Never mind that that college basketball's NCAA Tournament was still three weeks away or that college football's national letter of intent day had taken place less than three weeks earlier. If it's Heisman hype you want, Heisman hype you'll get. Satiation levels may differ.
Of course, you won't find Wyatt Hanus' name on the list. Hanus, who plays for Division III University of Dubuque (Iowa), has completed 74.87 percent of his passes this season while throwing for 21 touchdowns against just four interceptions. Nor was there mention of running back Richard Haley from Division II Minnesota-Cookston, who is averaging 171.0 yards rushing per game, or Hanus' favorite target, wide receiver Michael Zweifel, who has no peers with his average of 192.17 receiving yards.
In 1935, the Heisman Trophy was created to honor the "most outstanding player in collegiate football." Nowhere, at least to the best of my knowledge, was the award's purpose defined as honoring the "best player as determined by ESPN.com's weekly Heisman Watch." Nor is there any language pertaining to "winner must participate for a team with BCS automatic-qualifying status."
So when I took a peek at this week's Watch list (which surely has no bearing on the outcome of the final voting, does it?), I learned that Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck continues to hold down the top spot after having yet "another eye-popping performance" on Saturday against rugged Washington State.
You've heard of Luck, the savior every wretched team in the NFL covets more than the four days off they are now afforded during bye weeks under the new collective bargaining agreement. What you may not know is that through games of Oct. 15, there are 25 FBS quarterbacks with better passing numbers than Luck and 69 with better numbers than Wisconsin's Russell Wilson, who comes in at No. 2 on the ESPN Watch list.
As for Luck, his most recent "eye-popping performance" was carried out against a Washington State team that ranks 88th in the country in pass defense. And while Luck completed 23-of-36 attempts for 336 yards, all four of his touchdown passes came in the second half. He had 89 yards passing through two quarters.
Which brings me to player No. 3 on this week's list, Boise State quarterback Kellen Moore.
Other than playing for a BCS AQ team or regularly genuflecting in the presence of ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreit, I guess I'm a bit unclear on the Heisman criteria. In Saturday's 63-13 win at Colorado State, Moore, who has a better completion percentage (75.88) and more touchdown passes (21) than Luck, completed his first 18 attempts. There are myriad quarterbacks who couldn't do that in their sleep. He finished 26-of-30 for 338 yards and four touchdowns in just over two and a half quarters. In doing so, Moore moved into fifth place on the NCAA career list for most touchdown passes (120) by an FBS quarterback, surpassing Hawaii's Timmy Chang.
Said Colorado State coach Steve Fairchild, a former quarterback at the school: "I knew the whole week going in that (Moore) is a good player. He started out, what did he hit, 18 in a row? When I played, I couldn't have done that on air."
Moore is 44-2 as a starter and can tie former Texas quarterback Colt McCoy's record for career wins by an FBS quarterback when the Broncos host Air Force on Saturday.
A winning percentage of 96 percent? If that doesn't fit the criteria of the "most outstanding player in collegiate football," someone better remind me why the game is played.
Extra Points
• Both Colorado State tight end Crockett Gillmore and wide receiver Charles Lovett threw touchdown passes against Boise State. Lovett, a true freshman, previously threw a touchdown pass (to Gillmore) against Colorado on Sept. 17. Three of the Rams' nine TD passes this year have come from non-quarterbacks.
• Five players made their first start for UNLV in Saturday's game at Wyoming, including true freshman running back Dionza Bradford, who gained 104 yards on 22 carries to post the team's second 100-yard effort of the season. In the past two weeks, Bradford has carried 40 times for 183 yards.
• Wyoming true freshman quarterback Brett Smith has now caught a touchdown pass this season (one), thrown a touchdown pass (nine) and rushed for a touchdown (four). Smith is the first Cowboy to accomplish that feat since quarterback Austyn Carta-Samuels, who had one receiving touchdown, 10 passing touchdowns and three rushing touchdowns in 2009.
Mick McGrane has covered the Mountain West since the league's inception in 1999. He spent 12 years at the San Diego Union-Tribune, where he served as the beat writer for San Diego State football and men's basketball. He currently represents the MW as a member of the Football Writers Association of America All-America Committee and is a member of the U.S. Basketball Writers Association. McGrane serves as senior writer to the Mountain West, providing readers with exclusive, in-depth information about the Conference by highlighting its 10 member institutions and contributing feature stories on student-athletes that participate in the league's 18 sponsored sports.
Mark Knudson is a Colorado State journalism school graduate and a 12-year veteran of professional baseball. During his playing career, Mark pitched for three major league teams, including the Colorado Rockies, where he was the first Colorado native to play for the hometown team. He recorded wins over three of the four legendary pitchers who make up the 4,000 strikeout club: Nolan Ryan, Randy Johnson and Roger Clemens. His win over Ryan came for the Milwaukee Brewers on Opening Day in 1991.
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