Sunshine-state quarterbacks Ken Dorsey of Miami and Rex Grossman of Florida will battle each other all year for the ultimate individual honor in college football.
But on Saturday, they go head-to-head in Gainesville with the Hurricanes and Gators renewing their intrastate rivalry for the first time since 1987. The winner will not only make his team an early national championship favorite, he will become the Heisman front-runner.
Ahead of the pack
Grossman
In the Gators opening-game, a 51-3 trouncing of the University of Alabama-Birmingham, Grossman piled up the numbers as usual. He completed 16 of his 26 passes for 337 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. This week is obviously the real test.
Though he will be playing in home territory at the Swamp, he will be going up against the No. 1 team in the nation without Steve Spurrier on the sidelines calling the plays.
He will face an outstanding defensive line with two potential All-Americans in Jerome McDougle and William Joseph.
An interesting matchup that will likely have a large effect on Grossman's performance will be his young receivers versus Miami's green defensive backfield. Neither team returns a starter at either position.
Dorsey
Once again, Dorsey didn't put up spectacular numbers in the 'Canes 63-17 whitewashing of Florida A&M, but then again, he didn't have to. Dorsey only completed eight of his 14 passes for 111 yards, but three of his throws went for scores.
Grossman will more than likely put bigger numbers on the board than Dorsey on Saturday, but if Dorsey keeps doing what he does best - win football games - the Heisman voters won't care very much.
Byron Leftwich, QB, Marshall
The Thundering Herd also played a patsy this week in Appalachian State, but even that doesn't take away from the ludicrous numbers Leftwich dropped on them.
He completed 28 of his 43 passes for 460 yards and four touchdowns in a 50-17 victory.
That serves as a solid warm-up for the Mid-American Conference superstar, who gets a chance to make waves on an ESPN national telecast next Thursday against Virginia Tech at Blacksburg.
Making a move
Quentin Griffin, RB, Oklahoma
Apparently, Griffin made quite a few moves in a 37-0 trashing of Tulsa. He ran 17 times for 237 yards. That's 13.9 yards per carry. He also caught two passes, extending his school-record for consecutive games with a catch to 28. His 113 career catches are 10th in Big 12 history.
A sinister Sooner defense gets all the press, but Griffin will key any sort of championship run.
Griffin is a rare back who can power through holes and skirt his way around defenders in the open field.
Guys you should know
Derrick Johnson, LB, Texas
There weren't many spectacular defensive performers this week, and most major college teams were playing cupcakes anyway.
Out of the so-so group, we take Johnson this week after he recorded 12 tackles, three for loss, and three quarterback pressures in the Longhorns 27-0 shutout of North Texas. Johnson, only a sophomore, was second among Longhorns in tackles last season, and can shut down the weak side for the Texas defense.
