For Heisman vote, look beyond Harrell, Crabtree

By Adam Zuvanich on November 12th, 2008 View Comments Printer-Friendly

By Adam Zuvanich | Lubbock Avalanche-Journal

A month and a half ago, during its first bye week, Texas Tech launched a clever Heisman Trophy campaign for its two brightest stars.

Zuvanich

Passorcatch2008.com, the Web site created to promote Graham Harrell and Mike Crabtree, pits the quarterback against the flanker in an election-style competition. Both candidates make their case as to why they should win, and they also take occasional shots at each other like any politician would.

At the time, though, their chances of winning seemed no more legitimate than the faux political campaign. Harrell and Crabtree were marginal candidates at best, with the top of most Heisman watch lists featuring a trio of other Big 12 Conference stars – quarterbacks Sam Bradford of Oklahoma, Missouri’s Chase Daniel and Texas’ Colt McCoy.

But now, during the Red Raiders’ second bye week, their Heisman campaign is proving prophetic. Tech is ranked second in the nation and stands as only unbeaten team in the Big 12, and Harrell and Crabtree have become topics of just about every Heisman conversation.

Harrell, the senior from Ennis, is widely regarded as the Heisman favorite at this point. He tops the latest polls conducted by Sports Illustrated, ESPN and the Rocky Mountain News, which has correctly predicted the winner in 18 of the last 21 years. And Crabtree, the sophomore from Dallas, has jumped into the top five on most watch lists.

Their stock will only improve if Tech continues to win, and Harrell figures to maintain an edge over his favorite target, but which player is more deserving? It depends on the criteria.

If the Heisman Trophy is essentially a most valuable quarterback award – which it has been in seven of the last eight years – the nod has to go to Harrell. He’s the engineer of the nation’s most productive offense, and his poise, precision and decision-making abilities have been just as impressive as his 4,077 passing yards and 36 touchdowns.

If the award honors the country’s most talented and electrifying player, Crabtree might be the best choice. He’s racked up 78 catches for 1,010 yards and a nation-leading 18 TDs, and if he elects to enter the NFL draft in the spring, he’s sure to be a first-round pick. It’s also safe to say Crabtree’s game-winning grab against Texas is ingrained in the minds of Heisman voters.

Tech coach Mike Leach, referred to as Commander in Chief on the promotional Web site, tried to be politically correct when asked about the whole thing.

“I’d definitely vote for one of our guys,” said Leach, eventually adding he’d probably give the edge to Harrell because of his leadership.

If I had a Heisman vote, and the Raiders are still undefeated when ballots are due in early December, I wouldn’t vote for Harrell or Crabtree. They aren’t playing that much better than they were a year ago, and they’re not why Tech is enjoying its finest season on record.

Sticking with the campaign theme, Harrell and Crabtree wouldn’t be such strong candidates if it weren’t for the Secret Service and Department of Defense. Tech’s gargantuan offensive line is arguably the most dominant in college football – Harrell has been sacked only five times, and Tech has rushed for at least 100 yards in all 10 games – and its defense might be the best in the Big 12.

So instead of deciding between pass and catch, consider casting a vote for Darcel McBath, Daniel Charbonnet or Brandon Williams. Better yet, give the Heisman Trophy to left tackle Rylan Reed, the 6-foot-7, 314-pound anchor of Tech’s offense.

You can’t have a pass or catch without good blocking up front, which isn’t lost on Harrell.

“The offensive line really sets the tone and really allows Crab and I to both be successful,” he said, “so they are the ones who really deserve the credit.”

Reed, soon to be a 27-year-old senior, is the best story anyway. He’s a cancer survivor and former professional baseball player, and he’s also the guy who was carted off the field with a broken ankle after limiting Chris Long – a No. 2 draft pick – to three tackles and no sacks in last year’s Gator Bowl win over Virginia.

So give some love to the big guy, and vote block in 2008. Vote Rylan Reed.

  • LJE

    Adam,

    That was a great article… until you get to the last paragraph or two.

