Columnist Dean Juipe: Quick vote gives White Heisman lead

Dean Juipe

Monday, Nov. 17, 2003 | 9:45 a.m.

Dean Juipe's column appears Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. His boxing notebook appears Thursday. Reach him at juipe@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4084.

The Heisman Trophy ballot arrived via priority mail and was in my hands for about a minute Sunday before I had filled it out and sent it back on its way to New York.

It's not due until Dec. 10 but there was no need to wait. Nothing is going to change. Unlike the uncertainty surrounding the Democratic party and its multiple candidates for president in 2004, this year's Heisman has one and only one truly deserving nominee from my perspective and I guess I was anxious to show my support.

So I filled in the name of Jason White on the top line, put Larry Fitzgerald at No. 2 and Steven Jackson at No. 3 and dropped the ballot in the mail.

If enough voters feel the same -- and I can't see how they won't -- White, the record-setting quarterback from Oklahoma, will win the Heisman in what has to be seen as something of an unexpected surprise. Best I can tell, none of college football's preseason magazines considered him a leading Heisman contender during the summer.

Yet as Oklahoma has built its 11-0 record and secured its No. 1 spot in the polls with week after week of offensive fireworks and stingy defense, White has compiled some amazing statistics.

Saturday, for instance, he threw for 307 yards and four first-half touchdowns as the Sooners went up 34-3 over Baylor en route to a 41-3 win. No, they didn't cover the 53-point spread, as we wondered about last week, but White did his part and has all season, leading the nation in passing efficiency and breaking Oklahoma's single-season record for touchdown passes with 36.

This is heady stuff for a guy who has had two major knee surgeries, each of which interrupted his previous two seasons. He was starting for the Sooners in 2001 before getting hurt and was injured again early in 2002, but the 6-foot-2, 215-pound senior has appeared sound this year in leading Oklahoma to what is apt to be its second national championship in four years.

I've had White as far and away the leading Heisman candidate for several weeks and it's a pleasure to vote for him.

I've been less sure about what to do with spot Nos. 2 and 3 on the ballot but committed to Fitzgerald, Pittsburgh's sure-handed wide receiver, after watching the Panthers on TV Saturday night. They lost 52-31 to West Virginia, but, as the wire stories said after the game, Fitzgerald was virtually a "one-man offense" for Pitt, catching nine passes for 185 yards and two TDs.

Only a sophomore, Fitzgerald is going to lead the Big East in receptions, yards and TDs for a second consecutive year and at 6-foot-3, 210 pounds, he has looked great in doing it. A lot of Heisman voters like to load up on seniors and try to avoid underclassmen, but (as I felt last year with Ohio State freshman running back Maurice Clarett) what's the point in denying a player his due?

I put Jackson at No. 3 with a wink toward provincialism, as the junior running back at Oregon State played his high school ball in Las Vegas. But he's a legitimate Heisman candidate as he leads the Pac-10 in rushing and led last year as well. He's also a powerful 224 pounds and has 4.4 speed, making him a certain high draft choice by the NFL.

I make no apologies for voting early and without hesitation. And you know what? The Democrats wish they had it so easy.