[Quality88]

LEXINGTON, Ky. -- There will be no towering Times Square billboard, no bobblehead dolls.
No T-shirts. No keychains. No refrigerator magnets.
If University of Kentucky quarterback Andre' Woodson finds himself in the Heisman Trophy race, it won't be marketing that gets him there.
"The Heisman is decided by what you do every week on the field these days," UK coach Rich Brooks said. "Andre' Woodson was not in the conversation when we started the year. He is in every conversation now, as he should be."
If Woodson is to stay in that conversation, it likely will be because No. 8 UK continues doing what it has been doing -- pulling off improbable wins and climbing up the rankings.
Woodson and the Wildcats (6-1, 2-1 Southeastern Conference) get their next opportunity Saturday against No. 14 Florida (4-2, 2-2) and its own Heisman Trophy candidate, quarterback Tim Tebow.
A win in that game would add another line to Woodson's Heisman résumé.
But it's unlikely a big promotional push will follow. UK has scarcely touted Woodson as a Heisman candidate.
Unlike Arkansas, which e-mails a weekly update on Heisman candidate Darren McFadden to media outlets, UK isn't filling inboxes with Woodson information.
There's no Web site touting Woodson as a Heisman candidate, though such sites exist for California wide receiver DeSean Jackson, Hawaii quarterback Colt Brennan, Rutgers running back Ray Rice and Louisville quarterback Brian Brohm, among others.
And though UK likely will send out a promotional mailing in November -- as it does for all its SEC and national award candidates -- Woodson won't be immortalized as a bobblehead, as Marshall's Byron Leftwich was during his Heisman candidacy, nor will his visage peer down at passers-by from a Times Square billboard, as Oregon's Joey Harrington's once did.
"It's been Coach Brooks' belief that that's something that's earned on the field over the course of the season," said Tony Neely, UK's media relations director, who will oversee any mailings that promote Woodson. "Coach Brooks' plan has always been to promote at the appropriate time, in November and December."
Maybe Woodson doesn't need a premature push.
Bob Asmussen, a Heisman voter who covers Illinois football for The News-Gazette in Champaign, said he's seeing fewer promotional gimmicks in the mail than he used to.
He doesn't miss them.
"That stuff doesn't help at all," said Asmussen, who considers Woodson a top-10 Heisman candidate. "Kentucky could send me a gold bar with Andre' Woodson's name on it, and it wouldn't help. If that sort of thing influences anybody, they shouldn't be voting."
Not that promotional mailings -- or update e-mails -- are without advantages.
"Let's face it: It's Kentucky. It's not (Southern California)," said Dana O'Neil, a Heisman voter from the Philadelphia Daily News. "It probably couldn't hurt to let everybody who's focused on the usual suspects know exactly what (Woodson) is doing in a great league."
Not that O'Neil needs the help. An avid college football follower, she said she's well aware of Woodson, whom she listed in her top five this week in the Heisman Trophy poll in the Denver Rocky Mountain News.
"I've kept him in the top five pretty much throughout, just because he's doing incredible things for a team that nobody really expected to do much," O'Neil said. "I think the (Louisiana State) game legitimized for me what a lot of people thought was illegitimate the week before with the loss to South Carolina."
O'Neil isn't the only one taking notice.
This week, Woodson ranks second to Boston College quarterback Matt Ryan in the Rocky Mountain News poll, which includes input from 10 Heisman voters.
Three of the four analysts at www.CBSSportsline.com rank Woodson second on their Heisman watch list. And at www.heismanpundit.com, Woodson is listed among a handful of players who still have the opportunity to win college football's most-coveted award.
That attention has come despite relatively little fanfare from UK, and that suits Woodson fine. He said over the summer that he didn't want a Heisman campaign, and he hasn't changed his tune.
"If you continue to win games, people are going to take notice," Woodson said. "And how you win games plays another factor."
UK has won games in dramatic and often unexpected fashion, and attention-grabbing wins against U of L and LSU probably have helped Woodson's cause. And though UK hasn't mounted a full-on promotional push, Brooks hyped Woodson as a Heisman candidate on ESPN's "First Take" earlier this week, noting that his role as quarterback on a tradition-starved team should play to his favor.
Answering questions about his Heisman candidate is all the promotion Brooks has planned.
"I think the promotion ends up (being) on the field, in his numbers and our winning," Brooks said. "If we continue to beat the people we're beating, Andre' Woodson is right in the discussion on every Heisman ballot, on my opinion. And he should be."
Even without a marketing machine behind him, Woodson could see his name move front and center this weekend. ESPN's "College GameDay" will broadcast live from Lexington, and the UK-Florida game will air on CBS.
"If he keeps putting up good numbers and they keep doing things they're not supposed to do, I think he'll be in the picture," O'Neil said. "This weekend, fair or not, people are looking at Tim Tebow vs. Andre' Woodson. If they beat Florida, all bets are off."

Almost November, and no Woodson campaign ads

[Gotham Dark Knight]

I think Woodson now has a great shot at the award.

I got to think he is one of the front runners.

[Lefty Noob]

It's got to be him or Hart right now. I know a lot of people still push McFadden, but he just hasn't been doing it in recent weeks.

[Quality88]

He definitely is makin a case.