Top 75 All-Time Heisman Winners
75. 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.
75. 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. He ran for 113 yards and three score and caught 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.
74. 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 – the Trojans lost to Washington State. An argument could be made that the Cougars’ Jason Gesser was the conference’s best quarterback.
73. 1943 Angelo Bertelli, QB Notre Dame
runner-up: Bob Odell, HB Penn
How do you fairly 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 campaign was cut short thanks to a petty little annoyance … World War II. Bertelli was drafted into the Army, but he still won the Heisman.
72. 1987 Tim Brown, WR Notre Dame
runner-up: Don McPherson, QB Syracuse
Video: Tim Brown of @NDFootball and his road to the #Heisman. https://t.co/JZ6nipR8yY
— The Heisman Trophy (@HeismanTrophy) November 21, 2017
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, coming up with 34 catches for 846 yards and eight scores.
71. 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 – a 35-7 loss to Kansas State in the Big 12 Championship; the biggest game of the season – than his phenomenal 3,846-yard, 40 touchdown pass performance.
70. 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 coached. He led the Gators to a 9-2 record as an all-around yardage machine – for the era – throwing for 2,012 yards and 16 touchdowns with eight picks, and running for 66 yards.
69. 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. This might have been the best all-around true football player pick – the stats didn’t matter for what he was worth.
68. 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. He caught 58 passes for 1,013 yards and nine scores.
67. 1936 Larry Kelley, E Yale
runner-up: Sam Francis, FB Nebraska
How many linemen are also home-run hitting receivers? Kelley was not only the nation’s best offensive lineman, but he was also the team’s top receiver with 54 and 46-yard touchdown grabs – catching 17 passes for 372 yards and four scores – for a great Yale team that finished 7-1.
66. 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. The stats weren’t great, but he was the star of the college football season.
65. 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. He threw or 465 yards and ran or 667 yards and 11 scores – just blow off his 29% completion rate.
64. 1994 Rashaan Salaam, RB Colorado
runner-up: Ki-Jana Carter, RB Penn State
Salaam ran for more yards, but 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.
63. 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.
62. 1946 Glenn Davis, RB Army
runner-up: Charlie Trippi, HB Georgia
“Mr. Outside” was better in his sophomore and junior seasons, but he was still great with the workload all to himself playing 58 minutes per game. A two-way player, he only missed an average of two minutes per game and was the ultimate home run hitter scoring a touchdown every nine touches, finishing with 712 yards and seven score with six receiving touchdowns. However, he’s this low because it was a lifetime achievement award – again, his 1944 and 1945 seasons were far stronger.
61. 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, hitting 55% of his throws for 1,738 yards and 15 touchdown with five interceptions, he also ran for 538 yards and nine scores, but his team started out 2-2.
60. 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.
59. 1941 Bruce Smith, HB Minnesota
runner-up: Angelo Bertelli, QB Notre Dame
The superstar of the unbeaten Gophers, Smith wasn’t going to play against Iowa due to a knee injury. In what would turn out to be the game that decided the national title, Smith forced his way onto the field and helped set up three TDs on the way to a 34-13 win and the championship. He finished the season with 320 passing yards and two scores, and ran for 473 yards and five touchdowns.
58. 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, but his team lost to the two great teams on the slate, Texas A&M and Arkansas.
57. 1950 Vic Janowicz, RB Ohio State
runner-up: Kyle Rote, RB SMU
Not just a great running back, Janowicz was one of the nation’s best defensive backs and kickers. He threw four touchdown passes, ran for two scores and kicked ten extra points in a 83-21 win over Iowa. Overall, he ran for 314 yards and threw for 561 yards with 12 touchdowns.
56. 1954 Alan Ameche, FB Wisconsin
runner-up: Kurt Burris, LB-C Oklahoma
Ameche was the “Iron Horse” playing almost the entire game, every game as a top touchdown scoring fullback and a bruising linebacker. he rumbled for 641 yards on the year.
55. 1942 Frank Sinkwich, HB Georgia
runner-up: Paul Governali, QB Columbia
Sinkwich ran for an incredible-for-the-time 17 touchdowns and threw for ten scores leading Georgia to an 11-1 record. He ran for 828 yards on the year.
54. 1980 George Rogers, RB South Carolina
runner-up: Hugh Green, DE Pittsburgh
Unfortunately for Rogers, the world only really remembers 1980 as the year Georgia freshman RB Herschel Walker took the college football world by storm. As good as Walker was, Rogers led the nation with 1,781 yards and scored 14 touchdowns.
53. 2016 Lamar Jackson, QB Louisville
runner-up: Deshaun Watson, QB Clemson
Here’s the problem – Louisville was an okay 9-3, and wasn’t in the College Football Playoff chase late in the year. It wasn’t Jackson’s fault, but his amazing season just didn’t mean quite as much to the overall landscape of the championship chase.
The other issue? There wasn’t an incredible second option – there were plenty of very good ones, but no one to take over. However, his 3,390-yard, 30-touchdown, 1,538-rushing yard, 21-rushing score season was as electrifying as any in college football history.
52. 1965 Mike Garrett, RB USC
runner-up: Howard Twilley, WR Tulsa
The first of the superstar Trojan running backs, Garrett ran for 1,440 yards and 13 touchdowns in his Heisman winning season. However, his USC team went 7-2-1 with losses to Notre Dame and UCLA.
51. 1973 John Cappelletti, RB Penn State
runner-up: John Hicks, OT Ohio State
Known more for his tear-jerking acceptance speech honoring his leukemia-stricken brother than for his fantastic season, Cappelletti was great on the field, too, running for 1,522 yards and 17 scores as the workhorse of the 12-0 Nittany Lions.
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