Filed by Mitch Sherman at 3:30 p.m.
Former Nebraska Heisman Trophy winners Johnny Rodgers and Eric Crouch said today they're pulling for Ndamukong Suh to make the trip to New York this weekend as a finalist for the award. And to win.
“I'd love to see it go to another defensive player,” said the quarterback Crouch, who won college football's most prestigious honor in 2001.
Only one defensive player has won the Heisman in its 74-year history, Michigan corernback Charles Woodson in 1997. Woodson, in fact, remains the most recent of 19 defenders to earn a spot among the top five.
Looks like Suh is about to change that. The 6-foot-4, 300-pound defensive tackle, buoyed by his 4 1/2-sack performance against Texas and Colt McCoy on Saturday, appears set to earn an invite to the ceremony. Suh made 12 tackles, including seven behind the line of scrimamge, in the 13-12 UT win.
The voting deadline for the Heisman is today at 5 p.m. Three to six finalists will be announced on ESPN during its 5 p.m. SportsCenter broadcast.
Suh got Crouch's first-place vote.
“I watched him from many angles this year – on the sideline, in stadium on TV,” said Crouch, who attended the Big 12 championship game at Cowboys Stadium. “Anytime I watched, he dominated.”
Rodgers, the 1971 Heisman winner, said he traditionally does not disclose his ballot but revealed today that he did include Suh among his three choices.
“He's so dominant that he takes over a game in the way an offensive player does,” Rodgers said. “He keeps us in games. He can make that much of a difference in every area.”
Suh is in Charlotte, N.C., tonight for the presentation of the Nagurski Award, given to the nation's top defensive player. He is one of five finalists for the Nagurski, never won by a Husker.
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