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Eric Crouch cites 'the unknown' for bypassing Jameis Winston

Florida State quarterback Jameis Winston was the runaway winner of the Heisman Trophy on Saturday night, but there were 115 voters who left Winston off their ballots.

Former Heisman winner Eric Crouch was one of them. He won the Heisman as Nebraska's quarterback in 2001.

As for his reasoning, on "The Dan Patrick Show" Monday, Crouch said "the unknown" regarding the sexual-assault case Winston was involved in led to him keeping Winston off the ballot. Winston was investigated but not charged in the case.

Crouch said he voted Arizona tailback Ka'Deem Carey first. That's a bit puzzling, given Crouch's reasoning for leaving Winston off his ballot. Carey was suspended for the first game of the season for a violation of team rules. Wildcats coach Rich Rodriguez never said if the suspension was related to two off-field incidents Carey was involved in, including a misdemeanor assault arrest in December 2012 for an incident involving his then-pregnant girlfriend. The charges were dismissed.

Winston's winning margin was 1,501 points, the seventh-largest all-time. There were 900 ballots tabulated.

Mike Huguenin can be reached at mike.huguenin@nfl.com. You also can follow him on Twitter @MikeHuguenin.