COLLEGE FOOTBALL; Buckeyes' Smith Collects Heisman in a Runaway
By JOE DRAPE
Published: December 10, 2006
Troy Smith was the last player Ohio State signed to its 2002 recruiting class, a gamble for a highly regarded quarterback prospect and for a program that was not sure he was quarterback material. The player and the university were rewarded last night, when Smith won the Heisman Trophy, the seventh time an Ohio State player has won the award.
Smith won it in a runaway. His margin of victory was the second largest in the award's history. He received 801 first-place votes and 2,540 total points over a surprise runner-up -- the Arkansas sophomore running back Darren McFadden, who finished with 878 points. Notre Dame quarterback Brady Quinn was third with 782.
For Smith, college football's most famous award is hardly the culmination of his college career. He will lead the undefeated Buckeyes (12-0) in the Bowl Championship Series title game against Florida on Jan. 8 in Glendale, Ariz.
Winning the Heisman did offer Smith a moment of triumph for enduring a college career that began frustratingly and was anything but smooth.
He began playing for Ohio State as a backup running back and return specialist. As a sophomore, Smith became the starting quarterback in the seventh game, after Justin Zwick was injured a week earlier. Smith led the Buckeyes to four victories in five games.
In December of that year, he was suspended for two games -- the 2004 Alamo Bowl and the 2005 season opener -- for accepting $500 from an Ohio State booster, a violation of N.C.A.A. rules.
Smith returned to the starting spot in the third game of his junior season. He has gone 25-2 as a starter, but he made it clear that many people were involved in his turnaround. He acknowledged his bumpy ascent to becoming the Buckeyes' star quarterback and credited Ohio State Coach Jim Tressel and his teammates for helping him win college football's most prestigious individual award.
''He put the ball in my hand and let me know he had trust in me to lead this team,'' Smith said of Tressel.
Smith named a dozen teammates before dissolving into a heartfelt thank you, saying, ''My whole team -- I wouldn't be in this situation without these guys.''
But Smith reserved his highest praise for the father of Ted Ginn Jr., his teammate and boyhood friend. Ted Ginn Sr. practically raised Smith from age 7, and coached Smith and Ginn Jr. at Glenville High School in Cleveland.
In Smith's senior season in high school, Ginn Jr. met with Smith privately and told him that he had an attitude problem that needed to be corrected immediately. When Smith was suspended after the N.C.A.A. violations, Ginn Sr. was even more stern, telling Smith to be contrite and to work harder on his personality, as well as his game.
''He's my father, my dad, and he shaped me into the man I am today,'' Smith said. ''I think a man had to teach a man how to be a man.''
On the field, Smith made his case for the Heisman week in and week out. He threw for 2,507 yards and a university-record 30 touchdowns. He was intercepted only five times and was the nation's fourth-rated passer (167.9).
He was spectacular when Ohio State needed him to be. Early in the season, he dissected Texas, the defending national champion, completing 17 of 26 passes for 269 yards and 2 touchdowns in a 24-7 victory in Austin, Tex.
Against Penn State, he erased what appeared to be a ho-hum performance -- 12 for 22 with 2 interceptions -- by scrambling away from heavy pressure, reversing field and heaving a 37-yard touchdown pass to Brian Robiskie to help Ohio State win, 28-6.
Last month, in the Buckeyes' season finale against its archrival, Michigan, Smith tossed four touchdown passes in a 42-39 victory that put Ohio State in the national championship game.
Last night, Smith shared the dais with Quinn and McFadden, both of whom had fine seasons and knew they were destined to be distant runners-up.
Quinn was the preseason Heisman favorite, and his numbers were impressive: He threw for 3,278 yards and 35 touchdowns in leading the Fighting Irish (10-2) to a Sugar Bowl matchup with Louisiana State. His Heisman candidacy took a debilitating hit early in the season when he threw three interceptions and lost a fumble in a 47-21 loss to Michigan in South Bend, Ind.
''He played big in big games, and if nothing else, he got his team into the national championship game,'' Quinn said of Smith.
McFadden was the first Razorback to be named a Heisman finalist and was the catalyst for Arkansas's surprising 10-3 season. He ran for a university-record 1,558 yards, scored 16 touchdowns and even threw 3 touchdown passes. McFadden's second-place finish makes him an early favorite to win the 73rd Heisman Trophy next year.
''It was great to be here as a sophomore behind some seniors,'' he said. ''You got to work hard and hope the hard work is paying off for you.''
No matter how troubled Smith's early days as a Buckeye might have been, Heisman voters were impressed by the 12 Saturdays of football he put together this past season. His margin of victory -- 1,662 points -- was second only to O. J. Simpson's in 1968.
Smith joined Eddie George (1995), Archie Griffin ('74-'75), Howard Cassady ('55), Vic Janowicz ('50) and Les Horvath ('44) as Heisman winners from Ohio State. Horvath was also a quarterback; the others were running backs. Ohio State is tied with Notre Dame and Southern California with seven Heisman victories.
As overwhelmed as Smith was about the Heisman, he knew that his personal joy needed to be suspended, at least for a few more weeks.
''Now let's move on to preparation for the University of Florida,'' he said, ''and the national championship game.''
Photo: The focus on Ohio State quarterback Troy Smith continued even after he was named the Heisman Trophy winner last night in Manhattan. (Photo by Julie Jacobson/Associated Press)