By
Pete Fiutak |
CFN Heisman
Central
Post-Bowl Heisman Voting
2000 to 2007 |
1990 to 1999 |
1980 to 1989
It's now become a college football tradition to award the
Heisman Trophy, the premier individual prize in all of sports, in
between the end of the regular season and the bowls. Unfortunately,
the signature player of a given season often times isn't determined
until after the bowl game, and as everyone knows, one huge performance
on a national stage often means everything in the race.
In the 2007 battle, look at how Arkansas star Darren McFadden went from
also-ran to possible front-runner by blowing up against LSU when
everyone was watching. Missouri's Chase Daniel went from certain
finalist to out of the picture after struggling in the Big 12
Championship loss to Oklahoma. Yes, one big day on the national stage,
or one dud, is often the difference between winning and being a
footnote.
If the voting was done after the bowl games over the year, who would've won?
USC RB Reggie
Bush might have been a transcendent superstar in 2005, and he had a
whale of a Rose Bowl, but Texas QB Vince Young would've won if the
voting had been done after the national title game.
Sometimes the Heisman serves as a motivating factor in a bowl game for
the opposing defense, so
it's not always cut-and-dry that the winner would be clear after the
bowls like it does now. Even so, going back to 1970, when
the national title started being awarded after the bowls rather than
after the regular season, here are the last 36 Heisman winners and what
would've likely happened if the big prize was awarded after the season
was actually over.
1979 Charles White, RB USC
The Final Three Were ... 1) White, 2) Billy Sims, RB
Oklahoma,
3) Marc Wilson, QB BYU
The Likely Winner After The Bowls Would've Been ... Charles White, RB
USC
The Final Three Likely Would've Been ... 1) White, 2) Sims, 3) Wilson
Charles White won in a surprising landslide over Billy Sims, and it
would've easily held up after tearing through Ohio State for 242 yards
and a touchdown. Sims ran for 164 yards and a touchdown in the 24-7 win
over Florida State in the Orange Bowl to solidify the No. 2 spot. Marc
Wilson would've stayed at three after throwing for 380 yards and two
touchdowns with three interceptions in a 38-37 loss to Indiana in the
Holiday Bowl.
1978 Billy Sims, RB Oklahoma
The Final Three Were ... 1) Sims, 2) Chuck Fusina, QB Penn State,
3) Rick Leach, QB Michigan
The Likely Winner After The Bowls Would've Been ... Billy Sims, RB
Oklahoma
The Final Three Likely Would've Been ... 1) Sims, 2) Charles White, RB
USC 3) Fusina
One of the closest races ever would've been a wide open blowout
after the 1978 bowl season. Billy Sims, who averaged 7.6 yards per carry
with 1,762 yards, ran for 134 yards and two touchdowns in s 31-24 win
over Nebraska in the Orange Bowl. Chuck Fusina only completed 15 of 30
passes for 163 yards and a touchdown with four interceptions in the
classic 14-7 loss to Alabama in the Sugar Bowl. Rick Leach had an awful
Rose Bowl in a 17-10 loss to USC thanks to Charles White. The Trojan
junior finished fourth in the Heisman voting, but he would've easily
been moved up to second after the bowls after rushing for 99 yards and a
score.
1977 Earl Campbell, RB Texas
The Final Three Were ... 1)
Campbell, 2) Terry Miller, RB Oklahoma
State, 3) Ken MacAfee, TE Notre Dame
The Likely Winner After The Bowls Would've Been ... Earl Campbell, RB
Texas
The Final Three Likely Would've Been ... 1) Campbell, 2) Miller, 3)
MacAfee
Terry Miller was a machine for Oklahoma State as the star runner
who'd be the measuring stick for Barry Sanders and Thurman Thomas
several years later, but he wasn't Earl Campbell. Despite losing to
Notre Dame 38-10 in the Cotton Bowl, Campbell would've still won the
Heisman after running for 116 yards. Ken MacAfee only caught four passes
for 45 yards.
1976 Tony Dorsett, RB Pitt
The Final Three Were ... 1)
Dorsett, 2) Rickey Bell, USC, 3) Rob
Lytle, RB Michigan
The Likely Winner After The Bowls Would've Been ... Tony Dorsett, RB
Pitt
The Final Three Likely Would've Been ... 1) Dorsett, 2) Bell, 3) Lytle
Tony Dorsett won with ease, and it would've been an even bigger
slam-dunk after running for 202 yards and a touchdown in the 27- 3 win
over Georgia in the Sugar Bowl to take the national title. Ricky Bell
and Rob Lytle would've been the easy two and three with no one else
remotely in the picture.
1975 Archie Griffin, RB Ohio State
The Final Three Were ... 1) Griffin, 2) Chuck Muncie, RB California,
3) Ricky Bell, RB USC
The Likely Winner After The Bowls Would've Been ... Archie Griffin, RB
Ohio State
The Final Three Likely Would've Been ... 1) Griffin, 2) Tony Dorsett, RB
Pitt, 3) Muncie
This would be one of the more debatable years. Archie Griffin won in
a landslide, and even though his No. 1 Buckeyes gagged away the Rose
Bowl in a 23-10 loss to UCLA, he wasn't bad with 93 yards on 17 carries.