    As a football coach of 12 years, I understand that a successful offense begins with the O-line… but a lineman isn’t going to win the Heisman. Let’s be real.

    EVERY player that has won it has go to give credit to their offensive line. All running backs, receivers, and especially quarterbacks.

    Glad to know that you DO NOT have a vote. It would be like voting for Ralph Nader for President.

    GUNS UP RAIDERS!!!

    Harrell OR Crabtree for the Heisman!

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  • bikermailman

    I fully agree that the O Line and defense are essential, but in the end, a vote for one of the other guys takes a vote away from Harrell or Crabtree. The reason they weren’t legitimate contenders last year though, is because they weren’t winning at the top level. Five Harrells would never stand a chance if they were on A & M’s team. (sorry Aggie fans)

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  • Karl

    While I do not disagree that Rylan Reed deserves post-season accolades for his play this year, Harrell and Crabtree should get the Heisman hype. The reason they came up with all the other position awards was to recognize the play of others besides the so-called “skill” players. Cut the Heisman in half – Harrell/Crabtree for the Heisman!

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  • Ken

    LJE and others:

    Can’t you tell when someone is speaking “tongue-in-cheek”?

    Adam, this was a great article, including the last few paragraphs that made a great point. Too bad some people have to read everthing literally and miss the whole point.

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  • housedivided

    I agree that the O line or the defense never will get the respect or accolades, that aside I can not even fathom Crabtree beating out Harrell. Watching Graham these past weeks, his leadership, changing plays at the line, patience and ability to get the ball into the hands of ANY reciever has been, in a word, astounding. I just hope that with Crab in the mix we don’t split the Tech vote.

    Go Graham.–by the way thanks for the kudos to your line on national TV after the OSU game. I am sure that meant a lot to those guys. It is nice to be appreciated.

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  • DD

    I totally understand the article, men are from mars, women are from venus, and this sportswriter is from hell. Thank god he doesn’t have a vote. He’d be the only person voting for an offensive lineman for the Heisman. True, we have the best offensive line anyone could ever ask for, but isn’t that why they have the Outland,and other awards for those positions. If Harrel isn’t the Heisman winner it will be a farce. He is one of the smartest to ever play the game at that position, it’s like having another offensive coordinator on the field. Does this writer live in Lubbock, oh, that’s right I said he is from Hell. Please mix in a clue every now and then, I think you’ll get better response to your objective style of writing. I think most sportswriters were all frustrated atheletes at one time who believe they know more than everyone else. If Harrell doesn’t win it will because of articles like this. When will you realize who butters your bread.

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  • Mike

    If I had a Heisman vote, and the Raiders are still undefeated when ballots are due in early December, I wouldn’t vote for Harrell or Crabtree. They aren’t playing that much better than they were a year ago, and they’re not why Tech is enjoying its finest season on record.
    ————
    Simply does not make sense, even with the subsequent rational…

    The comments imply that the H winners of the past did not have a team to support them.

    Harrell is showing a step change improvement in his game, as a leader especially.

    Grabtree is also showing why he is a great player, it is not in the numbers he accumulates but in the plays he makes.

    Sorry, Z, you missed it with this thought…

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  • GregS

    “If I had a Heisman vote, and the Raiders are still undefeated when ballots are due in early December, I wouldn’t vote for Harrell or Crabtree. They aren’t playing that much better than they were a year ago, and they’re not why Tech is enjoying its finest season on record.”
    ————————-
    I disagree with this for a completely DIFFERENT reason. First, with respect to Crabtree:
    So, you wouldn’t vote for Crabtree for Heisman because he’s not much different from last season. What happened last season, hmm.. he just shattered the freshman TD reception record and challenged the all-time NCAA record AS a redshirt freshman. Honestly, that he didn’t win last year is a testament to both how well Tebow was playing AND the fact that the Heisman is more voted on the team than the player (plus the freshman bias that also screwed Adrian Peterson). If your best rationale against Crabtree is that he’s ONLY playing as well as last year… well he should take that as a compliment and prepare for NY right now.

