Olson, Drew Stand Out in This Value Judgment

If Vince Young joined Reggie Bush, Matt Leinart, Drew Olson and Maurice Drew at the Coliseum on Saturday, we could go ahead and hold the Heisman Trophy ceremony on the field after the UCLA-USC football game.

Those are my five finalists (give or take a Brady Quinn) for the award that the Downtown Athletic Club asks its voters to deem the most “outstanding” college football player. But change one word in that description and ask who’s the most valuable player, the field narrows to the two guys in Westwood: Olson and Drew.

If the term were “best” I’d go with Bush and Leinart, in that order. Bush deserved the Heisman last year and should get it this time. He’s so good it’s getting beyond comparisons to other running backs; think in terms of Stevie Wonder or Eddie Murphy at the start of their careers. Leinart is the best pro quarterback prospect in the land, and he might have more Peyton Manning in him than people realize.

But it’s not only Bush and Leinart at USC. The Trojans have LenDale White and Dwayne Jarrett and Steve Smith. They have a dominant offensive line that has not given up more than two sacks in a game. They have a defense that holds opponents to 21.5 points a game.

While Bush and Leinart answered the call against Notre Dame and Fresno State, USC doesn’t need them at their best every game. Leinart had three games without a touchdown pass and Bush didn’t reach the end zone in three outings. The Trojans beat California without a point from Bush or a touchdown pass from Leinart.

At UCLA, the job demand for Olson and Drew is like an air traffic controller: no margin for error. While USC wins by an average of 27 points a game, the Bruins’ average margin in their nine victories is 13.5 points -- a perilous 6.7 in Pacific-10 Conference games. At UCLA, opposing punters can get in some quality study time during the games; the offense has to be on high alert.

The one time Drew was shut out, the Bruins were shut down, losing to Arizona, 52-14. It’s no coincidence.

Now that ESPN has stopped showing continuous-loop highlights of Bush’s 513 all-purpose yards against Fresno State, they might want to dig out a tape of the 299 yards and five touchdowns Drew produced against California. It was the first time I allowed myself to think “Drew might not be as good as Bush, but you can’t say he doesn’t mean as much to his team.”

Drew even manages to top Bush in my little statistical category inspired by Bush: Timely Touchdowns. Game-changers, if you will. Last season, 12 of Bush’s 15 touchdowns came when the Trojans were losing, tied or leading by seven points or fewer. He’s on a similar pace this season, with 12 of his 16 TDs meeting those criteria. For Drew, 16 of his 19 touchdowns this season came when the Bruins were tied, trailed or led by a touchdown or less. That’s 84%.

Drew also compensates for his defense’s inability to win field position by returning punts a national-best average of 29 yards. Factor that against USC’s suspect special teams and you see why USC Coach Pete Carroll called Drew “one of the real issues in this game, a guy that can make a difference.”

Drew scored the winning touchdown in the victories over Washington, California and Washington State, plus the game-tying touchdown against Stanford.

And now, some love for the quarterback who directed the fourth-quarter comebacks.

I read a column suggesting Texas’ Young should get the Heisman, and the first statistical argument was that Young was second in the country in pass efficiency at the time. Well, guess who’s No. 1? Drew Olson.

And if we’re going to say USC has comfier games, let’s not forget Texas’ average margin of victory is 36.7 points.

Olson’s most important numbers are his touchdowns vs. interceptions: 30 to three. It’s not only the minimal mistakes, it’s the confidence he has instilled in teammates. You can’t start game-winning drives on the road without a confident quarterback, and Olson brought a swagger that spread to all.

So large is the shadow cast by USC that Bush’s big day has already erased Olson’s 510-yard, five-touchdown passing day against Arizona State.

Olson also has distributed passes to 15 players, and only one receiver is in the class of Jarrett and Smith: tight end Marcedes Lewis.

Asked who would get his Heisman vote if he had one, Lewis said: “Drew Olson. What Drew Olson brings to this team, I don’t think it’s matched. With us being 6-6 last year and 9-1 last year and Drew having control over that, my vote goes to Drew all day.”

Sorry, but that probably won’t be enough to sway the national voters.

If we were looking for the MVP, there might be a different outcome.

In a sport whose refusal to adopt a playoffs leaves the door open for multiple national champions, there ought to be a way to find awards to recognize the great seasons of Bush, Leinart, Young, Drew and Olson.

As long as there are mythical champions, we can have mythical MVP awards. This one goes to Olson.

J.A. Adande can be reached at [email protected]. To read previous columns by Adande, go to latimes.com/Adande.