By Bob Harig
Special to ESPN SportsZone
Part of the problem with the Heisman Trophy is the ambiguous criteria by which the candidates are judged. Is it a most valuable player award? Should the winner produce gaudy statistical numbers? Does his entire career count?
Peyton Manning certainly has the last two factors in his favor, which is why the Tennessee quarterback has been a front-runner for the award all season. Manning, who threw for a school-record 523 yards and five touchdowns against Kentucky, has guided the Volunteers to a 9-1 record and a No. 3 national ranking.
But if you are evaluating a player by his sheer value to a team this year, Michigan's Charles Woodson would be the winner.
Woodson did his best Saturday to make people take notice. He did not win the Ohio State game by himself, but the Wolverines likely could not have secured their 20-14 victory and Big Ten title without him.
On offense, he caught just one pass, but Ohio State could not prevent him from turning it into a 37-yard gain. Only a shoestring tackle kept him from scoring, but it set up Michigan's first touchdown.
On special teams, he returned a punt 78 yards for a touchdown, giving the Wolverines a 13-0 lead.
On defense, he gave up a long touchdown pass, but, hey, he's human. He also denied a touchdown by making an interception in the end zone at a far more crucial time in the game. An OSU score would have cut Michigan's lead to 13-7. Instead, the Wolverines later stretched it to 20-0 when they returned another interception for a touchdown.
"His performance reminded me of Desmond Howard when we played Ohio State,'' said Michigan coach Lloyd Carr, referring to the 1991 game, when Howard went 93 yards for a touchdown against the Buckeyes. "He returned a punt for a touchdown and solidified his Heisman chances.''
Howard did a Heisman pose after that play, a move Woodson did not repeat. Perhaps it was because he was so exhausted when he finally reached the end zone.
No wonder. He was in for 86 plays -- all 67 on defense, 11 on special teams and eight on offense.
For the year, Woodson has touched the ball 15 times on offense, with the Wolverines scoring on three occasions and picking up an additional nine first downs. He ended Ohio State's first drive of the second half with his second interception of the year.
"Woodson's a great football player,'' said Ohio State coach John Cooper. "I don't know how many tackles he broke (on the punt return). It looked like we had three, four guys in there to make the tackle and just didn't wrap him up. He made a great play there, and he made a great play to set up their first touchdown pass. Of course, then he made a great play on the interception.''
Of course. That's what makes Woodson so valuable. And his team is 11-0, ranked No. 1, one victory away from the national title.
