Graham Harrell Being Robbed of Consideration for Heisman

The fact that Graham Harrell is not a candidate at tonight’s Heisman trophy presentation in New York is astounding. Both national championship opponents, Florida quarterback Tim Tebow and Oklahoma quarterback Sam Bradford, will be first ballot contenders for this year’s top award in college football. Alongside Bradford and Tebow, who is looking to repeat as Heisman winner, is Texas quarterback Colt McCoy.

Not only was Texas Tech left out of a BCS bowl, but arguably college football’s best quarterback in Graham Harrell does not have a chance at winning the Heisman trophy.

In what turned out to be a crazy final few weeks of the college season, you can make a case for each team, so stay with me here.

McCoy’s Longhorns defeated Bradford’s Sooners 45-35 on Oct. 11, only to be upstaged by Harrell’s Red Raiders who defeated McCoy Longhorns 39-33 on Nov. 1. 

Then came Bradford and Oklahoma roaring back and crushing Texas Tech and Harrell 65-21 on Nov. 22. 

Then throw in Florida and Tebow’s 31-20 victory over former No. 1 Alabama and the National Championship now pits Florida against Oklahoma. Just because the Red Raiders are not in the National Championship is no reason to discredit Harrell. Last year’s Heisman winner, Tim Tebow, was not in the National Championship last year either. Still, the case can be made for all four quarterbacks.

Florida quarterback Tim Tebow threw 28 touchdowns and rushed for 12 more all while only throwing two interceptions. Impressive as Tebow’s numbers may be, they are down from last year’s 55 touchdowns which helped Tebow win his first Heisman trophy.

Oklahoma quarterback Sam Bradford, only a sophomore, put up astonishing numbers passing for 4,464 yards, and is also leading the NCAA in passing touchdowns with 48 and a quarterback rating of 186.29 to go along with just six interceptions.

Texas quarterback Colt McCoy improved in a major way from his 2007 campaign, throwing 10 more touchdowns, 11 fewer interceptions, and leading the NCAA in completion percentage at 77.6 percent.

Texas Tech quarterback Graham Harrell led the NCAA in completions, completing for 406 passes out of 568 attempts to go along with 4,747 passing yards, 41 touchdowns, and just seven interceptions.

Now, perhaps Harrell should not be a shoe in for the Heisman, but he definitely deserves more consideration than he is getting. Harrell may not get the votes that count, but he has my vote.