EAST SET TO WARM UP TO WEST? USC'S PALMER OUT TO END HEISMAN BIAS.

Byline: Scott Wolf  Staff Writer

When USC quarterback Carson Palmer attends the Heisman Trophy ceremony Saturday in New York City, he won't just try to become the fifth Trojans player to win the award, he will try to buck history on behalf of the entire West Coast.

``The results have been bleak for the West,'' Pacific-10 Conference commissioner Tom Hansen said.

Only seven Heisman Trophy winners have come from the West, and none since USC tailback Marcus Allen in 1981, leading to claims a bias exists against West Coast players.

Recent Heisman results certainly don't seem to reflect the talent that exists in the West. The Pac-10 has produced five No. 1 draft picks in the NFL since 1981 - John Elway, Troy Aikman, Steve Emtman, Drew Bledsoe and Keyshawn Johnson - but only eight players have finished in the top four in Heisman voting during that same span.

``It doesn't go to the best player, it's a popularity contest,'' Hansen said.

Last year, Oregon quarterback Joey Harrington finished a distant fourth despite an expensive marketing campaign that included a huge $250,000 billboard in Manhattan's Times Square.

Harrington's results reflect why people such as Hansen believe it is almost impossible for a West Coast player to win the Heisman.

``My understanding is he was hardly on the radar screen in other parts of the country,'' Hansen said.

Consider that Harrington won the West region but still finished 274 points behind the third-place finisher, Miami quarterback Ken Dorsey.

``I think there's a definite East Coast bias, but I wouldn't claim it's intentional,'' Oregon assistant athletic director Dave Williford said. ``(The results) were a disappointment. (Harrington) won the West Coast votes, but it was other parts of the country where he lacked.

``I think the billboard created an awareness. A couple chances he had at the end to maybe do something, he missed on some opportunities, but it's going to be awfully tough for a West Coast guy to win it.''

Then there are the 1992 results, when Miami quarterback Gino Torretta beat out San Diego State tailback Marshall Faulk.

One look at how the Heisman conducts its voting helps explain why West Coast players seem to be nonplayers when it comes to the Heisman.

The venerable award divides 145 votes each among six regions: the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, South, Midwest, West and Southwest.

The problem is that the East Coast-proper area has three regions with 435 votes, and the West's 145 votes stretch across the Dakotas, Wyoming, Utah, Arizona and all other states west.

With these rules, it's understandable that barely 10 percent of the Heisman's 67 winners hailed from the West, the first coming in 1962, when Oregon State quarterback Terry Baker won the award.

Palmer, who has gained momentum in the second half of the season, tries not to worry about any perceived advantages for players such as Dorsey, Miami tailback Willis McGahee or Penn State tailback Larry Johnson.

``I've heard about it in the past,'' Palmer said. ``You hear about it every year. I don't know about the whole East Coast bias thing. I really don't pay attention to it. I have no control over it.''

Hansen believes exposure is the main reason Pac-10 players suffer at the Heisman ballot box.

``A lot of games are on TV when folks in the East are going out on Saturday night or going to bed,'' he said.

But not everyone believes there is a bias against West Coast players.

ESPN analyst Beano Cook lives in Pittsburgh, voted for Palmer and believes the USC quarterback will win the Heisman.

``In my opinion, the West Coast bias is ridiculous,'' Cook said. ``That's nonsense, pure nonsense. Since Marcus Allen, who deserved it from the West Coast?

``Where's the West Coast bias? Maybe there was at one time, but Terry Baker won it in 1962.''

Cook might have a point. The South could claim a bias in 1997, when Tennessee quarterback Peyton Manning finished second to Michigan cornerback Charles Woodson.

``The South is still boiling about Peyton Manning not winning it,'' Cook said.

Besides believing Palmer deserves the award, Cook said he meets time-honored criteria established by late Michigan State coach Duffy Daugherty.

``Duffy Daugherty said there are two ways to win the Heisman: Play for Notre Dame or play well against Notre Dame,'' Cook said.

Palmer certainly did that, passing for 425 yards and four touchdowns against the Irish two weeks ago, the most yards passing ever surrendered by Notre Dame.

``It helps because of what he did against Notre Dame,'' Cook said. ``I think he's going to win.''

In 1952, Oklahoma running back Billy Vessels scored three touchdowns and rushed for 195 yards against Notre Dame in a nationally televised game and won the Heisman.

``That's when a game really was on national television, because it was the only game shown,'' Cook said.

Cook also believes playing for a school such as USC enhances Palmer's odds.

``The voters like to give it to a school that normally wins,'' Cook said.

Despite any geographical disadvantages, and a relatively late campaign by USC to promote him, Palmer has the advantage of playing for a traditional football power that already owns Heismans with tailbacks Mike Garrett, O.J. Simpson, Charles White and Allen.

``I think Palmer's got a chance of winning it,'' Williford said. ``Just being at USC helps. To be so close is really something considering no one talked about him before the season.''

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(color) USC's Carson Palmer could be the first West Coast player to win the Heisman Trophy since USC's Marcus Allen in 1981.

Tom Mendoza/Staff Photographer

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