    As far as Harrell, he has 2 rushing TDs more than last year and a higher QB rating. Altho both of thos things can be attributed to the line as you noted, but more importantly, Harrell has only _5_ interceptions this year, compared to _14_ last year. (this translates to an interception on approx 1% of his attempts this year vs. 2% of attempts last year, or a ratio of 3.5:1 – TD:Int (2007) vs. 7:1 – TD:Int (2008). That shows a vast improvement in either his decision making or his accuracy, and probably both. (2007=48TDs, 14Ints; 2008=36TDs, 5Ints (so far))

    That said, I’ll agree that neither is probably the primary reason for our success thus far. I think without either we wouldn’t be doing nearly as well, but we have a team of veteran players who were (almost) all here last year, and I think the experience factor should not be dismissed. But, I think the only real change from last year to this was at one spot: DC, and Ruffin McNeil has done a great job pulling our Defense up. They’re not completely lights out yet, but they are vastly improved on 2007. (McCoy has stated part of why he went out of bounds on UT’s final drive in Lubbock is he didn’t want to get hit any more) Since DC isn’t a Heisman position, I think it should go to Harrell or Crabtree, but McNeil should definitely be in any discussion for Defensive Coordinator of the year, and right after we re-sign Leach we need to make sure McNeil stays on board too.

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  • GregS

    One other thing, despite everything I just noted I’d like to point out that in my opinion, without Harrell OR Crabtree, we lose the Texas game. Most any other game this season our other players can probably get it done, but without Harrell’s confidence, poise and leadership we don’t make that final drive. And without Crabtree’s talent, confidence and relentless effort, we don’t punch that last shot in the end zone.

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  • RonH

    C’mon guys, try to appreciate some good points in a cleverly written article – don’t take eveything so seriously (and literally)!
    Great article, Adam!

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  • http://www.myspace.com/harrellfans Cory

    Lets see……..Orlando Pace got close to winning it a while back.

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  • Sleepless In Plainview

    Wow! Some of you guys are WAY too SENSITIVE!!

    This article was just to remind everybody how thankful we should be for the guys in the trenches. Those guys aren’t recruited to play patty-cake in there. They work very hard and deserve some credit!!

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  • DJ

    Wouldn’t it be something if the Heisman ended up being a split vote; Both Crab and Graham shared the award. I don’t think niether of them, nor the fans, would have a problem.

    In order for this to be a real scenario, I think we have to win out, which I have a good feeling about.

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  • Josh

    I understand the nature of the article, and so many of the tech players are unbelievable this year, all are contributing and bringing good, solid gameplay to the table. But on the other side of the coin, for anyone who watched the atrocious LSU/Alabama game, the Tiger’s QB was wretched. If he was even a decent player at this still (I realize he is a frosh) then Texas Tech would be ranked #1 one in the nation. Crabtree or Harrell might not be the “team”, but they are an essential part of it, and without them, we would not have beaten Texas. At this point HARRELL or CRABTREE for Heisman – bring it home to Lubbock!

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  • DD

    Sleepless- Not trying to be 2 sensitive, just stating facts. 2nd place in the balloting is the just the championship of the losers bracket. It takes all of them to be a team without a doubt. We have the best line in the country without question. I JUST WANT THIS GUY TO GET ON THE SAME PAGE. HE WRITES FOR THE A-J AND THESE KIDS PLAY FOR TECH.A smart man would be pulling for the home team and their players. You don’t come out and say “I WOULDN’T VOTE FOR HARRELL” which is what he said. You wouldn’t crap where you eat would you. He shouldn’t either. I personally wouldn’t give him an interview ever if I were Harrell or Crabtree

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  • LJE

    Hey Ken… obviously several other people didn’t see the last few paragraphs as tongue in cheek… but rather head in butt.

