Heisman? Not Troy Smith.

OSU QB Troy Smith had another subpar game. Smith had 108 yards and a pick against the Illini and they only put up 17 points. If the Buckeyes don't want to run up the score by throwing all over the field, that's fine. But 17 points, even if in the form of a 17-0 lead, isn't running up the score. Putting up just 14 points of offense against Penn State and relying on 2 late defensive TD's to bolster the margin isn't impressive. People ahve been saying that Smith is leader unless he slips up. Penn State was a slip up. Illinois was a slip up.

The Heisman Trophy is NOT a team award. It's an individual award. Or, did something change? Troy Smith doesn't have the highest rating. He doesn't have the most yards or the highest completion percentage. He doesn't have the most TD's. His 3 INT's and 22 TD's are the same as Houston's Kevin Kolb, who is ahead of Smith in yards, completion percentage and yards per attempt.

Ohio State was supposed to have a suspect defense this year. It's been anything but. They've held every opponent to 17 or less. That's impressive. Troy Smith has been solid, but not spectacular. He has great receivers and solid backs. Maybe, in some games, he hasn't needed to be spectacular. The problem is that he has laid some eggs. Adrian Peterson had over 100 yards against Texas, a team with a very stout run defense. People said Peterson didn't play well enough to win the Heisman because of that performance. Sure, he had a fumble. But, I'll take 109 yards, 1 TD and a fumble for a RB against Texas over 108 yards and 1 INT for a QB against Illinois any day! Who wouldn't?

I'm not arguing for Adrian Peterson for Heisman. That would be ridiculous because he broke his collarbone. I'm using it as an example of the hypocrisy of sportscasters. If they like someone, they spin things for them. If they don't like someone, they spin it the other way. McNabb yelling at people is motivating them. Owens yelling at people is berating them. More often, the spin is by omission. Commentators praise Colt McCoy but don't say anything when he pitches the ball late on an option when he should just eat it or when he makes ill-advised throws. The option pitch was behind the RB who saved the redshirt frosh QB's butt. They praised McCoy on a TD throw to TE Jermichael Finley. The throw wasn't particularly good. It was high and on the wrong side of Finley, who made a spectacular catch. The safety over the top could have blown Finley up except that he didn't think Finley would make a play on it and was going for the interception. McCoy got lucky on that one because his TE made an unbelievable play ... but there wasn't any mention of that. I'm not lobbying for Peterson ... I'm trying to draw attention to the fact that Troy Smith is not a clear-cut Heisman leader, or he shouldn't be. Maybe he's in the running if he comes up big against Big Blue, maybe not. People need to do their homework and look at other people instead of listening to all the early-season buzz created by OSU beating Texas in Austin.