Prime time brings the Heisman to Bradford

By John Hillman  |   Monday, December 15, 2008  |  Comments( 1 )

Oklahoma Sooners
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Deion Sanders may call himself “Prime Time.” But Sam Bradford garnered a Heisman Trophy with clutch prime-time performances in the stretch run.

On the final three Saturdays in November, the Oklahoma quarterback wowed national television audiences with his pinpoint passing and unfaltering leadership. After rolling over Texas Tech, Oklahoma and Missouri in successive weeks, Heisman voters selected Bradford as the award’s 73rd winner, the fifth Sooner to be honored.

Against the then second-ranked Red Raiders, the sophomore signal caller threw for 304 yards and four touchdowns in a 65-21 rout. Facing Oklahoma State the next week, Bradford’s numbers improved, totaling 370 passing yards and four touchdowns as the Sooners won their Bedlam encounter 61-41.

The Big XII championship contest showcased OU’s quarterback once more on Saturday evening in front of ABC’s cameras. In his final warm-up prior to the BCS title with Florida, Bradford racked up 384 passing yards and two scoring passes in a 62-21 blowout over the Tigers.

Despite these terrific results with the national spotlight shining, regional favoritism kept the Heisman voting close. Bradford tallied 1,726 points, while Colt McCoy of Texas finished runner-up at 1,604, and Tim Tebow of Florida came in third at 1,575.

In a somewhat surprising twist, Tebow, last year’s recipient, edged Bradford in first-place votes, 309 to 300. The Gator quarterback and South’s favorite son drew strong support from SEC voters, outpolling both Bradford and McCoy in his home region by over 130 points. But rest of the country loved the prime-time Sooner and demonstrated it at the ballot box.

Bradford joined Paul Hornung (1956) and Billy Sims (1978) as the only Heisman winners to capture the trophy without collecting the most first-place votes. Tebow became first candidate since Tommy McDonald in 1956 to lead in first-place votes but finish third.

From a sheer numbers standpoint, Bradford deserved the award over Tebow. The Sooner quarterback passed for 4,464 and 48 touchdowns as Oklahoma set a new national scoring record of 702 points. In 2008, Tebow tallied 2,515 yards through the air and 28 touchdowns, both totals down from last year when he finished with 3,286 yards and 32 scoring passes.

However, the real test comes Jan. 8 when the two quarterbacks square off in the BCS championship game in Miami. In that matchup, a national title and not just hardware will be up for grabs.
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About John Hillman

John Hillman graduated from Baylor University in 1974 with a BBA in accounting and earned an MBA from Baylor in 1987. He worked for accounting firms until 1982 when he became the chief financial officer for an independent insurance claims adjusting service, a position he still holds today....
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