Rose Bowl Notes: Crouch Has Shot At Rare Heisman Feat
Jan. 2, 2002
By MARK LONG
AP Sports Writer
PASADENA, Calif. (AP) – Only four players since 1950 have won the HeismanTrophy and a national championship in the same season. None of them was fromMiami or Nebraska.
Heisman winners from the two schools have a brief history of not winning thebig game.
Miami quarterbacks Vinny Testaverde and Gino Torretta won college football’stop award in 1986 and 1992, respectively, then lost title games thefollowing month. Testaverde lost to Penn State in the Fiesta Bowl, andTorretta lost to Alabama in the Sugar Bowl.
Nebraska’s Mike Rozier won the Heisman in 1983, then lost the championshipgame to the Hurricanes in the Orange Bowl.
Maybe Huskers quarterback and 2001 Heisman Trophy winner Eric Crouch canbreak the cycle. Fourth-ranked Nebraska (11-1) will find out Thursday nightin the Rose Bowl against top-ranked Miami (11-0).
“To me the Heisman Trophy in this game is trivial,” Crouch said.
Maybe so. But if the Cornhuskers win, Crouch will be the first Heismanwinner for either school to also take home the ultimate crown. JohnnyRodgers, Nebraska’s first Heisman winner in 1972, is the only one to win theaward at either school and not play for the title.
Only four players in the past five decades have won the Heisman and anational championship in the same season: Pittsburgh’s Tony Dorsett in 1976,Florida State’s Charlie Ward in 1993, Florida’s Danny Wuerffel in 1996 andMichigan’s Charles Woodson in 1997.
Nebraska coach Frank Solich doesn’t expect the Heisman hype to be adistraction for Crouch.
“He wants to be special in this game as he’s wanted to be special in everygame that he’s put on a Nebraska uniform and played in,” Solich said. “He’sbeen a guy that’s been able to drown out a lot of distractions.”
RISING SONS: Receiver Kellen Winslow Jr. and fullback Jarrett Payton, whohave Hall of Fame fathers, have done little for the Hurricanes this season.That could change Thursday.
Winslow, whose father is Hall of Fame tight end Kellen Winslow, has twocatches for 34 yards. He moved from receiver to tight end earlier thisseason, then back to receiver last week when Ethenic Sands was suspended forviolating a team rule.
The suspension could give Winslow his most significant playing time thisseason.
“It should be real exciting,” Winslow said. “I’ll get a chance to show mytalent a little bit.”
Payton, the son of Hall of Fame running back Walter Payton, has 14 carriesfor 26 yards and two touchdowns, and three receptions for 19 yards. Becauseof an injury to Najeh Davenport, Payton figures to play a lot of downsagainst the Huskers.
He just wishes his father, who died of bile duct cancer two years ago, couldbe there to see him play.
“That’s like the biggest thing,” Payton said. “My dad never got down to seeme play in a college game.”
RESILIENT HUSKERS: Nebraska hasn’t lost back-to-back games since the 1990season. The Huskers lost to Oklahoma 45-10 in the regular-season finale,then fell to Georgia Tech 45-21 in the 1991 Citrus Bowl.
The Huskers have lost 14 times since that bowl game, including a 62-36 lossto Colorado on Nov. 23, but haven’t lost two in a row in 11 years. Thatstreak is on the line against Miami.
“That’s the way it works when you take over a program like the University ofNebraska that has been so successful for so many years,” Huskers coach FrankSolich said. “That means the head coaches prior to myself did an outstandingjob and many teams and many great players come through here.”
Added Crouch: “We don’t lose very many football games, but when we do wetake them to heart.”
GOING PRO?: Several juniors are facing a big decision after the Rose Bowl:to stay in school or leave early for the NFL.
For Miami, cornerback Phillip Buchanon, running back Clinton Portis and tight end Jeremy Shockey said they have or will consider petitioning the NFL fortheir draft status and then make a decision before Jan. 11, the deadline forunderclassmen to declare for the draft.
For Nebraska, guard Toniu Fonoti could make the jump to the next level. Buthe said he will not think about the possible move until after Thursday’sgame.
QUOTE OF THE DAY: Solich on whether the Huskers deserve to be playing forthe national title after losing their final regular season game 62-36 toColorado:
“I was a little bit misquoted. It was indicated by one columnist that weplayed as well as anybody in the country. We played better than anyone inthe country when you add up 11 straight football games.”
