Top Ten All-Time Heisman Winners
10. 2017 Baker Mayfield, QB Oklahoma
runner-up: Bryce Love, RB Stanford
Mayfield was a Heisman runner-up in 2016 with the most efficient season in college football history with a 196.39 passer rating. And then he blew that out of the water in 2017 by taking it up more than seven points higher. The 203.76 rating was Ruthian, hitting 71% of his throws for 4,340 yards and 41 touchdowns with five picks averaging a ridiculous 11.8 yards per attempt. Oh yeah – and Oklahoma won its third straight Big 12 title and went to the College Football Playoff.
9. 2018 Kyler Murray, QB Oklahoma
runner-up: Tua Tagovailoa, QB Alabama
There’s only ☝️#HeismanU #BoomerSoonerhttps://t.co/uxJMhvxVhq / https://t.co/YaFHXBM5WQ pic.twitter.com/oUy10V1vvC
— Oklahoma Football (@OU_Football) December 9, 2018
In 2017, Baker Mayfield put up the best regular season passing efficiency rate in the history of college football, hitting a 203.76. Alabama’s Tua Tagovailoa finished the season was 202.30, and Murray took the stat even further with a historic 205.72.
He threw for 4,053 yards and 40 touchdowns, averaged 11.9 yards per pass, and ran for 892 yards and 11 scores all while leading Oklahoma to a fourth straight Big 12 title and the College Football playoff. But even more than that, he beat out Tagovailoa and Ohio State’s Dwayne Haskins, who would’ve won the Heisman in almost any other season.
8. 2007 Tim Tebow, QB Florida
runner-up: Darren McFadden, RB Arkansas
With an all-timer of a statistical season – being the first quarterback to run for 20 touchdowns and throw for 20 – the first sophomore to ever win the Heisman became the culmination of everything the spread offense could become. He finished with 838 yards and 22 touchdowns and was second in the nation in passing efficiency completing 217-of-317 passes for 3,132 yards and 29 touchdowns with six interceptions.
7. 1968 O.J. Simpson, RB USC
runner-up: Leroy Keyes, RB Purdue
Simpson should’ve been accepting his second Heisman after getting shafted in 1967, but his 1968 season was still worthy of being among the best of all-time rushing for 1,880 yards (1,709 before the bowl) and 23 touchdowns while catching 26 passes for 211 yards. His Heisman victory was the most one-sided in college football history beating Purdue’s Leroy Keyes 2,853 points to 1,103.
6. 1982 Herschel Walker, RB Georgia
runner-up: John Elway, QB Stanford
Walker actually had a better season in 1981, but there was no way he was getting past USC’s Marcus Allen. In 1982, Walker ran for 1,752 yards and 17 touchdowns carrying Georgia to an SEC title and a shot at the national title. What’s more amazing is that he amassed those totals after running for just 20 yards in the season opener against Clemson, hurt by a broken thumb. Even though he was playing in a cast, he ran for 124 yards against BYU and 143 against South Carolina. The cast came off and Walker went nuts, averaging 183 yards per game over his final eight.
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