Truck Driving

It should have come with license and registration, but it wasn't, and the truck ran rampant again in Stanford Stadium this Saturday night. It had so many axe stickers on its dashboard you swore the driver he was heading to Canada. But he wasn't. He was heading to New York, and had the perfect stage for it. Play the perfect team (a lousy 6-5 Irish defense susceptible to the run all year long), at the right moment (late Saturday night on a national broadcast), and do it after a terrible slate of weekend games (which most rivalry games tend to be now).

Jimmy Clausen, the Notre Dame quarterback who had predicted his own fortune and fame, could only cringe and blink his blackened eye. Alas, the golden statuette was not his. And he could see the haloing affect of its aura hover over the opposing sideline.

In short, Toby Gerhart locked up a ticket to the Heisman ceremonies.

And after the game, when asked about the legitimacy of his candidacy, the stoic yet intellectual Gerhart practically stood aside from the podium and let Jim Harbaugh speak for him. "He did it right there. On the field. That’s why Toby Gerhart deserves the Heisman trophy.”

It’s hard to argue with the battering ram personality of Jim Harbaugh. Notre Dame’s players took the misguided suggestion of one Lou Holtz to a new level when their players literally became numbers instead of names. Gerhart absolutely demolished a safety attacking him at midfield in the fourth quarter, and then plowed four other numbers garnering an eleven-yard run for a first down. When the sportscasters saw it, they knew it.

“Toby Gerhart is my Heisman candidate,” ESPN analyst Todd McShay said after the game. “Although Colt McCoy is a narrow second, and will get one more game to showcase his abilities.” McShay might be right about McCoy’s likelihood of getting last-second love, but on paper, Nebraska is a good match-up for Texas, and a bad match-up for McCoy.

If there is any other worthy candidate for the Heisman trophy (and by worthy, I mean a player with all-American ability) it’s got to be Ndamukong Suh, Nebraska’s leviathan of a defensive tackle. He’s an out-of-your-mind kind of talent. The upcoming Big 12 championship will undoubtedly match strength for strength as the Texas offensive line – the real credit to McCoy’s success – takes on the likes of Suh. But believe it or not, that’s a war Suh can win. He’s that strong. And if Jordan Shipley, McCoy’s bail bond, doesn’t guide McCoy out of stormy weather (which McCoy has braved all season long), it will be hard to bear the golden light of New York for the Texas senior quarterback. In short, he’ll probably be invited, but even then McCoy will have a lot to prove. As of right now, he’s the default Heisman, whereas Gerhart is the actual Heisman.

Now, I’m not convinced the Heisman trophy will play out the way it should. It seemingly never gives a damn about teams west of the Rockies unless it’s little ole USC. But I’m reminded, from time to time, that although the concept of a self-made man may be a myth, true talent typically prevails. That is to say, at this point in the race, it’s a three horse race. One horse of which will not be invited. It’s McCoy, Gerhart and Suh. And of all the entrants, Suh, the one with the least chance of winning it, has the greatest chance of impacting it. If I’m a betting man, and I’m watching the Big 12 championship this weekend, I put my money on the real contenders, not the default ones. I think Suh and company gives McCoy hell all game long, and that eventually Texas wins with the acrobatic Shipley and not with the not-so-real McCoy. And because of that, Toby Gerhart – a true talent – should drive his truck to New York in a shiny new suit and leave with a shinier one.