Suh places fourth at Heisman ceremony
By BRIAN ROSENTHAL / Lincoln Journal Star
NEW YORK — Nebraska coach Bo Pelini is convinced that Ndamukong Suh will be No. 1 the next time he comes to New York.
Suh’s first trip to the Big Apple didn’t reveal what Pelini believes is the truth — that Suh is the best player in college football.
The Nebraska senior defensive tackle finished fourth in voting for the Heisman Trophy, behind Alabama running back Mark Ingram, Stanford running back Toby Gerhart and Texas quarterback Colt McCoy.
Pelini predicts Suh will prove who’s really best when the NFL Draft unfolds in New York in April.
“When he’s the No. 1 pick in the draft,” Pelini said, “I think everybody will realize who the best football player in the country was.”
Pelini’s fire and passion for Suh after Saturday’s Heisman ceremony rivaled what the coach sometimes displays during games. He sincerely believed Suh might become the first defensive player to win the Heisman since Charles Woodson in 1997, and the first interior lineman.
“I was hearing his chances were good,” Pelini said. “I thought maybe that people finally came to their senses.”
Instead, voters went offensive. Again.
Ingram, becoming Alabama’s first Heisman winner, won with 1,304 points, edging Gerhart by 28 points in the closest Heisman vote.
“I really wasn’t expecting to win it,” Suh said. “My two top guys were Toby and Mark, and obviously they were the top two guys in everybody else’s eyes. They’re well-deserving.
“Don’t get me wrong, I would’ve loved to win it. I’m a competitive guy. I would’ve loved to have taken this award, it being such a prestigious award, and sharing it with all the other linemen.”
McCoy, the player whom Suh harassed a week ago in the Big 12 championship game to jump-start a late Heisman push, finished third with 1,145 points.
Suh’s 815 points were the most by a fourth-place finisher. That wasn’t enough to comfort Pelini.
“He’s a defensive guy, and I don’t think anybody’s ever got past the bias that he’s a lineman,” Pelini said. “I’ve said it before: Maybe they should redefine what the qualifications are.
“I don’t want to take away from what Mark Ingram did, because he had a great year and everything. You can call me biased, but I talked to a lot of people in that room, and every one of them thought he (Suh) was the best football player in the country.
“Unfortunately, the people who vote, some of them are uninformed.”
At this point I'd say uninformed is probably the wrong word for most of the Heisman voters. I'd go with brainless, nutless lying goons. The last projections on Stiffarmtrophy.com had Suh third overall with the most first place votes. And that's not in projected votes. That's in pledged ballots. So some of these writers had to be lying about how they voted. It was the cool thing to do to say you voted for the defensive guy with the funny name but when pen came to paper or mouse cursor to computer screen, they just couldn't do it. I really do hope Suh's candidacy helped defensive lineman henceforth but I can't help but feel he got screwed finishing behind the guy he assaulted for three hours in Dallas.
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