Look, I know he had the goal-line fumble at the spring game. But we’ll assume he’ll have that corrected and will start when the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors come to town.

Obviously, no Gator tailback has won the award. Emmitt was always in the discussion, but he really wasn’t there. Blame mediocre Florida teams and a merry-go-round of offensive coordinators for that. But why has this trend occurred? Class, let’s look at Gator football, circa mid-1960s.

The Ole Ball Coach is the starting QB for the team, coached by Ray Graves. With his accomplishments in a very wide variety of sports before coming to UF, he provides a precursor to Tim Tebow 40 years later. Some lab coat types interested in exercise physiology have invented a cocktail of water, salt, sugar, and electrolytes designed to stop muscle cramping and dehydration; they strike a deal with Stokely Van Camp, and the Gatorade marketing machine is born.

But in spite of Steve Spurrier’s considerable talent, the true Heisman favorite lives over 900 miles away. Six years before leading Miami to a perfect record and a Super Bowl title, Robert Griese takes snaps in spring practice at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. He’s got the arm and the leadership to succeed.

Down in Gainesville, Norm Carlson knows this, and is determined to do whatever he can to help Spurrier win. In an era without national television or Internet, he sends considerable amounts of footage to local and regional television stations. He gets people to register for voting, and makes sure they know about Spurrier. He gets Coach Graves to change the OBC’s number from 16 to 11; he thought repeating numbers were easier to remember.

His efforts pay off. Spurrier wins by a landslide with 1,659 points. Second-place Griese gets 816 points. Even in the NFL draft, Spurrier goes 3rd overall to the San Francisco 49ers while Griese is taken one pick later by Miami. However, Bob got his revenge in the pros, leading the NFL’s only unbeaten team. Four years later, Spurrier played for the ‘76 Buccaneers; to date, the NFL’s only winless team.

After that, the 70s and 80s were bleak times for Gator football. As previously mentioned, Emmit Smith was the one true Heisman candidate in this era, but was doomed by bad timing. Had he played at UF 10 years later, he may very well have captured the trophy on one of Spurrier’s powerhouse Florida teams of the 90s.

Speaking of which, Danny Wuerffel was supposed to have trouble winning the stiff-arm as well. Spurrier’s Fun-n-Gun offense utilized the quarterback’s arm and the wide receiver’s speed to great effect. Wuerffel was stuck with the “system QB” stigma, while Tennessee’s Peyton Manning was grabbing attention for, well, everything the NFL could ask for from a future signal-caller.

But by winning over Tennessee four straight years, propelling the team to two national championship games, and surviving FSU’s late hits in “Sackgate” (giving him an aura of heart that showed America he was irreplaceable), Dan the Man captured the trophy and proceeded to make the Noles’ lives miserable in the 1997 Sugar Bowl rout. In 2001, super sophomore Rex Grossman shows a lot of promise, but is ultimately doomed by the system label and a loss to Tennessee.

Four years later, Urban Meyer shuns Notre Dame and comes to Gainesville. His spread offense, played to perfection at Utah one season prior, needs a quarterback with a rocket arm and fast legs. But alas, pro-style QB Chris Leak does not fit the mold. Thus, Urban must recruit a high schooler for this task for the first time in his head coaching career, somebody who could learn the ropes for a year but could still make meaningful contributions while he waiting. Somebody who had the “X-factor”

Enter Tim Tebow. After serving as the backup for a national championship team, he leads a young team to a 9-3 record; under the circumstances, the Gators overachieved. Without a capable, sturdy tailback, he has to take the vast majority of the rushing attack upon himself. He smothered Heisman voters with a combination of overwhelming statistics and extraordinarily good luck (Almost every upperclassman who could contend found a way to screw up).

And now, we have this year’s Gator team; a group that will be as good as it chooses to be. The offense is more traditional, without giving up the enterprising spirit that makes the spread unique. All the athleticism on the offense only makes it more dangerous.

As far as branding goes, Tim Tebow helped turn Florida from latent noisemaker into perennial Heisman power; three really is a crowd as far as numbers go. Thus, E. Mood needs:

A. A year under his belt to provide the contingent with some name recognition.
B. Victories against Charleston Southern, Troy, and FIU (2009 non-conference opponents)
C A record of 11-1 or better heading into the postseason
D. 1700 yards rushing on the season, averaging about 131 a game including the SEC championship. Yes, this is one of Heisman Pundit’s Heismandments

A lot of this is similar to what I said Tim Tebow needed for his second trophy. Moody isn’t going to kill ‘em with stats, unlike Kevin Smith down in Orlando. The “best player on a national title team” bit is a time-honored way to snag votes. As an orthodox tailback, he is what UF needs.

Hey, he was the second-string guy at USC, with 5 of 7 winners at tailback. Good signs here.