Published: September 07, 2008 02:31 am      

Does White have legitimate shot at Heisman?

John William Heisman, the man for whom the Heisman Trophy is named, never really excelled on the field. At the University of Pennsylvania, he played football for three years, but at 5-8 and 158 pounds, he was outsized on the field.

And he had bad luck. His senior year, he was struck by lightning and was nearly blinded.

Instead, where Heisman showed all of his skills of the trade was on the sidelines with a whistle around his neck. He was legendary — coaching for more than three decades from 1892-1927 at schools like Auburn, Clemson, University of Pennsylvania, Washington & Jefferson and Rice. Heisman was most impressive as the head of the Georgia Tech football team when he went for 33 straight wins.

After Heisman’s retirement, he was encouraged by friends and colleagues to create a voting system to determine the best collegiate football player in the country every year. It is and has been the most coveted prize in all of football since 1935. It is what every fan, coach, player, sportscaster and columnist talks about all year.

And two games into this season, two Saturdays into it with plenty more to go, we’re already talking about it here.

The question? Does Pat White have the stuff to get the Heisman? Can he throw well enough? Can he run ball as well as he has in the past? Can he get the points up on the board? Can he win the games as he’s done the past three seasons?

But more importantly, can he get the votes? Can he emerge into the public’s mind as the premiere player of the 2008 season? Can he win this popularity contest.

But the truth is that Pat White has to become a player who sports journalists from the Big East to the PAC 10 have to vote for over their conference sweethearts. That’s an awful lot of pressure to put on the 22-year-old kid from Daphne, Ala.

I know he’s got four votes at least if he maintains the standards he’s set for himself since 2005. Four Times West Virginian writers get ballots every year — Mickey Furfari, Cliff Nichols, Bob Hertzel and John Veasey.

And though I don’t get a ballot, White’s got my vote.

And speaking of votes, let’s hear what our online readers at www.timeswv.com had to say about White’s chances this season. Last week we asked, “Considering West Virginia University quarterback Patrick White’s stellar performance on (last) Saturday against Villanova, do you think he’s got a legitimate shot at the Heisman Trophy this year?”

And the votes came rushing in like Pat White with a pigskin in his hands.

For 17.09 percent of our voters, you don’t count chickens before they hatch and you don’t count Heisman votes until the ballots come in. Those voters said, “Ask me after the Pitt game.” Nov. 28 is an awful long time to wait for an answer.

And then there were the 23.42 percent of the voters who think, “It should have been collecting dust on his shelf for the past three years.” Who’s could blame them? Pat White is only one of eight players in NCAA history to ever rush and pass for more than 200 yards in a single game, and that was against Pitt in 2006 when he was a sophomore.

And then there were the 29.11 percent of the voters who think White only has a chance “if WVU campaigns well.” And, of course, that costs money. Some schools put seven-story billboards up in Times Square to advertise their Heisman hopefuls. Will we pony up the money to make sure our guy is one of the candidates standing on the stage in New York City come December?

And the winner? For 30.38 percent of voters, “He’ll never get any credit outside the Big East Conference.” Sad, but probably true. We’ve all seen Sports Center or listened to the ABC or ESPN play-by-play. If you wear the flying WV, there’s not much love for you outside of Mountaineer Country.

And as a side note, I’m a little glad we asked this question last week before the East Carolina game because there wasn’t really an option for “no.”

This week, let’s talk about the Grand Ole Party’s new sweetheart, Sarah Palin. Do you think the media’s focus on Palin’s past is having a crippling effect on McCain’s chances at winning Nov. 4?

Log on. Vote. E-mail me.

Misty Poe

City Editor

mpoe@timeswv.com