Turner Gill says Saturday night made it official.

Any list of the great quarterbacks in Nebraska history forms behind Heisman Trophy winner Eric Crouch.

"I've been very blessed to coach a lot of great young men," said Gill, Nebraska's quarterbacks coach. "Tommie Frazier, Brook Berringer, Scott Frost. And now Eric Crouch. "The one thing I've always admired about Eric the most is that he's such a great competitor. I've had a lot of guys who were great competitors, but the one thing he has over them is his speed. God gave him the ability, God gave him the speed. That's given him the edge, and to me, that makes him the best quarterback."

Crouch has posted school-record numbers, producing 7,915 yards and 35 victories as a starter. While Frazier, Frost and Jerry Tagge won national championships, none of the three hauled back to Lincoln the individual awards that Crouch will when he returns home this week.

In addition to the Heisman, Crouch was named the winner of the Walter Camp player of the year award and the Davey O'Brien National Quarterback Award.

Although Crouch appreciated Gill's words of praise, he said it won't change his opinion on rating Nebraska's quarterbacks.

"Those are big words," Crouch said. "I'm just thankful he feels that way. I still believe he is the greatest quarterback to play at Nebraska. "I guess we'll just have to get into an argument over that. But it's definitely a great honor."

Gill led Nebraska to three Big Eight Conference championships from 1981 through 1983. He finished fourth in balloting for the 1983 Heisman Trophy. Frazier, who helped the Huskers win two national championships, finished second in the Heisman voting in 1995.

Crouch is the first quarterback from a team with an option offense to win the award.

"My personal opinion is that there is a mentality about getting quarterbacks ready for the NFL that there is so much projection about how a quarterback is going to be when he gets to the NFL," Gill said. "I believe that Eric Crouch can play (quarterback) in the NFL if he gets an opportunity and gets in the right offense.

"Quarterbacks who run the football are looked down on as a negative by some people in regard to becoming an NFL quarterback."