman winners have faced each other on a field. The first was in the 2005 Orange Bowl, when Matt Leinart and USC beat Jason White and Oklahoma for the national title.
The Big 12 South was the center of the college football season, with both the national championship and Heisman races centering on it's three powerhouses. Colt McCoy was the earliest projected winner after leading his team to #1 with an upset of Oklahoma. Texas Tech's Graham Harrell then moved in after throwing a last-second touchdown pass against the #1 Longhorns. However, Bradford closed strongest, leading his team to five straight 60-point games (including one against Texas Tech) and a spot, even if somewhat controversial, in the BCS National Championship Game.
The Sooners have already racked up 702 points to blow out the previous record set by Hawaii in 2006 (which was 656 points). They became the first college football team in 89 years to score sixty points in five straight games.
The championship game between Bradford's Sooners and Tebow's Gators will be on Thursday, January 8, 2009. It will be at 8:00 PM Eastern Time and broadcasted live on FOX.
