Syracuse Football: What If... Don McPherson Won the Heisman?

Thanks to the powers of discarded Food Lion produce and dishonored contracts, I have found a way to view an alternate universe named Earth-44. Every time I visit this place, something has changed with Syracuse Football. This series will report my chronological travels to this alternate earth and the TNIAAM staff tries to figure out what it all means, since I can only view the one game I end up in. Today, I saw something totally different...

Previously — What If: 2010; What If: 2011 What If: 2012 What If: 2013, What If: 1988 Sugar Bowl

Scenario: I’ve already been to this time period once, so I’m worried the last bit of FoodLion scraps have finally given out. But instead of landing in New Orleans, I’m in New York City, and a bunch of old white guys are manually counting up votes. I see the words “Brown,” and “McPherson,” on almost all of them... wait... I’m watching the Heisman vote! I know how this ends: Notre Dame star Tim Brown wins the Heisman, even after ‘Cuse star Don McPherson had a Heisman caliber campaign leading the Syracuse Orange to an undefeated record.

The accountants from Deloitte, Haskins & Sells count up the votes, I’m expecting to see Brown win even before last-minute votes after his stinker versus Miami give the Notre Dame star the award. But wait! They’re saying McPherson has more votes! He’s in first place with the late ballots all expected to give him the win! A few days later in NYC, Don McPherson becomes the second Orange(men) player to win College Football’s highest honor, and I’m taken back to 2018 and my time machine finally breaks for good.

What does it mean?

Is that Sean Keeley’s music?! BY GAWD! If Don McPherson wins the Heisman Trophy as God intended, the Syracuse football team takes a little extra momentum with them into the Sugar Bowl. They win the game (because they never gave Pat Dye the chance to be a pussy), finishing the season unbeaten and united. They finished No. 2 in the polls because college football is dumb but Syracuse fans lay claim to an asterisk national championship. Today, in the age of UCF’s “championship,” Syracuse hangs a banner honoring their 1987 National Champions and no one can stop us.

John: ^ What he said. Also, two Heismans would put us in the elite company of just 18 other schools (and the same number as Alabama). That doesn’t matter, just like our high Hall-of-Famer count doesn’t either. But it’s the little things...

Personally, I can’t imagine a world where Sean isn’t making a McPherson Heisman joke every time an internet joke hits the Syracuse section of Twitter.