Big XII Tough Guys

With the Heisman race tightening by the day, reports are that Texas Tech QB Graham Harrell played the second half against Baylor on Saturday with two shattered fingers on his non-throwing hand (aka “the less awesome one”). On Sunday Harrell reportedly underwent four hours of surgery which included seventeen pins and nine plates to correct nine separate breaks. No word if any of the “quarterback microchips” that Mike Leach implants in all his quarterbacks were damaged.

Leach said “Even though [I have] no specific comment, it’s just further evidence on why he should get the Heisman, and to me it’s a no-brainer because I thought he should have gotten it last year.”

Not to be outdone, Oklahoma QB Sam Bradford played the second half of the Oklahoma State game Saturday night with torn ligaments in his non-throwing hand (aka “the equally awesome, but less famous hand”). According to the report, Bradford will wear a soft cast Saturday against Missouri and then have surgery next week.

No word if Tim Tebow intends to play Saturday against Alabama with a sympathy cast on his non-throwing hand or with his legs in a burlap sack.

And speaking of the Heisman trophy, and since it’s already been determined by law that a quarterback is to win the award this year, here are the statistics for each of the front-runners. I added in Nate Davis from Ball State in the name of fairness.

My vote goes to Colt McCoy. If you’ve watched Texas all season, you know McCoy carried the offense the first half of the season when the running game was struggling for life. Bradford’s numbers are sick but OU is grossly loaded with NFL talent and I think they’d still be where they are with lesser QB contribution. Tebow is only being mentioned this year because he won last year and Florida is very good. Harrell’s numbers are crazy too, but if weren’t for that defense he’d get the “system QB” label like all his predecessors.