Wish upon the stars

Sporting News, The, August 19, 1996 by Ivan Maisel

Wuerffel, who finished third in the race last year, has the chance to achieve a rare--and unwanted--double. Seven players have finished in second and/or third twice in Heisman voting in their careers without winning it. They are:

Marshall Goldberg, Pittsburgh, 1937-38.

Charlie Justice, North Carolina, 1948-49.

Paul Giel, Minnesota, 1952-53.

Leroy Keyes, Purdue, 1967-68.

Greg Pruitt, Oklahoma 1971-72.

Ricky Bell, USC, 1975-76.

Robbie Bosco, BYU, 1984-85.

Two players, Glenn Davis of Army and Herschel Walker of Georgia, finished second and/or third twice, then won the Heisman. Doak Walker sandwiched his Heisman between two third-place finishes. In this age of instant NFL millions, that isn't likely to happen again.

In your face

You may have noticed these guys last season. You won't be able to avoid them this season.

1. Curtis Enis, Penn State sophomore tailback. The biggest weapon quarterback Wally Richardson has in an otherwise inexperienced Nittany Lions offense.

2. Melvin Dansby, Notre Dame senior defensive end. After three injury-filled years, he'll fulfill his potential.

3. Mitchell Freedman, Arizona State sophomore free safety. He went from an unknown to catalyst last season. This year, he'll make All-America.

4. Brock Olivo, Missouri junior tailback. The yardmaker on an offense that has 10 starters returning.

5. Khalid Abdullah, Florida State sophomore fullback. He'll clear the road for Warrick Dunn and make a few first downs himself.

Uneasy street

An antsy quarterback is an ineffective quarterback, which is why pass rushers may be the most important commodity on a defense. For evidence of their value, just check recent NFL drafts. Illinois' Simeon Rice was picked No. 3 overall in April and Oklahoma's Cedric Jones was No. 5. In 1995, Florida's Kevin Carter went No. 5 and Boston College's Mike Mamula was No. 7. You can bet college quarterbacks know about the following defensive end tandems, and soon the rest of the nation will learn about their pass-rushing form.

Florida State: Peter Boulware and Reinard Wilson.

Miami: Kenard Lang and Kenny Holmes.

Nebraska: Jared Tomich and Grant Wistrom.

Ohio State: Mike Vrabel and Matt Finkes.

Virginia: Duane Ashman and Jon Harris.

Throw it and catch it

The best pass-catch duo in the nation?

Well, you've got Jake Plummer-Keith Poole at Arizona State, Danny Wuerffel-Ike Hilliard at Florida, Koy Detmer-Rae Carruth at Colorado, Billy Blanton-Will Blackwell at San Diego State and Peyton Manning-JOey Kent at Tennessee.

The best, though, just may turn out to be Eric Kresser and Randy Moss at Division I-AA Marshall. Their number of combined college football starts? One, by Kresser, last season when he was at Florida.

Kresser, a senior who has used up his red-shirt season, transferred to Marshall in July because he knew he wouldn't get much playing time behind Wuerffel, also a senior. Kresser made one start last season--and proceeded to throw for a school-record 459 yards in a victory over Northern Illinois. He is considered a much better pro prospect than Wuerffel because of his arm strength and athletic ability.