It was a day for the quarterbacks. Texas had a bye this week, giving the four quarterbacks chasing the Longhorns' Ricky Williams a chance to put their best foot forward to Heisman voters, whose ballots are due Dec. 11.
But the quarterbacks weren't the only ones looking to make their mark. Cade McNown might as well have had a bullseye painted on his helmet. Before UCLA even stepped onto the Rose Bowl field the Trojan defense made no bones about the fact they were setting their sights on the Bruins quarterback. More than one USC player mentioned that the Trojans defense put Arizona State quarterback Ryan Kealy on the sidelines with a concussion in the victory over the Sun Devils earlier this season.
"We don't like any quarterback, whoever it is," Sultan Abdul-Malik said. "What happened with Ryan Kealy happens. We're going to come after (McNown)."
Glory comes with a price. Defenses don't like quarterbacks for precisely the same reason Heisman voters love them. They are a team's posterboy. The stuff of promotional posters and nightly highlight reels. In the past decade, 21 quarterbacks have finished among the top four in the Heisman voting. This year, it is likely that three of the top four vote getters will be quarterbacks.
And despite the ill intentions of Abdul-Malik and the Trojans defense, it looks like McNown will be among the finalists at the Dec. 12 trophy presentation in New York. And it's not because of his statistics, but because of his success. Against USC, McNown threw for 146 yards and was picked off twice. But UCLA beat the Trojans for the eighth straight year, and McNown won his 20th straight game as a starter.
Contrast McNown with Tim Couch, who has astronomical passing totals but he's 0-4 against teams currently ranked in the top 25.
| RICKY WILLIAMS |
STATS |
| 1. |
Breaking it down with ESPN's Kirk Herbstreit: It's down to a two-man race and Texas A&M's defense will decide who wins the Heisman. On Friday, the Aggies face Williams and it's very simple: If Williams breaks 2,000 yards and sets the Division I-A single-season rushing record, the Heisman Trophy is his. If he struggles against Texas A&M, it opens the door for Michael Bishop in the Big XII Championship Game against Texas A&M.
Stock: Idle
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
|
| MICHAEL BISHOP |
STATS |
| 2. |
Breaking it down: It's the fourth quarter and the team needs a game-clinching touchdown to seal its first 11-0 season. The coach turns to the quarterback and tells him to do what he does best ... and Michael Bishop responds by rushing for 35 yards on Kansas State's 38-yard drive to a touchdown. Bishop rushed for 104 yards against Missouri, posting a game-high rushing total for the second straight week. He also rushed for a touchdown, giving him 13 this season. Only Devin West and Ricky Williams have rushed for more touchdowns in the Big 12.
Stock: 
Dec. 5: vs. Texas A&M
Big 12 Championship |
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
at Missouri
Nov. 21
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
13-26-157
145-267-2,503
|
TD-INT
1-0
2-0
2-0
4-0
0-1
3-0
3-0
1-0
2-0
2-1
1-1
21-3
|
| TIM COUCH |
STATS |
| 3. |
Breaking it down: Couch finished the season with a 72.3 completion percentage. Any other year and that would have been a Division I-A single-season record. But this year, Daunte Culpepper finished with a completion percentage of 73.6. And Couch has a big problem: He is 0-4 against teams currently ranked in the top 25. In those four games he has completed 67.8 percent of his passes for an average of 392 yards. In games against opponents currently outside the top 25, his completion percentage is 75.5 percent with an average of 451 yards.
Stock: 
|
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
at Tennessee
Nov. 21
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
35-56-337
400-553-4,375
|
TD-INT
7-0
5-0
1-4
3-2
3-1
3-0
3-1
2-2
2-1
5-3
2-1
36-15
|
| CADE McNOWN |
STATS |
| 4. |
Breaking it down: He will never know what it's like to lose to USC. Saturday's 34-17 win over the Trojans extended UCLA's win streak over its cross-town rivals to eight. But it was freshman DeShaun Foster -- not McNown -- who stole Saturday's show. And it's not just stats that are working against the Bruins quarterback. A Pac-10 player has finished among the top four in the Heisman voting in only three of the past 10 years. McNown has one game left to impress voters. A strong showing won't win him the award, but it could ensure he makes the trip to the awards ceremony.
Stock:
Dec. 5: at Miami
|
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
vs. USC
Nov. 21
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
12-20-146
162-288-2,617
|
TD-INT
3-1
1-1
1-1
2-0
3-2
2-0
1-2
4-1
0-0
1-2
18-10
|
| JOE GERMAINE |
STATS |
| 5. |
Breaking it down: There is a touch of irony in Germaine's regular-season total of 210 completions: It is one short of Bobby Hoying's school record of 211 completions set in 1995. That one completion was the pass that was picked off in the end zone to conclude Michigan State's upset. But Germaine did wrap up a spectacular season in which he posted seven 300-yard passing games -- a school record for both a season and a career. But if that pass wasn't picked off, Germaine might be neck-and-neck with Williams instead of an also-ran.
Stock:
|
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
vs. Michigan
Nov. 21
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
16-28-330
210-347-3,102
|
TD-INT
2-0
3-0
0-0
1-1
3-0
2-2
3-1
3-0
1-1
3-2
3-0
24-7
|
