The All-Time Heisman Rankings
The Winners from No. 51 to 78
By
Pete Fiutak
What If The Heisman Voting Was Done After
The Bowls?
- 2000
to 2009 |
1990 to
1999 |
1980 to
1989 |
1970 to
1979
Ranking the All-Time Winners
-
The 25 Greatest Heisman
Winners |
No. 26
to 50 |
No. 51
to 78
Heisman Winners -
Top 5
Races, Player to Not Win, and More
-
2010 to Present |
2000 to 2009 |
1990 to
1999 |
1980 to
1989
- 1970 to
1979 |
1960 to 1969 |
1950 to
1959 |
1940 to
1949 |
1930 to
1935
51. 1989 Andre Ware, QB Houston
runner-up: Anthony
Thompson, RB Indiana
Before there was Mike Leach's Texas Tech attack, there was Houston.
Ware completed 64% of his passes for 4,299 yards and 44
touchdowns.
52. 1962 Terry Baker, QB
Oregon State
runner-up: Jerry Stovall, HB LSU
Baker led the nation in total offense and was the first Heisman
winner to come from the West Coast.
53. 2012 Johnny Manziel, QB Texas A&M
runner-up: Manti Te'o, LB Notre Dame
The first freshman to ever win the Heisman set the SEC record for total offense with 3,419 yards and 24 touchdown passes with 1,181 rushing yards and 19 scores. While he was magical in the road win over Alabama, he struggled in a loss to LSU and couldn't come through in a loss to Florida. Only four of the wins came against bowl bound teams.
54. 1969 Steve Owens, RB Oklahoma
runner-up: Mike
Phipps, QB Purdue
Owens only averaged 4.3 yards per carry, but he was a workhorse and
a touchdown machine with 1,523 yards and 23 touchdowns. However, his
Sooners only went 6-4.
55. 1994 Rashaan Salaam, RB Colorado
runner-up: Ki-Jana
Carter, RB Penn State
Salaam ran for more yards, but many think Carter was the better
player in 1994. Salaam's highlight was a 317-yard day against Texas.
He ran for 2,055 yards and 24 touchdowns in 1994 leading the
Buffaloes to an 11-1 season.
56. 1937 Clint Frank, QB Yale
runner-up: Byron White,
RB Colorado
One of the best combinations of speed out of the backfield and
passing accuracy, Frank also was one of the nation's top defensive
players in 1937.
57. 1948 Doak Walker, RB SMU
runner-up: Charlie
Justice, RB North Carolina
Walker won the Heisman as a junior leading the Mustangs to the
Cotton Bowl rushing for 532 yards and eight touchdowns.
58. 1936 Larry Kelley, E Yale
runner-up: Sam Francis,
FB Nebraska
How many linemen are also home-run hitting receivers? Kelley, not
only the nation's best offensive lineman but also the team's top receiver
with 54 and 46-yard touchdown grabs, was the star of a great Yale
team that finished 7-1.
59. 1972 Johnny Rodgers, WR Nebraska
runner-up: Greg
Pruitt, RB Oklahoma
While he didn't have quite the season he had in 1971, Rodgers was
still an electrifying all-purpose star as Nebraska went 9-2-1 with
an Orange Bowl win.
60. 1949 Leon Hart, E Notre
Dame
runner-up: Charlie Justice, RB North Carolina
Hart was the star on one of Notre Dame's most dominant teams as an
offensive lineman, pass catcher, top pass rusher and bruising
fullback.
61. 1966 Steve Spurrier, QB Florida
runner-up: Bob
Griese, QB Purdue
The young Ball Coach actually could throw a little bit and was a
better runner than most of the stars he has coached. He led the
Gators to a 9-2 record.
62. 2003 Jason White, QB Oklahoma
runner-up: Larry
Fitzgerald, WR Pittsburgh
White had a great year, but unfortunately he'll mostly be remembered
for his end-of-the-year collapse than his phenomenal 3,846-yard, 40
touchdown pass performance.
63. 1987 Tim Brown, WR Notre Dame
runner-up: Don
McPherson, QB Syracuse
Brown was the star just before Lou Holtz's Irish teams became
special. In his Heisman winning season, Brown was the ultimate
game-changer with his kick returns as well as his pass catching and
rushing skills.
64. 1943 Angelo Bertelli, QB Notre Dame
runner-up: Bob
Odell, HB Penn
How do you possibly judge Bertelli's Heisman season? He threw ten
touchdown passes as Notre Dame won its first six games by a combined
score of 261 to 31, but his season was cut short thanks to a petty
little annoyance called World War II. Bertelli was drafted into the
Army, but he still won the Heisman.
65. 2002 Carson Palmer, QB USC
runner-up: Brad Banks,
QB Iowa
Palmer was terrific in 2002 throwing for 3,942 yards and 33
touchdowns with ten interceptions leading the Trojans to the Orange
Bowl. He'd be higher if USC had played for the national title or had
even won the Pac 10 title outright (USC lost to Jason Gesser and
Washington State).