    Sleepless… you’re right in that the line deserves some HUGE credit. How about instead of a “tongue in cheek” article, Adam write a strong article as to why one or MORE of our awesome offensive linemen should be considered for the Outland or Lombardi trophy. Maybe they should create the Zac Thomas Award for the most outstanding defensive unit as a whole.

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  • DD
  • Houston Raider

    Adam,
    Thank goodness you don’t have a Heisman vote. If you did, it’s completely clear you would be voting for your boy Colt McCoy no matter what the facts or realtive performance of any of the candidates. Harrell and Crabtree were “marginal candidates at best” compared to Big 12 stars such as McCoy????
    Neither have done much better than their nation-leading performances of last year…????
    What they have done better is they have led this amazing team to a level beyond any previous team from Texas Tech. And even from your biased perspective, that must be incredibly more difficult than someone simply guiding your beloved Horns to another elite season.
    Sure, there’s credit to go around all over the place regarding this Tech team. Just as there always is for any incredibly special TEAM.
    Obviously, your not one of us Adam. While I sometimes find it interesting to read your outside perspective, please don’t ever pretend that you have any of our best interests at heart.
    This is our year. You can stay on the sideline and reminisce about the good old UT glory days… That world is beginning to change…

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  • Josh

    Adam-

    Once again, your cynicism and lack of loyalty to the Lubbock community and Texas Tech shines through. I do agree that the success Tech has seen this year cannot solely be contributed to Harrell and Crabtree. But voting for a defensive back or offensive lineman for the Heisman? Give me a break. How many past Heisman winners were the ONLY reason for their team’s success?

    Your desire to write something “edgy” and provocative is a perfect example of why Lubbock and Texas Tech constantly struggle to get the respect we deserve. Our own local media doesn’t even support the very thing that makes their job worthy of a paycheck.

    Report on local sports with a positive attitude and maintain your journalistic integrity. I promise, the two are not mutually exclusive.

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  • Texas Elite

    Houston Raider

    Your living in a dream world if you think that Tech is going to be the new college football super power. Tech has and always will be a one hit wonder every 5 years.

    As for Crabtree and Harrell they’ll vote each other out and neither will win the Heisman. I personally think Tim Tebow will win it again.

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  • pwh

    Bad article ….bad timing…. We are not asking for cronies but give us a break! These two (Harrell and Crab) and their supporting staff deserve bettter press……please go back Home.
    Is this the best the Lubbock AJ, has to offer?
    The Lubbock AJ just turned BIG Ten….Failing the Grade….
    go cover Penn State

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  • Stan Morgan

    I’d have to say that I agree with the nay-sayers on this one – surely there was a better approach to pointing out that Texas Tech has not ONE but TWO players in Heisman contention. The idea that football is a team sport is not a new one – and all individual awards forsake the reality that no one person could accomplish much by himself on the football field.

    As for the A-J’s crack sports writers/staff – its no secret that their loyalties do not lie with Texas Tech. I second the notion: Is this really the best that the AJ can do? Surely Texas Tech University graduates some English or Journalism Majors who would like to work there?

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  • Sleepless In Plainview

    To all the cry babies on here: Please grow a pair!!

    If you really think this guy can sway voters, you are clueless.

    He was just giving credit to our great offensive line! I can’t imagine how you guys will act, if we wind up on the wrong end of the BCS stick.

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  • LJE

    Hey sleepless…. either get on board the Raider Train, or move to Austin. 90% of the people who have commented on this article have the right perspective. You would think at least the local paper could get it right and support the local team.

    GO RAIDERS… BEAT OU!!!

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  • Sports Fan

    LJE

    This is the problem with the people in Lubbock. God forbid anyone say anything against Tech. Last time I checked, Lubbock was in the United States of America, where free speach is a right.

