There's a reason Michael Bishop's Heisman campaign has been largely silent this season. Namely, there isn't one. At least not in the conventional sense. With less than 30 shopping days until the Heisman Trophy is handed out at the Downtown Athletic Club on Dec. 12, Bishop hasn't spoken to the media in six weeks.
In an era of promotional posters and weekly mailing lists designed to drub Heisman voters into submission, the Kansas State hype machine has remained idle. Coach Bill Snyder has taken the high road when it comes to the award chase, laying low and avoiding publicity. Under Snyder's direction, the school has produced nary a postcard to tout Bishop's candidacy.
"I don't think anyone can talk their way into the Heisman," Snyder told the Kansas City Star. Snyder made sure his quarterback wouldn't prove him wrong, imposing a gag order on Bishop following the Colorado game on Oct. 10.
But even Snyder can't hide his quarterback's success in the most important game of the Wildcats' regular season. On Saturday, Bishop almost single-handedly snapped Kansas State's 29-game losing streak to Nebraska, passing for 306 yards and two touchdowns while rushing for a game-high 140 yards and two touchdowns.
Bishop avenged the lone loss of his collegiate career in the Wildcats' 40-30 victory over Nebraska, and his two rushing touchdowns against the Huskers give him 12 on the season, which is one more rushing touchdown than Ron Dayne's season total. And beside leading the Big 12 in passing, his 543 rushing yards rank 11th in the conference.
| RICKY WILLIAMS |
STATS |
| 1. |
Breaking it down: He wasn't even the top-rushing Ricky Williams on the field Saturday. That honor belongs to Texas Tech's back, who finished with 148 yards. But before we go bashing the dredded Heisman favorite, let's remember this was a Red Raiders defense that had allowed only one 100-yard rusher this season before Williams. And Williams' 141-yards rushing make him the second player in Division I-A history to pass the 6,000-yard mark for his career. With one game to go, he's 63 yards shy of breaking Tony Dorsett's rushing record.
Stock: 
Nov. 27: vs. Texas A&M
|
Opponent
vs. N.Mexico St.
Sept. 5
at UCLA
Sept. 12
at Kansas State
Sept. 19
vs. Rice
Sept. 26
vs. Iowa St.
Oct. 3
at Oklahoma
Oct. 10
vs. Baylor
Oct. 24
at Nebraska
Oct. 31
vs. Oklahoma St.
Nov. 7
at Texas Tech
Nov. 14
Season
|
Car-Yds
36-215
29-160
25-43
30-318
37-350
31-139
39-259
37-150
23-90
30-141
317-1,865
|
TD
6
3
0
6
5
2
2
0
1
2
27
|
| TIM COUCH |
STATS |
| 2. |
Breaking it down: Couch threw for nearly 500 yards against Vanderbilt and it wasn't even a season-high. He now has 3,938 passing yards this season, setting a new confrence record. But that's not even a new record because he set the conference passing mark last season with 3,884 yards passing. And once Couch took to the sidelines in his final home game of the year, the crowd at Commonwealth Stadium chanted, "One more year." If he heeds that advice, Couch would be the leading Heisman candidate ... for next year's award.
Stock:
Nov. 21: at Tennessee
|
Opponent
at Louisville
Sept. 5
vs. E.Kentucky
Sept. 12
vs. Indiana
Sept. 19
at Florida
Sept. 26
at Arkansas
Oct. 3
vs. South Carolina
Oct. 10
at LSU
Oct. 17
vs. Georgia
Oct. 24
vs. Mississippi St.
Nov. 7
vs. Vanderbilt
Nov. 14
Season
|
Cmp-Att-Yds
29-39-498
32-41-372
38-53-301
40-61-406
47-67-499
29-42-315
37-50-391
34-46-326
35-45-338
44-53-492
365-497-3,938
|
TD-INT
7-0
5-0
1-4
3-2
3-1
3-0
3-1
2-2
2-1
5-3
34-14
|
| MICHAEL BISHOP |
STATS |
| 3. |
Breaking it down with ESPN's Beano Cook: "Saturday's performance was unreal and he should really be considered in the running for the award. I think he will finish among the top three candidates. I don't think he will win it, but if was voting right now Michael Bishop would be my No. 1 choice."
In Saturday's win over Nebraska, Bishop accounted for all but 66 yards of the Wildcats' offense. He also turned the ball over four times, but who's counting?
Stock:
Nov. 21: at Missouri
|
Opponent
vs. Indiana St.
Sept. 5
vs. N. Illinois
Sept. 12
vs. Texas
Sept. 19
vs. NE Louisiana
Sept. 26
at Colorado
Oct. 10
vs. Oklahoma St.
Oct. 17
vs. Iowa St.
Oct. 24
vs. Iowa St.
Oct. 31
at Baylor
Nov. 7
vs. Nebraska
Nov. 14
Season
|
Cmp-Att-Yds
6-11-149
6-13-130
14-20-182
23-40-441
9-25-148
8-23-287
14-21-216
16-26-225
17-29-262
19-33-306
132-241-2,346
|
TD-INT
1-0
2-0
2-0
4-0
0-1
3-0
3-0
1-0
2-0
2-1
20-2
|
| CADE MCNOWN |
STATS |
| 4. |
Breaking it down: On a day that the two teams above UCLA in the national rankings trailed in the fourth quarter, UCLA's game at Washington turned out to be the big easy. So easy that McNown only attempted 24 passes, one of which was a 61-yard completion to Danny Farmer, giving him 20 completions of 30 yards or more this season. The Bruins have the nation's longest win streak at 19 games, and while there have been close calls, McNown hasn't let the Bruins down yet.
Stock: 
Nov. 21: vs. USC
|
Opponent
vs. Texas
Sept. 12
at Houston
Sept. 19
at Miami
Sept. 26
vs. Wash. St.
Oct. 3
at Arizona
Oct. 10
vs. Oregon
Oct. 17
at California
Oct. 24
vs. Stanford
Oct. 31
at Oregon St.
Nov. 7
at Washington
Nov. 14
Season
|
Cmp-Att-Yds
20-30-339
17-32-315
Postponed
14-27-205
10-24-171
20-36-395
15-27-182
19-31-254
23-37-377
12-24-233
150-268-2,471
|
TD-INT
3-1
1-1
1-1
2-0
3-2
2-0
1-2
4-1
0-0
17-8
|
| JOE GERMAINE |
STATS |
| 5. |
Breaking it down: One week after their national championship hopes evaporated along with a 24-9 lead against Michigan State, the Buckeyes were leading the 3-6 Iowa Hawkeyes by a mere touchdown late in the second quarter. Not exactly a bounce-back statement. But Germaine restored the two-touchdown lead by driving Ohio State 59 yards in 36 seconds, capping it with a 17-yard touchdown pass to David Boston. But while he finished with three touchdown passes, Germaine was also intercepted twice.
Stock:
Nov. 21: vs. Michigan |
Opponent
at West Virginia
Sept. 5
vs. Toledo
Sept. 12
vs. Missouri
Sept. 26
vs. Penn State
Oct. 3
at Illinois
Oct. 10
vs. Minnesota
Oct. 17
at Northwestern
Oct. 24
at Indiana
Oct. 31
vs. Michigan State
Nov. 7
at Iowa
Nov. 14
Season
|
Att-Cmp-Yds
18-32-301
13-21-150
19-25-211
16-30-213
17-28-307
27-39-339
19-35-342
31-45-351
16-34-239
18-30-319
194-319-2,772
|
TD-INT
2-0
3-0
0-0
1-1
3-0
2-2
3-1
3-0
1-1
3-2
21-7
|
