Tuesdays with Eric will be missed.

That's the traditional day Nebraska holds its press conferences during game week. Defensive coordinator Craig Bohl, coach Frank Solich and a couple of players face the firing squad, er, questions.

Huskers coach Frank Solich (left) will be sad to see Eric Crouch move on.(AP)

Then there's Eric Crouch. Nebraska's quarterback takes his time in front of the microphone answering every query -- dumb or thoughtful -- that comes his way. Then he does something that has become another tradition at Nebraska.

He sticks around. Reporters will talk to him off to the side, out in a hallway. Sometimes he talks about life. Sometimes he'll ask about other teams. Crouch actually has a conversation. It's not an interrogation. Certainly not an obligation.

All that might sound like a stupid, selfish, inside reporter's reason to vote Crouch for the Heisman. Pleasant fellow, cooperative with the hacks equals check mark on the ballot. Not true. That's just one reason why Crouch gets this Heisman vote. Another aspect, but part of the senior's overall persona:

He loves college football.

Sure, every player loves college football. But Crouch enjoys it, bathes in it, revels in it. When he kisses his 2-year old daughter goodbye every morning, it is with regret that he has to leave. But it is partially his choosing that those days are filled with autographs, press conferences and speaking engagements as well as mandatory practice and meetings.

All revolving around one thing: The Game.

Those weekly rendezvous were a rare peak inside the soul and mind of a great athlete and great person. Unlike some of his hip-hop generation peers, Eric Crouch has depth. You'd love to share a drink and cigar with the guy, if he was so inclined. You'd also love to play touch football outside with him on Thanksgiving morning.

Years from now, when Crouch's picture is hanging on the wall of the Downtown Athletic Club, that's what voters should remember. And they will, because Crouch, no doubt, will be there to welcome a new winner to the exclusive club.

Because he loves the game.

Notice we haven't mentioned stats yet. Crouch doesn't have them, certainly not the gaudy numbers of Rex Grossman, David Carr or even Miami's Bryant McKinnie, who didn't allow a sack this season.

But Crouch's whole career has been about intangibles. He didn't have the All-America bulldozing offensive lines of Tommie Frazier, Scott Frost or Turner Gill. He didn't have the difference-making I-back to take the load off him.

Crouch has gladly taken things upon himself in what is really a transitional period for Nebraska. Solich must still find a blue-chip I-back fairly soon. Meanwhile, Crouch has endured two shoulder surgeries that were directly attributable to his sticking his nose into the line 25 times a game.

Never has a Nebraska offense been centered so much around a quarterback. Never has the quarterback responded so well.

Crouch this year passed for 1,510 yards, the most at Nebraska in 18 years. He gets more out every completion (14.38 yards) than Carr or Joey Harrington.

He rushed for 1,115 yards and 18 touchdowns. The yards are more than Clemson's Woody Dantzler, Oregon State's Ken Simonton and Indiana's Antwaan Randle El. The 18 touchdowns are more than the leading rushers in six I-A conferences, including his own.

There's even a Heisman moment. Crouch was on the receiving end of Mike Stuntz's 63-yard scoring pass against Oklahoma on Oct. 27.

Is there a backing-in element to Crouch winning the Heisman? Sure. Certain things had to happen for Crouch to get back in the mix after the Colorado debacle 10 days ago. Grossman tanked against Tennessee. Ken Dorsey is not even the best player on his offense, much less the nation. This is not the year a defensive player deserves mention.

But in one of his school's worst losses, Crouch excelled. It's almost hard to believe that Crouch accounted for 360 yards in total offense in the 62-36 loss to Colorado. Talk about overshadowed. Sure, the Huskers were humiliated. Crouch was not the reason.

"I haven't seen a better football player," Colorado coach Gary Barnett said.

The best endorsement comes from Texas Tech coach Mike Leach. Leach spent most of the season calling his pass-happy guy, Kliff Kingsbury, "the best quarterback in the country." When it came time to pencil to paper, though ...

"I voted for him for offensive player of the year in this conference," Leach said of Crouch. "I think he's a huge part of what they do offensively. He's maybe not a quarterback in the traditional sense. I haven't figured out if he's a quarterback or running back, but when you play Nebraska, you have to figure out how to stop Eric Crouch."

But only for one more game. After that, Tuesdays with Eric will be nothing but a lasting memory of how much Crouch loved the game.

The final ballot:

1. Eric Crouch, QB, Nebraska
2. David Carr, Fresno State
3. Bryant McKinnie, Miami