Troy Smith Wins the Heisman

Winning the Heisman Trophy was easy. The hard part for Troy Smith was staying composed.

To the surprise of no one, the Ohio State quarterback was the runaway winner of the award that honors college football's best player.

Just two years after nearly derailing his career by taking money from a booster, Smith received 801 first-place votes and won the Heisman by 1,662 points — both the second-best marks in the 71-year history of the award.

Arkansas running back Darren McFadden (878) finished second, Notre Dame quarterback Brady Quinn (782) was third and West Virginia running back Steve Slaton (214) was fourth.

Only O.J. Simpson's 1,750-point victory in 1968 was more lopsided than Smith's.

The senior moved to the front of the Heisman race in September with a flawless performance against Texas and finished off a perfect regular season by throwing four touchdown passes against Michigan.

Now, there's only one thing left for Smith to do: Beat Florida for the national championship on Jan. 8.

The 22-year-old Smith is the sixth player from Ohio State to win the Heisman and first since tailback Eddie George in 1995. And it's the school's seventh Heisman — Archie Griffin won two in 1974-75 — tying Notre Dame and Southern California for the most.

Smith received 86.7 percent of the first-place votes, a record, and his point total of 2,540 places third in Heisman history behind Simpson (2,853) and fellow Southern California tailback Reggie Bush, who had 2,541 last season

USC had been on a Heisman run, winning two straight and three of the last four, before Smith stepped in. Just like USC's Bush and Matt Leinart, and Oklahoma's Jason White in '03, Smith will play for the national title as a Heisman winner.

Smith came to Ohio State as part of a heralded recruiting class in 2002, but his signing was little more than a footnote. His claim to fame was being Ted Ginn Jr.'s quarterback at Glenville High School.

Smith was labeled an "athlete" coming out of high school, the type of player who might ultimately find a home at wide receiver or defensive back.

Even Tressel wasn't sure he'd play quarterback, but he saw potential.

Smith finished the '05 season with consecutive 300-yard passing games in victories over Michigan and Notre Dame in the Fiesta Bowl, essentially kicking off his '06 Heisman campaign.

Once known more for his speed and elusiveness, Smith's become the consummate pocketpasser. Accurate and poised, he's fourth in the nation in passer rating (167.9) with 2,507 yards passing and 30 TD passes.

He heads into the BCS championship game 25-2 as a starter, and — Gators beware — Smith has been at his best when the Buckeyes have needed him most.

The first Ohio State quarterback in 70 years to lead the Buckeyes to three straight victories over Michigan, Smith had 1,051 total yards with seven touchdown passes and another TD run against the Wolverines.

He's 11-1 as a starter against ranked opponents, with a chance to improve on that mark in the biggest game of his career in Arizona against Florida.

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Dennis Erickson has accepted the head coaching job at Arizona State, Idaho athletic director Rob Spear said Saturday night.

The 59-year-old Erickson spent one season at Idaho in his second stint at the school, going 4-8. He led Miami to two national titles, also has been a head coach at Wyoming, Washington State and Oregon State and coached Seattle and San Francisco in the NFL.

Erickson has a 149-64-1 record in 18 seasons as a college coach. At Oregon State, he took over a program that had an NCAA Division I-record 28 straight losing seasons. His first team in Corvallis went 7-5 and an Oahu Bowl appearance. His second Beavers' team routed Notre Dame in the Fiesta Bowl to cap an 11-1 season.

Erickson replaces Dirk Koetter, who was fired after going 40-33 in six seasons. Koetter will coach the Sun Devils against Hawaii in the Hawaii Bowl on Dec. 24.

Erickson coached the Seahawks from 1995 through 1998, compiling a 31-33 record. He returned to the NFL for two seasons with San Francisco. His first 49ers team went 7-9 in 2003, but he was fired after a 2-14 record in 2004.

Erickson's first head coaching job was with Idaho from 1982 through 1985. The former Montana State quarterback coached one season at Wyoming and two at Washington State before moving to Miami.

Under Erickson, the Hurricanes went 63-9 in six seasons and won national championships in 1989 and 1991.

The Sun Devils were 7-5 and are in a bowl game for the third year in a row. Love gave Koetter a three-year, $2.85 million contract extension a year ago, but she decided this season that he couldn't take the program to the level she wants it to be.

Koetter's Sun Devils were 2-19 against ranked teams, 0-12 against Pac-10 teams in California and 21-28 in the Pac-10 overall.


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