McFadden Makes Move in Straw Poll of Heisman Voters

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The latest Heismanpundit.com Straw Poll, comprised of the votes of NFL star Carson Palmer plus nine members of the college football media, has Ohio State’s Troy Smith as the leader in the race to win this year’s Heisman Trophy, but Arkansas’ Darren McFadden has moved into third in the voting.

Smith holds a 10-point advantage over Notre Dame quarterback Brady Quinn in the weekly poll, the second taken so far this season. Smith captured nine out of 10 possible first-place votes, with the 10th going to McFadden.

The voters seemed willing to give Smith a mulligan despite a less-than-stellar outing (108 passing yards, no TDs) against Illinois last week.

Quinn, who threw for 346 yards and four touchdowns last week, was second on nine of the 10 ballots. Texas quarterback Colt McCoy, who is on the verge of breaking the NCAA record for touchdown passes by a freshman, was the lone frosh to appear on the ballot.

Heismanpundit.com is conducting a Heisman straw poll in each of the final five weeks of the college football season. The idea is to get a good sense of voter sentiment as the race nears its conclusion. Each week’s vote will be released on Thursday mornings through Dec. 7. There are 10 Heisman voters canvassed from across the various Heisman voting regions and they vote for three players each week. The tabulations are made on a 3-2-1 basis, with three points for a first-place vote, two points for a second-place vote and one point for a third-place vote.

In an added feature unique to the Heismanpundit.com poll, a different Heisman Trophy winner’s vote is counted into the total each week. The Nov. 2 poll included the vote of 1979 Heisman winner Charles White. This week’s poll (Nov. 9) includes the vote of 2002 Heisman winner and current Cincinnati Bengal quarterback Carson Palmer. Next week’s poll will feature a different Heisman winner.

This week’s poll results, with total points and first-place votes in parentheses:

1. Troy Smith, Ohio State, 28 (9)

2. Brady Quinn, Notre Dame, 18

3. Darren McFadden, Arkansas, 4 (1)

4. (tie) Calvin Johnson, Georgia Tech, 2