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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Tuesday, July 12, 2005

Heisman hyping not USC's style

You will hear a lot about University of Southern California quarterback Matt Leinart and running back Reggie Bush being Heisman Trophy contenders again this season. You just won't hear it from USC.

By Ferd Lewis
Advertiser Columnist

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You will hear a lot about University of Southern California quarterback Matt Leinart and running back Reggie Bush being Heisman Trophy contenders again this season.

You just won't hear it from USC.

No glitzy ad campaign preceding the Sept. 3 season opener with Hawai'i at Aloha Stadium?

No DVDs?

No gimmicky mail-outs?

"Nope," said Tim Tessalone, the Trojans' sports information director. "None of that."

When it comes to Leinart, who won college football's most prestigious award last year, and Bush, who finished fifth, "our philosophy is to let the season play out and see how it develops," Tessalone said.

A rare and refreshing departure from the norm, to be sure. But also certainly a reminder of just how huge the Trojans have become in that they don't need to do anything other than what they have been doing, which is winning 22 consecutive games and taking aim at a national championship three-peat.

Especially as Memphis said it is preparing to send out 3,500 1:24 scale die-cast race cars to promote running back DeAngelo Williams. In 2001, Oregon spent $250,000 on a 10-story billboard in New York's Times Square to promote quarterback Joey Harrington as "Joey Heisman." And, UH put $10,000 into Tim Chang's short-lived "TC for Heisman" DVD campaign.

Make no mistake, if the Trojans wanted to sling some serious cash around, few schools could keep up. USC takes in more than $26 million from football alone, or $5 million beyond what UH spends on its 19 sports combined.

But the Trojans have correctly come to the conclusion that they really don't need to break out the checkbook to add to their six Heisman Trophies. Not with 11 national titles while being in the No. 2 media market in the country. With their schedule and exposure — their past 41 consecutive games have been on TV — winning has been enough.

With 33 victories in the past 34 games, the Trojans have taken two of the past three Heismans and, in doing so, changed their philosophy. "Before Carson Palmer, our philosophy was a person had to come into their honor year with the table already set, if you will," Tessalone said. "You had to change their name from Joe Smith to 'Joe Smith, Heisman Trophy candidate.' "

But Palmer, who wasn't even on the front of the 2002 USC media guide, changed that thinking with marquee games against UCLA and Notre Dame while taking the Trojans to a national title. "What it really comes down to is how the team performs, how the individual performs and how they perform in the big games at the end of the year," Tessalone said.

No hype? No buildup?

"They are going to get plenty of attention, anyway," Tessalone said. "If they sneeze this year, it will get covered."