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Oklahoma’s Bradford will try to add national title to Heisman win
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Oklahoma quarterback Sam Bradford, usually unflappable, said he’d rather be playing in front of 100,000 people than waiting around for someone to hand out an award.
Sounds like the right mind-set for a guy worthy of the 74th annual Heisman Trophy, someone who now will also have the chance to win the national championship in the same season – something never done at OU before.
Bradford became the school’s fifth Heisman winner Saturday night at Nokia Theatre in Times Square, beating out runner-up Colt McCoy of Texas and Tim Tebow of Florida, who won the 2007 Heisman but finished third this year.
Texas Tech quarterback Graham Harrell, who was not invited to the ceremony, finished a distant fourth.
“I was nervous,” said Bradford, the second-straight sophomore to win. “I really didn’t know what was going to happen. I didn’t expect my name to be called. When it was, there was a lot of excitement.”
In one of the most anticipated announcements in years because of the quality of the finalists, Bradford’s victory margin of 122 points was the closest since Nebraska’s Eric Crouch beat Rex Grossman by 62 in 2001.
Bradford surged ahead in the final week of voting, the same week he and Tebow starred in conference championship games and the same week 86 percent of the ballots were cast.
OU advanced to the league title game after winning a three-way tiebreaker with Texas and Texas Tech by virtue of BCS standings.
“If we had gotten an opportunity to play in the Big 12 championship, things might have been different, but give credit to Sam,” said McCoy, who said his heart was pounding leading up to the announcement. “He was on that stage and took advantage of it. It’s all good.”
McCoy, a junior, is the second Texas quarterback in four seasons to finish runner-up. His mentor, Vince Young, finished second in 2005.
Bradford’s win adds even more spice to an already intriguing national championship game between OU and Florida Jan. 8 in Miami.
Tebow, who hugged Bradford, congratulated him and called him deserving of the Heisman doesn’t like to lose anything.
Tebow earned 309 first-place votes, the most ever for a third-place finisher.
Bradford earned 300 first-place votes but had 315 second-place votes to McCoy’s 288 and Tebow’s 207.
“You lose, you lose,” Tebow said. “They love us or hate us. That’s Gator Nation though.”
Ohio State’s Archie Griffin, who won the Heisman in 1974 and 1975, remains the only repeat winner.
Bradford passed for 4,464 yards and 48 touchdowns this season in leading an offense that miniaturized other NCAA-record offenses.
During a walkthrough of the ceremony Saturday, Bradford looked in wonderment at the other four OU Heisman winners’ pictures.
His dad, Kent, was a lineman for the Sooners in the 1970s, and Bradford grew up attending games in Norman.
“I don’t think I can even describe from that point to this point now,” Bradford said. “It’s a great feeling.”
It was just August 2007 when OU coach Bob Stoops opened a three-way competition at quarterback. The redshirt freshman from suburban Oklahoma City won out – obviously.
Bradford, whose name will forever be linked to his Heisman win, is becoming more aware of his stature, expressing desire to become more involved with his Cherokee heritage. He said this week that he will explore his NFL options.
Whatever happens, Bradford, wearing a cast on his left hand for a couple of more days, can still top Saturday night with a national title.
But it’s hard to imagine anything being better than Saturday, when he rose to the top of the college football world.
KATE HAIROPOULOS
The Dallas Morning News
