This season, the Heisman race is more wide open than it has been in years.  No single player has separated himself from the competition, no player with the preseason hype has played up to expectation (with the exception of Mike Hart, but, as it turns out, losing to a Division I-AA team can really bite a player in the ass).  Perhaps the guy who deserves to win it the most, Oregon QB Dennis Dixon, will most likely end up losing simply because he doesn't play in the SEC, but that's a topic for a different post.

The reason that Troy Smith won the Heisman last year (other than the fact that he was far and away the best player in the country, but ESPN doesn't want anybody to know that), was because, according to the vast majority, he was, "the best player on the nation's #1 team."  That logic led people to put the slightly-better-than-average John David Booty on preseason ballots this year, and then DT Glen Dorsey when USC lost, even though no defensive player will win the Heisman trophy ever, unless he plays some snaps on offense and returns punts/kicks too(a la Charles Woodson).

Now, in the "Year of The Upset," the Ohio State Buckeyes find themselves at the #1 position in the polls, and have been perhaps the only team in the country to play well enough in every single game to not have an upset scare.  The main reason behind the undefeated start? The play of quarterback Todd Boeckman and running back Chris "Beanie" Wells.  Everybody knew that the defense would be nasty, but the offense has been the real surprise, averaging nearly 35 points per game.  Boeckman has played beyond the role of caretaker that everybody expected him to be this year, leading the Big Ten in Passer Rating by a ridiculous 21+ points, completion percentage, yards per pass attempt,  and is tied for second in the conference in touchdowns.  Not half bad for a guy that has the second least passes attempted for starting quarterbacks in the conference.

To put Boeckman's stats against some of the other Heisman contenders, there is no reason to believe that Boeckman shouldn't be at least a part of the Heisman conversation.  His yards are right on line with Dixon, and his completion percentage (66%) is almost identical to Tebow's and Dixon's 68% rates.  Boeckman actually averages less pass attempts per game than either Tebow or Dixon, and he still has more TDs through the air than either of them.  The only aerial stats where Tebow has any significant lead over Boeckman are in yards (2,228 to 1,958) and rating (179 to 161).  Dixon's passing stats are nearly identical, but both Dixon and Tebow have made use of their legs much more than Boeckman has.

Another statistical advantage that Boeckman has over Tebow?  10.  As in, 10 wins and zero losses.  Tim Tebow already has 3 losses to his credit, and despite the fact that Tebow plays in the big, bad SEC where the fastest, strongest, biggest players in the country world universe play, the bottom line is that the Gators were favored to win two of those games, and were good enough to win the third.  One of those losses, to Auburn, came at home, at night, and to an unranked team, while the Gators were still undefeated and in the title hunt.  That was a game that, by all accounts, Florida should have won, yet they didn't.  Say what you want about the supporting cast or about how well Auburn played that game, Florida was the better team, and the starting quarterback should always be held responsible to an extent; that's part of the onus of being a QB.  How is it that Matt Ryan loses a game in a similar situation (home, night, unranked opponent), and falls completely off the map, whereas Tebow has remained in contention despite three total losses?  He may be playing better than Ryan this season, but not that much better.

Boeckman, on the other hand, has done everything that has been asked of him, and much more.  His ability to manage the game and pick apart defenses has prevented any opponent from even sniffing at an upset victory, and in important games, he has come through.

I'm not saying Boeckman should win the Heisman trophy, and I'm not even saying that he should be invited to New York for the ceremony.  What I am saying, however, is that he has played well enough to deserve some sort of recognition, and he definitely deserves to at least be mentioned in discussion.  His statistics support it, and his performance as the quarterback of the nation's #1 team support it even more.