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  • Raider – Class of 1954

    I liked your article, Adam…. and when Graham accepts “THE TROPHY” he will say, as he did at the end of the game….The offensive line is the heart of this team, and nobody can “Man-up Crab”…. And don’t forget the D….. the DIFFERENCE makers…. That what its all about “THE TEAM”….. and the leader will make those sentiments known to every one because he is total CLASS.
    I like one response with the typo… he wrote (sic) Grabtree….I like that. I am so proud of “the Elf”, Woods, Batch,Leong, Swindall, and others… the whole team is great. Whitmore, Hinton, McBath, Dixon,Williams, Charbonnet, –All –great job, Take it to the House!
    Red Raider from the fifties…

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  • mtech

    They both win the Heisman and each one gets to keep it every other year. Last one living keeps it. Just wishing it could turn out that way…………

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  • O U don’t want none of this

    LJE,

    If you think Adam hits hard, wait til you see our linebacker crush your heisman QB. lol

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  • LJE

    Hey ou… I think it was your cupcake of a QB that got a concussion last year and had to leave the game. Poor little fellow.

    Hey Sportsfan… you are exactly right. We do live in America, and we can all say what is on our mind. What is on my mind is that Adam should support the local team. Come on… you can do better than that. (poor logic)

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  • http://yes Eric in New Mexico

    I’ve been a Tech fan for 58 years. And I don’t care if a Tech player gets the trophy. But, I would like to see a trophy for THE ENTIRE TEAM AND COACHING STAFF! Anyway, there is still a lot of football to be played. And, no matter how the season goes I love this TEXAS TECH TEAM. Because they play together as a team, and that is really what matters to me. GO RAIDERS!!!!!!!!!!!!

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  • O U don’t want none of this

    LJE,

    Your fellow fans don’t even like you! lol CRY BABY CRY

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  • LJE

    OU, I wouldn’t consider everyone on this web site a fan…. after all, you’re here. Second… the only one crying will be Sam Bradford after the Tech Defense gets through with him …again.

    I will say this though, hopefully he will not suffer a concussion again. Those stay with you for a while. However I DO see him taking several hard hits. Most of the guys I have coached with love a hard hit… but never want to see an athlete be seriously hurt.

    Come back and visit again after the Tech – ou game and tell us how lucky and over rated our team is. GO RAIDERS!!!

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  • ranchgirl

    There’s already an award for the best lineman, I believe, the Outland Trophy.

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  • Tech ba

    I like all your enthusiastic comments, and am with you in wanting to see this Team bring it all home. If they keep their momentum going, and don’t get too caught up in reading these clippings; they just might do it.

    Texas Elite, where’d you get your eddercation? Oh, it showed when your very first word was the incorrect one: it’s “you’re living” vice “your living.” Should’ve gone to Tech.!!!

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  • devin everett

    FOCUS PEOPLE!!!!!!!!!
    last FEW weeks it’s been lubbock or eck, FOOD, OSU, UT GAME WAS A FLUKE ETC.whatever……..we want credit and WE are due some, but it is all or nothing in norman. TREAT IT AS SO!!!!!!!! WE MUST GET READY AND SUPPORT THIS TEAM FOR THE BIGGEST GAME EVER, BEATING LITTLE OLE TU OR OSU OR ATM OR KANSAS DOES NOT MEAN A THING. we are not texas we do not get the refs. or the breaks. we have to make our OWN and just fight for a victory!!!!!!!!!!! US, WE, TECH, HAVE ENJOYED THE LIMELIGHT, BUT IF WE LOSE IN NORMAN NOTHING COUNTS—–NOTHING!!!!!!! FOCUS FOCUS FOCUS, PRAY OR DO WHATEVER IS NEEDED TO WIN THIS NEXT GAME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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  • DD

    Sleepless

    I don’t believe growing a pair ha sa thing to do with it, after all they already exist. As for you standing up ADAM DUMBSONOFVICH and his article, well you must have developed differently from the rest of us. You see we developed our brain, we understand where yours went. Just so you know, in comparison PURLITZER PRIZES ARE NOT WON BY THE DELIVERY STAFF of the newspaper.
    Just one more thing, if this guy wrote for the Austin paper and he said the same about Colt McCoy ,even the “weirdhorns” would run him out of town.

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  • LJE

    DD and Devin…… well said!

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