Utah's Alex Smith Named Finalist for the 2004 Heisman Trophy

Junior QB led Utah to the school's first appearance in the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl

Smith tossed 28 TD passes in regular season play.
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Dec. 8, 2004

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- The five finalists for the coveted 2004 Heisman Memorial Trophy were announced Wednesday by the Downtown Athletic Club of New York. Utah quarterback Alex Smith highlights the list after leading the Utes to an 11-0 record, a No. 5 ranking and the school's first appearance in the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl. The remaining four players suit up for teams bound for the FedEx Orange Bowl.

Quarterback-tailback tandems from No. 1 Southern California (Matt Leinart and Reggie Bush) and No. 2 Oklahoma (Jason White and Adrian Peterson) joined Smith as recipients of an exclusive invitation to New York for Saturday's (Dec. 11) Heisman presentation ceremony.

Smith is Utah's first Heisman finalist. The junior racked up 28 touchdown passes, with only four interceptions, and 2,624 passing yards as he led the Utes (11-0) into college football's elite as the first team from a non-automatic-qualifying conference to play in the Bowl Championship Series.

USC quarterback Leinart, who finished sixth in the Heisman balloting as a sophomore last season, has passed for 2,990 yards and 28 touchdowns with only six interceptions in leading the Trojans (12-0) to the Bowl Championship Series title game.

Southern California tailback Bush has 2,181 all-purpose yards and 15 touchdowns this season. His 167.8 all-purpose yards per game average is seventh-best in Division I-A. He closed out the regular season with a bang against UCLA, rushing for a career-high 204 yards on 15 carries, catching six passes for 73 yards and adding 58 return yards.

White, who won the 2003 Heisman, has 2,961 yards passing and 33 touchdowns for the Sooners (12-0). White -- who won the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award, presented annually to the nation's top senior quarterback, for 2004 - would be just the second two-time Heisman winner, joining Archie Griffin (1974-75).

Oklahoma tailback Peterson, who would be the first underclassman to win the Heisman, has 1,843 yards rushing, averaging 5.9 yards per carry, and 15 touchdowns. Peterson set an NCAA freshman record with his 10th 100-yard rushing game when he rolled to 172 yards in the Sooners' 42-3 rout of Colorado in the Big 12 title game.