Oregon daily emerald., September 13, 2002, Page 3, Image 3

Adam Jones Emerald
Onterrio Smith (2) is one of several players with an early shot at the Heisman Trophy, but he'll have to maintain his impressive
numbers of the first two games to keep up with the likes of Marshall quarterback Byron Leftwich and other hopefuls.
Never too early for hype;
Smith in Heisman mce
Onterrio Smith is one of several
early-season favorites for the
Heisman Trophy, given annually
to the nation!* top player
Peter Hockaday
Sports Editor
Onterrio Smith needs a nickname.
You could call Eugene “O-Town.”
* You could go simple and say “O
Baby.” You could go with the phrase
uttered by many opposing defenders
and say “O-No.”
Just don’t call him “Onterrio Heis
man.”
As much as Smith’s Heisman cam
paign is different from Joey Harring
ton’s last year — in the sense that
Smith isn’t being promoted for the
award at all while Harrington had a
100-foot Heisman advertisement in
the middle of New York last season
— Smith may deserve to be men
tioned for the award.
Smith already has been men
tioned. He was among the Heisman
favorites listed by Sports Illustrated,
and he’s currently sixth on
ESPN.com’s list of Heisman hopefuls.
Smith is also one of a handful
players on the Emerald’s Heisman
Watch list. Without further ado, here
are some players to track this season
for college football’s top award.
1. Byron Leftwich, QB, Marshall.
He’s at the top of many pundits’ lists,
but there’s reason for this small-col
lege signal-caller to garner that at
tention. In his opening game last
week, Leftwich passed for 469 yards
and ran for 58 more. He threw four
touchdowns and ran for one more.
He’s for real.
The only thing that could hamper
Leftwich is his schedule. If he wants
to win the Heisman, Marshall might
need to win all its games, including a
showdown with Virginia Tech on
Thursday night. Win that game, and
Leftwich might have his trophy sewn
up; the toughest game for the Herd af
ter that is a Nov. 12 matchup with Mi
ami. That’s Miami (Ohio), of course.
2. Ken Dorsey, QB, Miami. One of
two returning Heisman finalists,
Dorsey had a showdown last week
with the other returnee, Rex Gross
man. Dorsey’s 202 yards and four
touchdowns were enough to move
Miami ahead of Florida and Dorsey
far ahead of Grossman in the Heis
man polls.
Dorsey probably got passed over in
favor of Eric Grouch last season be
cause of his youth. But now Dorsey is
a junior and will get a serious look
from voters. If Miami has a chance to
repeat as national champions, then
Dorsey will have a chance for a repeat
trip to New York, and this year it
might be him up on stage at the end
of the Heisman ceremony.
3. Onterrio Smith, TB, Oregon.
Smith has proven to be a workhorse
in the season’s first two games, car
rying the ball 28 times against Mis
sissippi State and 35 times in a full
game’s action against Fresno State.
He had exactly 124 rushing yards in
both those games, but had 144 all
purpose yards against MSU and 143
against FSU.
Smith still hasn’t broken out the
big runs that helped him to a 1,000
yard season last year as a backup to
Maurice Morris, but the junior must
be licking his chops at the upcoming
games against Idaho and Portland
State. Smith’s status as a runner may
help him stand out among the same
old quarterbacks on the Heisman list.
4. Jason Gesser, QJB, Washington
State. Gesser’s “Gess Who 4 Heis
man?” banner in Dusty, Wash., was
a joke, but his on-field campaign is
far from funny. The senior signal
caller has thrown for 462 yards and
four touchdowns in two games this
season, completing 64.4 percent of
his passes.
The quarterback is another play
er in the mold of Leftwich, in that
he’ll need the Cougars to be success
ful — Pac-10 title successful — to
have a shot, in order to play up his
leadership qualities. Washington
State’s Pac-10 schedule is littered
with hidden mines, so that may be
harder than it sounds.
5. Chris Simms, QB, Texas. In the
tradition of decent quarterbacks get
ting mentioned simply because they
come from football powerhouses
that win bunches of games (see: Eric
Crouch), Simms deserves at least a
trip to New York if the Longhorns do
well in the Big XII this year.
But does he deserve the Heisman?
Probably not. He threw for 187 yards
in the Texas season-opener last
week. He averaged 217 yards per
game last season, and he’ll need to
improve on that number to put his
hands on the trophy.
Honorable Mentions. Some other
players deserve early-season watch
ing: Charles Rogers, WR, Michigan
State; Lee Suggs, TB, Virginia Tech;
Seneca Wallace, QB, Iowa State; Eli
Manning, QB, Ole Miss; Willis McGa
hee, TB, Miami.
Contact the sports editor
atpeterhockaday@dailyemerald.com.
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