Detmer Fills Tie Rack, and Now, Trophy Case : Heisman: BYU star outdistances Ismail, Bieniemy for college football’s top award.

Cut from paper, colored blue and distributed last September to anyone with a vote, the official Heisman Trophy Ty was nothing more than a corny gimmick meant to introduce the country to Brigham Young quarterback Ty Detmer.

On Saturday, those same cutout ties, corny or not, became the neckwear of choice as Detmer scored a mild upset and won the stiff-arming Heisman statuette, presented annually to the nation’s best college football player.

Detmer becomes the third consecutive junior and first BYU player to win the Heisman. He watched the ceremony from Honolulu, where the No. 4-ranked Cougars played Hawaii hours after the results were announced. And in all likelihood, Detmer also becomes the first player to learn of his Heisman victory while wearing a lei around his neck. His attire was in sharp contrast to the stuffed shirts that filled a room on the 13th floor of New York’s Downtown Athletic Club, site of the official announcement.

“You can try to picture yourself in this position, but you really can’t imagine it,” Detmer told reporters via a satellite arrangement.

What was supposed to be a two-man contest between Detmer and Raghib (Rocket) Ismail, Notre Dame’s all-purpose flanker, actually turned into a comfortable romp for the junior from San Antonio.

Detmer’s 1,482 point total placed him well ahead of Ismail, who earned 1,177 points, and Colorado running back Eric Bieniemy, who placed third in the balloting with 798 points. Virginia quarterback Shawn Moore was next with 465 points, followed by Houston quarterback David Klingler, a distant fifth with 125.

Detmer carried each of the six voting regions, including the Midwest, which was thought to be a Ismail stronghold of sorts. Detmer’s 316 first-place votes were well ahead of Ismail’s 237 and Bieniemy’s 114. In short, the close race envisioned by many Heisman followers never materialized.

While Detmer, Ismail, Bieniemy, Moore and Klingler were the official finalists, five other players received points from the 917 voters who make up the Heisman electorate. In order of finish: Virginia wide receiver Herman Moore, Washington running back Greg Lewis, Miami quarterback Craig Erickson, Texas A&M; running back Darren Lewis (Erickson and Lewis tied for eighth) and Army running back Mike Mayweather.

Detmer’s season was a study in consistency and occasional brilliance. He led BYU to an early season upset of then-No. 1 Miami, thanks mainly to his 405-yard, three-touchdown performance. From there, his Heisman candidacy was strengthened almost every week as his completion, yardage and touchdown totals grew with impressive regularity. Most notable are his 25 NCAA records and his march to surpass the 5,000-yard single-season passing mark set earlier in the day by Klingler.

Only a loss to Oregon, when Detmer threw five interceptions, and BYU’s middleweightschedule threatened to remove him from the Heisman picture.

Meanwhile, Ismail was busy dazzling viewers and voters with his electric and versatile playing style. His knack of turning a punt return or kickoff, pass reception or handoff into something special earned him respect, but, in the end, couldn’t earn him enough Heisman votes. Notre Dame’s inability to get him the ball more than 126 times this season may have swayed those who had ballots.

Afterward, Ismail said he was pleased that the Heisman ordeal is complete . . . for now. Like Detmer, Ismail intends to return to school for his senior season.

“I’m very relieved,” Ismail told reporters. “I’m just happy it’s over with.”

BYU has produced quality quarterbacks in years past. Jim McMahon, Virgil Carter, Robbie Bosco, Gifford Nielsen, Steve Young and Marc Wilson come to mind. But Detmer is the first Cougar quarterback to overcome the doubts about BYU’s so-so schedule, lack of national television time and suspect conference.

“We’ve had great quarterbacks in the past and none of them won it,” Detmer said. “I think it’s about time BYU won one.”

Not so lucky was Klingler, whose gaudy statistics are causing NCAA record-keepers to write everything in pencil. Despite his 54 touchdowns, voters were mostly unimpressed. Even in the Southwest, voters failed to place Klingler in the top three.