Columnist Dean Juipe: Carr merits Heisman nod over Crouch

Dean Juipe

Monday, Nov. 26, 2001 | 10:26 a.m.

Dean Juipe's column appears Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. His boxing notebo lasvegassun.com or 259-4084.

If the Heisman Trophy goes to Nebraska quarterback Eric Crouch, as many suspect it will, he needn't send me a thank-you card.

I filled in and mailed my Heisman ballot Sunday and Crouch's name was nowhere to be found. Electors get three picks and I used mine to single out Fresno State's David Carr, Illinois' Kurt Kittner and Miami's Ken Dorsey as college football's players of the year.

All are quarterbacks, which I regret to some extent. It's just that in a season in which standout performances have been at something of a minimum, quarterbacks by their very nature are not only catalysts but are easily identifiable.

I honestly don't expect Carr to win the trophy, which will be presented by the Downtown Athletic Club of New York City for the 67th year at a function in January. Yet he seems the most deserving.

Crouch, for all the attention directed his way, is not.

He may be on the cover of Sports Illustrated this week, but Crouch has one inexcusable statistic working against him by my standards. And it's this: He has more interceptions (10) than touchdown passes (7).

To me, that flaw takes him out of Heisman contention even if Nebraska's run-first philosophy limits the number of TD passes its quarterback might throw. Crouch also had two picks (and no touchdown throws) in the Huskers' 62-36 loss to Colorado on Friday, which knocked Nebraska not only out of the No. 2 spot in the AP poll but out of this week's Big 12 title game as well.

Beyond that, although less relevant in terms of the Heisman, Crouch may not even be drafted as a quarterback by the pros. There's talk of turning him into a wingback or a receiver when he joins the NFL next year.

Carr, on the other hand, is getting serious consideration as the overall No. 1 pick in the NFL draft and scouts agree he has tools ideally suited to the pro game. He also has spectacular stats -- he threw for 328 yards and two touchdowns in Fresno's 40-21 win over San Jose State on Friday -- and is far and away the single greatest reason the Bulldogs are 10-2 and headed to a likely game with UCLA in the Silicon Valley Bowl.

From a national perspective Carr's stature may have dipped when his team lost consecutive high-scoring games to Boise and Hawaii, yet it wasn't Fresno's offense that led to those defeats. The guy has had a great season.

So has Kittner, even if he has received less publicity than Carr.

The Illini have had their best season since 1983, and have won the Big Ten championship and are 10-1 and will play in a BCS bowl game. Kittner, who was 33 for 43 for 387 yards and four touchdowns Thursday against Northwestern, has been outstanding week in and week out and has steadily climbed in prominence in my mind's eye.

In the No. 3 spot I've got Dorsey, who quarterbacks the top-ranked team in the country and repeatedly puts up impressive numbers. In Saturday's 65-7 win over Washington he was a modest 13-for-20, yet he had three TD passes in limited duty. His credentials, like those of Miami's, speak for themselves.

Heisman voters have another week to sort through the contenders but I'm content with Carr, Kittner and Dorsey. And no Eric Crouch.