Filed by Mitch Sherman at 2:44 p.m.
Heisman momentum appears to be gathering for Ndamukong Suh. Several national media types have come out in favor of the Nebraska senior after his incredible performance in the Big 12 championship game.
After sleeping on it (for 2 ½ hours) before the early flight back to Omaha today, I elevated Suh to the top of my ballot and cast it electronically this morning. Twenty-four hours ago, I had Suh at second or third, behind Colt McCoy of Texas and maybe Toby Gerhart of Stanford.
My final decision, in the following order: Suh, Gerhart and Alabama's Mark Ingram.
McCoy, for as well as he played on Thanksgiving against Texas A&M's swiss-cheese defense, was equally bad in the most important game of his career against the Huskers. He ran scared from Suh and the Blackshirts, threw three interceptions, took nine sacks and nearly cost his team a shot at the game-winning field goal with poor clock management.
If those final two Texas drives – on which McCoy was intercepted and then completed one pass while benefiting from two huge NU penalties – are to serve as McCoy's Heisman moment, as coach Mack Brown said, so be it. But it was a moment unworthy of a spot on my ballot.
Meanwhile, Suh played his best game on the biggest stage, dominating unlike anything I've ever seen from a defensive tackle.
Ballots are due Monday at 4 p.m. I'm not convinced that Suh could have won the trophy with 10 sacks of McCoy on Saturday. But his 4 ½, to go with seven total stops behind the line of scrimmage, may have earned Suh a trip to New York this week as a finalist.
Suh's got a busy week. He left Lincoln this morning for Charlotte, N.C., and the Nagurski Award banquet on Monday night. Coach Bo Pelini will also attend. Defensive coordinator Carl Pelini will accompany Suh to Houston for the Lombardi Award banquet on Wednesday night.
Bo Pelini and Suh will attend the ESPN college football awards show Thursday night in Orlando, where Suh is up for the Outland Trophy, the Bednarik Award and the Walter Camp Award.
From there, if he's a finalist, it's on to New York.
We'll follow Suh's path closely this week. As perhaps the best Blackshirt ever, he's worth celebrating.
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