Iowa State's Wallace is the real deal. (College football: insider).

I'm a Heisman Trophy voter, which makes me guilty by association. We always reward the player--usually the quarterback--from the higher-profile school. We're too provincial. We don't give props to the guys on the defensive side of the ball.

I've heard it all many times before. But I can defend every vote I've cast--and so far this season, there's only one defensible way to go. Iowa State's Seneca Wallace is so far out in front it's almost irrelevant who's No. 2.

Wallace is incredible. His touchdown scramble against Texas Tech last weekend was the most Heismanesque highlight of any of this year's contenders. But it's not about flashiness with Wallace, or even statistics. It's about the difference he makes for his team. Without Wallace at quarterback, would the Cyclones be soaring in the polls? I can't say for sure they'd even be a bowl team.

Iowa State must play at Oklahoma and Texas in its next two games, so Wallace could fall right back to the Heisman pack. But I don't think he will. As I see it, the most likely scenario is that the Cyclones ...