The time has come to set things straight. No matter how many yards Troy Davis runs for this Saturday he will not win the Heisman Trophy.

The statistics can be reviewed, spliced, diced, and even julienned, but no way will Davis win the coveted award.

You see, Heisman voters have become a rather funny bunch of individuals lately.

They know that the award no longer holds the importance it once did, and are hoping to return glory to the award.

Things were mapped out perfectly this year.

Peyton Manning was to lead Tennessee to the mythical championship and along the way pick up the Heisman.

In the spring draft, Manning would be one of the first two players selected and — voila — the Heisman would once again have great significance.

The best college player would also be one of the best in the NFL once again.

However, Tennessee has already lost to Florida and Memphis. This leaves Manning as a Heisman pretender and no longer a candidate.

Heisman voters hope to return the aura of the Heisman by giving the award to players they know will succeed in the NFL.

The names Gino Toretta, Charlie Ward and Desmond Howard are killing the Heisman mystique, and the voters intend to do something about it.

The voters have thought up several other candidates to take the trophy that Manning gave up, including offensive lineman Orlando Pace. Now here is the big surprise … guess who is predicted to be chosen No. 1 in next year’s NFL draft?

I consider the emergence of Pace to be a true slap to the face of the rest of the Heisman candidates considering the huge offensive numbers put up by several players this year.

Many fans of the other Heisman candidates are very upset that they believe the award no longer justifies who is the greatest college player anymore.

Including here at ISU, where Troy is God.

I agree that the Heisman award no longer measures the nation’s greatest player, I just don’t think that Troy is the greatest player this year or even last year.

Lee Corso has it right for once in my opinion. Danny Wuerffel is the quarterback on the No. 1 team in America. Not only that, last year he posted the greatest quarterback rating for Division I football.

As of last week, Wuerffel was leading the nation in quarterback rating again and it appears he may get shafted again.

In a perfect world, Davis and Wuerffel would have split the vote the last two years, but the voters ruined that by picking the NFL- ready Eddie George last year.

Troy will not win the Heisman just because he plays on a losing team.

Heisman voters could not handle the possibility of anything else being taken away from their illustrious award.

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Cade Remsburg is a senior in journalism and mass communication from Ames.