BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- He could have left. For the NFL. For another school. He could have packed his bags, taken his football and said "I came here for Steve Spurrier and the Fun n' Gun. They're both gone. So am I."

But Rex Grossman chose otherwise. In part because of the bitter taste a late-season loss to Tennessee left in his mouth and in part, he says, because of unfinished business.

An SEC Championship. A national championship. A Heisman Trophy. Consider it the Royal Flush of college football.

	The Packers failed to land Rex Grossman.

"It all centers around winning games," Grossman said. "I just want to win football games and everything else will take care of itself."

Easier said than done. Gone is Spurrier, the offensive genius behind Florida's revolutionary air attack. Instead, former Marshall offensive coordinator Ed Zaunbrecher will call the plays. In addition, Grossman will be without his favorite target, Jabar Gaffney.

But hold your tears. In two seasons, Zaunbrecher's Marshall attack averaged a Florida-like 458.6 yards and 32.9 points per game. And in just 15 spring practices, Grossman was giddy about what he saw.

"There are more options than just the drop back pass," Grossman said, offering a soft jab at the old scheme. "There are a lot more shotguns, no-huddle and rollout plays you guys haven't seen. It gives us a whole new arsenal to attack defenses."

Which is scary. Last season, Grossman finished second in the balloting for the Heisman, just the fifth sophomore to finish in the Top Two. While other Heisman candidates grasped for fuzzy intangibles to boost their candidacy, Grossman pointed to the bottom line -- gaudy statistics.

He was the first quarterback since BYU's Steve Young in 1983 to lead the nation in both passing efficiency (170.8) and total offense (354.4).

He threw for a school-record 3,896 yards, breaking Danny Wuerffel's Heisman-winning mark of 1996. He threw for 300 yards in 10 of 11 games and threw more first-half touchdowns than Heisman counterparts Ken Dorsey, Eric Crouch or Joey Harrington did in entire games.

And now he's back -- with another season of experience.

"He is tremendously talented," said Tennessee coach Phillip Fulmer. "Every time I watch film on him, I'm more and more impressed with his arm strength, delivery, toughness. He's a very special quarterback."

Grossman's blend of cockiness and confidence has been compared to Spurrier. His ultra-quick release to that of Marino.

Is he the best in the country? Grossman won't say. When you meet him, the first thing that sticks out is his coy smile. Ask him if he's the top football player in the nation and a devilish grin accompanies his verbal dance.

"You got me," said Grossman, who has thrown for an NCAA record 55 touchdowns in his first two seasons. "Obviously, my opinion doesn't matter. I don't vote in any of those things. But I would think that if you asked every person in college football the same question, they would have themselves No. 1. So we'll have to wait and see what happens."

If he does win, it won't be because of an elaborate marketing campaign. For all the clever ways to promote a Heisman candidate -- from a billboard in Times Square and a banner on the side of a water tower to a flashy CD Rom and a corny bobble head doll --Grossman won't go for any of it.

He thinks it's phony. Unnecessary. And a little embarrassing. His ideal Heisman promotion? Nothing. Let the statistics and won-loss record speak for itself.

If you had those numbers, you'd say that, too.

"It gets a little fake when you have billboards and a campaign. It gets away from football," Grossman said. "And you want to win because of what you've done on the field -- not some mass mailing."

Wayne Drehs is a staff writer at ESPN.com. He can be reached at wayne.drehs@espnpub.com.