Pitt's Tony Dorsett finished fourth, and he might have had a legitimate
shot at winning the award after rushing for 142 yards and two touchdowns
in a Sun Bowl win over Kansas. Cal and Chuck Muncie didn't go to a bowl.
1974 Archie Griffin, RB Ohio State
The Final Three Were ... 1)
Griffin, 2) Anthony Davis, RB USC, 3) Joe Washington, RB Oklahoma
The Likely Winner After The Bowls Would've Been ... Archie Griffin, RB
Ohio State
The Final Three Likely Would've Been ... 1) Griffin, 2) Davis, 3)
Washington
Archie Griffin won relatively easily, and he would've still been the pick
after the bowls despite an 18-17 loss to USC in the Rose Bowl. While he
was held in check, running for 75 yards on 20 carries, it wasn't like
Anthony Davis, who finished second in the voting, went nuts with 67
yards on 13 carries. No one else was really in the picture.
1973 John Cappelletti, RB Penn State
The Final Three Were ... 1) Cappelletti, 2) John Hicks, OT Ohio
State, 3) Roosevelt Leaks, RB Texas
The Likely Winner After The Bowls Would've Been ... John Cappelletti, RB
Penn State
The Final Three Likely Would've Been ... 1) Cappelletti, 2) Hicks, 3) Anthony Davis, RB USC
John Cappelletti was held in check by LSU running for 50 yards and a
touchdown on 26 carries, but Penn State won 16-9. More importantly,
there was no one else remotely worthy of winning even after John
Hicks' Ohio State smacked USC 42-21 in the Rose Bowl. USC's
Anthony Davis ran wild on the Buckeyes with 157 yards and a touchdown on
23 carries (while setting up four Sam "Bam" Cunningham scores) and
would've gone from not even being in the top ten to number three after
Roosevelt Leaks and Texas were stuffed by Nebraska 19-3 in the Cotton
Bowl.
1972 Johnny Rodgers, RB Nebraska
The Final Three Were ... 1) Rodgers, 2) Greg Pruitt, RB
Oklahoma, 3) Rich Glover, NG Nebraska
The Likely Winner After The Bowls Would've Been ... Johnny Rodgers, HB
Nebraska
The Final Three Likely Would've Been ... 1) Rodgers, 2) Pruitt, 3)
Glover
This is an easy call. Johnny Rodgers basically won for what he did in 1971,
but he proved he deserved the honor by running 15 times for 81 yards and
three touchdowns, and catching three passes for 71 yards and a score, in
one of the all-time great bowl performances beating Notre Dame 40-6 in
the 1973 Sugar Bowl. Greg Pruitt was fine, but nothing special, in a 14-0
Sugar Bowl win over Penn State running 21 times for 66 yards.
1971 Pat Sullivan, QB Auburn
The Final Three Were ... 1)
Sullivan, 2) Ed
Marinaro, RB Cornell, 3) Greg Pruitt, RB Oklahoma
The Likely Winner After The Bowls Would've Been ... Ed Marinaro, RB
Cornell
The Final Three Likely Would've Been ... 1) Marinaro, 2) Jack Mildren,
QB Oklahoma, 3) Sullivan
This one's tough. Ed Marinaro was in the mix because he put up huge
historical numbers for a mediocre Cornell team. Sullivan was no big
deal, but was the best of a bad Heisman lot before a lousy 40-22 Sugar
Bowl loss to Oklahoma. He completed 20 of 44 for 250 yards with a
touchdown and an interception, while Sooner QB Jack Mildren, who
finished sixth in the final voting but was lumped in a group of six
players who all got about the same number of voting points, ran 30 times
for 149 yards and three touchdowns. He likely would've passed Sullivan,
Penn State's Lydell Mitchell, Alabama's Johnny Musso, and Pruitt, who
ran for 95 yards and a score, into the number two spot.
1970 Jim Plunkett, QB Stanford
The Final Three Were ... 1) Plunkett, 2) Joe Theismann,
QB Notre Dame, 3) Archie Manning, QB Ole Miss
The Likely Winner After The Bowls Would've Been ... Jim Plunkett, RB
Stanford
The Final Three Likely Would've Been ... 1) Plunkett, 2) Theismann, 3)
Manning
Jim
Plunkett pulled off one of the all-time Rose Bowl completing 20 of
30 passes for 265 yards and a touchdown with an interception in the
27-17 win over Ohio State, so yeah, he would've won the Heisman easily
after the bowls. Notre Dame beat Texas in the Cotton Bowl, and Manning
was terrific in the loss to Auburn in the Gator Bowl, so the regular
season results would've held up.
Post-Bowl Heisman Voting
2000 to 2006 |
1990 to 1999 |
1980 to 1989