Cam Newton's Heisman Hopes: Time To Throttle Back?

Earlier this week, I said the 2010 Heisman Trophy was "still Cam Newton's to lose." Today's improper-benefits bombshell may have sent the Auburn quarterback's hardware hopes tumbling.

It's not hard to extrapolate what Heisman voters are going to be thinking for the short remainder of the season: Reggie Bush's award has just been vacated for the first time in the trophy's history. The next guy, whoever he is, like it or not, is going to have to stand for everything that's right and proper and American in the eyes of the Heisman Trust. They have to be sure about this one.

And their top three choices at the moment, based on football, are Newton, who may have had agent ties while still slogging away as a juco player; LaMichael James, who's had a stellar season but who opened 2010 with a one-game suspension and has a bit of a domestic abuse rap, and ... Kellen Moore, who's a shoo-in for an invite to New York but has never been given a realistic shot at winning thanks to playing on a WAC team. Has Saturday's Boise State-Hawaii tilt just become a late-breaking statement game for a shiny end-of-season bauble?