66. 2009 Mark Ingram, RB Alabama
runner-up: Toby Gerhart, RB
Alabama
Ingram finished 11th in the nation in
rushing with 1,658 yards and 17 scores, but he came
through in the biggest games running for 113 yards
and three scores, and catching two passes for 76
yards, in the SEC Championship win over Florida, and
he tore off 246 yards against South Carolina and 144
yards against LSU. Call this an MVP award as he
helped take Alabama to a national title.
67. 1975 Archie Griffin, RB Ohio State
runner-up: Chuck
Muncie, RB California
One of the great Heisman debates, Griffin won his second straight
Award despite only rushing for only four touchdowns (Pete Johnson
took carries and stats away rushing for 1,059 yards and 26
touchdowns) while Cal's Chuck Muncie ran for 1,460 yards averaging
6.4 yards per carry with 13 touchdowns. Worse yet, Griffin had his
only non-100-yard day against Michigan with a 46-yard performance.
The Buckeyes still won and went off to the Rose Bowl where they lost
to UCLA. Griffin ran for 93 yards.
68. 1957 John David Crow, RB Texas A&M
runner-up: Alex
Karras, DT Iowa
Crow had a good year, but not a sensational one for a Heisman winner
playing in only seven games due to injuries and rushing for 562
yards with six touchdowns. However, he picked off five passes as
A&M won its first eight games before losing the final three by a
total of six points.
69. 1964 John Huarte, QB Notre Dame
runner-up: Jerry
Rhome, QB Tulsa
Huarte had a good season leading the Irish to a 9-1 record, but it
was nothing special only completing 57% of his passes for 2,062
yards and 16 touchdowns.
70. 1959 Billy Cannon, HB LSU
runner-up: Rich Lucas, QB
Penn State
Cannon was the heart and soul of the 11-0 LSU team ... in 1958. He was
good in 1959, remembered for a legendary performance in a 7-3 win
over Ole Miss, but he won the Award off the year before. Had he won
it in 1958, Cannon would be much, much higher on this list.
71. 1958 Pete Dawkins, RB Army
runner-up: Randy Duncan,
QB Iowa
Dawkins was the leader of a mighty Army team that went 8-0-1. He ran
for 12 touchdowns and was a decent kick returner, but he primarily
won the Heisman for being the American ideal. He was smart,
good-looking, and the top player for Army.
72. 1971 Pat Sullivan, QB Auburn
runner-up: Ed Marinaro,
RB Cornell
Sullivan was a fine passer, but he was known more for being a great
winner getting Auburn to a 9-0 start. However, he had his worst game
in the biggest game of the year throwing for only 121 yards with two
interceptions in a 31-7 loss to Alabama.
73. 1947 Johnny Lujack, QB Notre Dame
runner-up: Bob
Chappus, HB Michigan
Sort of the early version of Gino Torretta, Lujack won the Heisman
as the best player on a ridiculously talented team. Along with being
one of the most accurate quarterbacks in the first half of the 20th
Century, he was also known for being a top tackler.
74. 1956 Paul Hornung, QB Notre Dame
runner-up: Johnny
Majors, RB Tennessee
Either you could say Hornung won because of the Notre Dame name, or
you can just call him a victim of circumstance as he was a great
player on a lousy team. The only Heisman winner from a losing team,
he only ran for 420 yards and racked up 1,337 yards of total offense.
However, stats don't measure quite how good he was.
75. 1992 Gino Torretta, QB Miami
runner-up: Marshall
Faulk, RB San Diego State
Torretta's name has become the term for players who win the Heisman
when voters can't decide on a candidate. He threw for a decent 3,060
yards and 19 touchdowns with seven interceptions before the Sugar
Bowl loss to Alabama.
76. 2001 Eric Crouch, QB Nebraska
runner-up: Rex
Grossman, QB Florida
Had Florida's Rex Grossman been a senior and Nebraska's Eric Crouch
been a sophomore, and not the other way around, it would've been a
Grossman landslide. Crouch had a great year rushing, but his claim
to the honor was a touchdown catch to seal a win over Oklahoma.
Grossman threw for fewer than 300 yards once, 290 in the win over
Florida State, and in the team's biggest games he threw for
362 against Tennessee, 464 against LSU and 407 against Georgia.
77. 1953 Johnny Lattner, HB Notre Dame
runner-up: Paul
Giel, HB Minnesota
Call this one for the Notre Dame hype machine. Lattner didn't even
lead the Irish in passing, rushing, receiving or scoring. He was a
great all-purpose player and a fantastic defensive back, but his
close win over Minnesota's Paul Giel is among Heisman historians'
all-time arguments.
78. 1967 Gary Beban, QB UCLA
runner-up: O.J. Simpson,
RB USC
The strangest of all Heisman victories, Beban only threw for 1,359
yards with eight touchdown passes and eight interceptions. His one
shining moment came on national television completing 16 of 24
passes for 301 yards with two touchdowns and an interception against
USC. There was one problem ... UCLA lost thanks to a scintillating
performance from Trojan star RB O.J.
Simpson. Simpson led his team to the national title thanks to a
historic 64-yard touchdown run against the Bruins to finish with
1,543 rushing yards and 16 total touchdowns. Beban did run for 11
scores on the season, but he only gained 227 yards.