But a funny thing happened on the way to the awards ceremony

In the week leading up to the Big 12 championship game, I had a feeling the majority of Heisman Trophy voters were starting to lean toward giving the award to Texas quarterback Colt McCoy simply because he looked like the safest pick.McCoy was the guy guiding the undefeated Longhorns to a possible BCS title game, he had a recognizable name, he played the quarterback position and he was one of the few preseason picks for the Heisman still standing.But a funny thing happened on the way to the awards ceremony. McCoy messed up, didnt play well in the Big 12 Championship and didnt have that signature Heisman moment. In fact, he stunk.Sure, Texas still pulled out a victory over Nebraska on Saturday night, but dont give me the McCoy still did enough on the last drive to win the game for Texas line. McCoy almost flat-out lost it with his poor time management at the end of the game, forcing senior kicker Hunter Lawrence to bail him out with a 46-yard field goal.Heisman winners dont get bailed out. They make everyone around them better.McCoy finished the game 20-of-36 for 184 yards, no touchdowns and three interceptions. But it never materialized, as drive after drive ended with a three-and-out, a sack or an interception.The reason McCoy never had his Heisman moment: Because the man with a big No.

But you have to think at least some twinkling of a light went on Saturday night for Heisman voters when it was Suh who had his Heisman moment, which in turn kept McCoy from having his.Suh was absolutely brilliant inside against the Longhorns, finishing with 12 total tackles, 4.5 sacks, seven tackles for loss and two quarterback hurries, consistently dominating the line of scrimmage against both the run and pass game. He opened up countless opportunities for teammates to make plays around him. The Cornhuskers defense finished with nine sacks and was the only reason Nebraska had a chance to win it in the fourth quarter.But this type of dominance wasnt just a one-night performance.Suh currently leads all defensive tackles in the nation in sacks with 12 (tied for sixth overall) and is second among DTs in tackles for loss with 23 (fifth overall). The Cornhuskers finished with only 106 yards Saturday night and rank 11th in the Big 12 in pass offense and total offense.

Consequently, Nebraska getting a sniff of the Big 12 Championship, let alone having a chance to win it, would not have happened without Suh.The Heisman Trophy goes to the most outstanding college football player in the United States, not the most outstanding quarterback nor the most outstanding player on the best team, nor even the player who received the most preseason hype.After having a national stage to perform on and going up against another Heisman hopeful, theres no question in my mind that that player is Ndamukong Suh.Follow me on Twitter: WesBunting. HORSHAM, PA, Jan 07 (MARKET WIRE) An analysis of actual non-profit fundraising results, released today bySofterWare Inc., a leading vendor of fundraising software products,suggests that the downturn in the economy and the stock market is notnecessarily resulting in fewer donations to small and medium sizenon-profits.The analysis looked at a cross section of non-profit organizations thatuse SofterWare's DonorPerfect Online fundraising application. We had seen so much in the press about the impactthe economy and stock market was going to have on fundraising, and werealized we were in a pretty unique position to get a snapshot on whatwas really happening at non-profits."Jon Biedermann, Vice President - DonorPerfect Division, noted, "Wespecifically targeted the analysis at a sampling of non-profits that havebeen using our online product for several years." He explained that "Sinceour new clients typically show a more than 20 increase in fundraisingresults when they first use our products, we wanted to eliminate these newclients from biasing the analysis."Summary of ResultsTotal Gifts ($) 2008 vs. 2007Sept - Oct (2 Months) - Up 5.4Jan - Oct (10 Months) - Up 3.72Mr. Schoenberg further observes, "The data shows growth in donationswas actually greater in September and October than for 2008 overall.