HERE'S CARSON PALMER WINS 1ST HEISMAN FOR USC SINCE ALLEN ('81).

Byline: Scott Wolf Staff Writer

NEW YORK - An excited Marcus Allen called USC quarterback Carson Palmer right before the Heisman Trophy ceremony Saturday night. And then again before things started. And then two more times after Palmer won the award.

``Marcus is just giddy,'' said Palmer's father Bill, who fielded three of the calls because his son was too busy to speak to Allen, USC's last Heisman winner (in 1981). ``He is so pumped.''

The incident illustrated the excitement surrounding the announcement at the Yale Club after Palmer became USC's fifth Heisman winner. USC owned four Heismans, the most of any school besides Notre Dame and Ohio State, but it's been so long for the Trojans that Palmer's victory almost seemed almost as if it was the school's first award.

It's the finishing touch on a magical season for Palmer, and more noticeably, the Trojans. Although he was conducting practice in Los Angeles on Saturday and didn't attend the ceremony, USC coach Pete Carroll's rebuilding of the program now includes an award routinely won during the Trojans' glory days.

``I think Carson winning is the icing on the cake,'' said USC athletic director Mike Garrett, who won the Heisman in 1965. ``It has been surreal this season. If you look at our team, it's the same people we had two to three years ago. The difference is we have a great coach.''

Although he wasn't there, offensive coordinator Norm Chow probably deserved the base of Palmer's trophy. He simplified USC's offense and made it easier to thrive in with an array of short passes.

You can bet that freshman wide receiver Mike Williams also thinks he should get a piece too, especially since he was the greatest influence on the offense this season.

But this was Palmer's night, and after three-plus mostly up-and-down seasons, he finally put up the numbers that deserved college sports' best-known hardware.

``Just by hard work, he realized what it was going to take,'' Chow said. ``He was always a young man that wanted to do well, but the guys gave him confidence, voted him captain and wanted to improve. It steamrolled into a pretty good thing.

``It's a reflection of the whole football team. It all came together and he was the leader of the pack.''

As Palmer was whisked around the Yale Club, his father proudly talked about the differences this season.

``I think the big change has been the offensive line,'' Bill Palmer said. ``All I said before this season was they needed to be adequate but they've been great. Pete Carroll doesn't think Carson is much better but his supporting cast is better.''

Perhaps it's a sign that USC finally rejoined the nation's elite by having a quarterback win the award for the first time, finally catching up to the Miamis and Florida States in this, the passing era.

Palmer, in his usual self-deprecating manner, tried to downplay that notion.

``It's Tailback U. It'll always be Tailback U.'' Palmer said. ``I was just fortunate enough to get it as a quarterback. There will be two or three more tailbacks after me who will win it.''

And though Palmer won by a commanding 233 points, what also aided him was an invisible Heisman campaign the first two-thirds of the season. As players like Miami quarterback Ken Dorsey or Iowa State's Seneca Wallace struggled, Palmer was allowed to just play with no expectations.

If he were a front-runner, it's doubtful he could have survived the Kansas State game, when he completed 18 of 46 passes for 186 yards. He admitted as much after the ceremony.

``I didn't have any extra pressure like Kenny had all season,'' Palmer said. ``Because he had all the hype and pressure and everyone saw little mistakes. I didn't have that.''

Ironically, Dorsey visited USC as a high school senior, but was not keen to sign with the Trojans once he saw Palmer earning accolades as a freshman.

``I met him on my recruiting visit to USC,'' Dorsey said. ``Growing up we were big USC fans and we were always rooting for him.''

Saturday night, people acted like it was a master stroke that Palmer never got promoted for the Heisman by USC until late in the season. But don't credit that too much.

After all, Palmer never made the cover of the football media guide in five years, an astounding fact that demonstrated the fans and media weren't the only ones skeptical of his talent.

While doubters persisted, Palmer persevered. He went through four quarterback coaches in five years - Ken O'Brien, Hue Jackson, Chow, Steve Sarkisian - and never complained about it.

``It's a wonderful story,'' USC coach Pete Carroll said.

The critics privately grated on Palmer, however, and his fiancee, former USC goalkeeper Shaelyn Fernandes, remarked on how much things changed between last year and Saturday night, as the nation's media descended on Palmer.

``A year ago, everyone was bashing him, pummeling him,'' Fernandes said. ``We never expected this to happen this season. The first time he was mentioned in the race, we saw it on TV, and we were just watching like we never believed it.''

How did Palmer do it?

Largely on the Duffy Daugherty theory, the former Michigan State coach, who once said ``Play for Notre Dame or play well against Notre Dame.''

Palmer's 425 yards passing and four touchdowns, in front of about 70 percent of the nation, clinched it. He won about 27 percent of the votes the week after the Notre Dame game, more than all the other candidates.

He also won by casting a shadow across the country. There might be a bias against West Coast players, but it disappears when they play for USC.

Palmer won the Far West, the Southwest, the Mid-Atlantic, the South and Northeast regions. He only lost the Midwest to Iowa's Brad Banks.

Most impressively, he beat out Penn State tailback Larry Johnson in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions, which were the Nittany Lions' home turf. Palmer beat Johnson 225-161 in the Northeast and 203-164 in the Mid-Atlantic.

``I was shocked by the margin,'' Palmer said. ``I think it was the Notre Dame game. I didn't realize that would do it.''

There was only one problem for Palmer late Saturday night as he prepared to leave the Yale Club: How to get the Heisman Trophy back to Los Angeles.

``I don't know. But I'm not carrying it,'' Palmer said. ``It weighs about 55-60 pounds.''

Then, in truly magnanimous fashion, Palmer added, ``I couldn't be happier than to share this trophy with the people of Los Angeles.''

NUMBERS GAME

5: Number of Trojans who have won the Heisman Trophy.

1981: The year the last USC player, Marcus Allen, won the award.

32: Touchdowns thrown by Palmer this season.

68: The number of years the Heisman has been awarded.

242: Number of first-place votes cast for Palmer among 789.

2,006: Yards passing by Palmer over last six games of season.

3,639: Yards passing by Palmer this season.

CAPTION(S):

2 photos, 6 boxes

Photo:

(1) USC quarterback Carson Palmer can't hold back a smile as he clutches his Heisman Trophy.

Mark Lennihan/Associated Press

(2) no caption (USC quarterback Carson Palmer)

Box:

(1) NUMBERS GAME (see text)

(2) CARSON PALMER CAREER STATISTICS

(3) CARSON PALMER'S GAME-BY-GAME STATS

(4) HEISMAN VOTING

(5) REGIONAL VOTING

(6) PAST WINNERS