At Boise, Kellen Is Moore of a Heisman Candidate Than Tebow, McCoy

I've heard your Tebow talk and your McCoy blather, I've even read your outlandish suggestions that Alabama running back Mark Ingram should win the award. Please, Ingram isn't even as good as Temple's Bernard Pierce and Stanford's Toby Gerhart statistically, and I haven't heard a single one of you mention him. Already, we've made Case's case, and I don't agree with that either.

There is still one player is lurking out there without much national recognition despite the fact that he has the best profile of any Heisman contender.

Why is he being ignored? Because he plays for Boise State and because, you might have noticed, Boise State is off the national radar despite being undefeated. That means most of us have missed what Kellen Moore has managed so far this fall. Thus far,Moore has completed over 67 percent of his passes with many more touchdowns than interceptions. Along the way he's led his team to a 9-0 record, kicked a huge dent in the BCS superiority, and burnished his Heisman credentials. Don't believe me, please step inside for a discussion.

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Can you pick out Colt McCoy and Tim Tebow's statistics from the list of quarterbacks below?

A. 1,948 passing yards, 21 touchdowns, 10 interceptions, one rushing touchdown

B. 1,531 passing yards, 11 touchdowns, four interceptions, nine rushing touchdowns

C. 2,259 passing yards, 27 touchdowns, three interceptions, one rushing touchdown

D. 2,447 passing yards, 17 touchdowns, nine interceptions, one rushing touchdown

E. 2,189 passing yards, 18 touchdowns, five interceptions, 13 rushing touchdowns

Go ahead and take your guess.

Ready for the revelation?

A.. Jonathan Crompton, Tennessee'

B. Tebow, Florida

C. Moore, Boise State

D. Colt McCoy, Texas

E. Dan LeFevour, Central Michigan

As if that weren't enough, tossing the two leading contenders into a bunch and showing how pedestrian their stats truly are in relation to other quarterbacks having good seasons, Tebow and McCoy are both having worse statistical seasons than they had last year. You know, last year, when neither man won the Heisman Trophy. Don't get me wrong, last year I thought Tebow deserved the Heisman, I would have voted for him. But this year, I think he's been average at best, a mortal man.

Put it this way, if Tim Tebow was a first-year starting quarterback and no one had ever heard of him before, would he be a legitimate Heisman contender this year?

The answer is no, right?

What about McCoy?

It's possible he's going to have his worst statistics in four years as a starter at Texas. And if it's not his worst year, then at least it's his second-worst year. Definitely two other seasons, and potentially three other years, he's had better results on the field and the Heisman hasn't been his. Why does he deserve it in the midst of the worst year of his career? And it's not as though he's barely missing last year's numbers with a downgraded receivers corp, the disparity from last year is immense. Were he not a solid candidate last year, McCoy would hardly be a frontrunner this year.

Especially when Kellen Moore is currently, wait for it, the nation's passing efficiency leader. Tebow ranks eighth in the country while McCoy is 13th. That's the second most important stat for quarterbacks. What's the most important?

Wins and losses.

Where, guess what, Moore, Tebow, and McCoy are all tied in wins thanks to leading their teams to an undefeated season.

In fact, what if you replaced Tebow and McCoy from their respective squads. Do you really think there would be much of a drop-off? Would Florida have lost a game starting Brantley this season?

Maybe.

Would Florida have lost several games?

No.

Both of these teams would still be top-ten caliber.

Where would Boise be without Moore? I don't think they'd be in the top ten.

And I don't want to hear that Tebow and McCoy both have intangible leadership qualities that make them deserve to win.

Big deal.

You don't think Kellen Moore has intangible leadership qualities as well?

Ultimately, if we seriously consider Tebow and McCoy for the Heisman, aren't we tacitly rewarding them for simply being the favorites coming into the season? In fact, aren't we doing exactly what many fans decry that the polls do, rewarding teams based more on where they begin than what they accomplish?

Why yes, I think that's exactly what we're doing. Because if you consider the players based entirely on the merits of their play this season, you can only come to one actual conclusion, Kellen Moore should win the Heisman Trophy.