The three youngest Heisman winners of all time - Mark Ingram, Winston and Jackson - won during this period.Ī natural byproduct of more underclassmen winning the Heisman has been that Heisman winners, on average, are getting younger and younger.ġ5. Stops at Florida and Blinn Junior College before landing at Auburn made Newton’s Heisman victory unique.ġ4. Cam Newton became the first double-transfer to win the Heisman.

Jackson built on what Tebow started to set a new standard for Heisman winners.ġ3. Lamar Jackson became the first Heisman winner to surpass 30 touchdowns passing and 20 touchdowns rushing. Quarterbacks who could dominate games running and passing became the norm after Tebow’s 2007 season.ġ2. Tim Tebow became the first Heisman winner to surpass 20 touchdowns both running and passing. Bradford and Marcus Mariota set the Heisman record with 53 total touchdowns (running and passing).Įight of the top 10 touchdown totals in Heisman history occurred during this stretch, with these two quarterbacks leading the way.ġ1. The Oklahoma quarterback’s 2008 season was among the most productive in Heisman history.ġ0. Sam Bradford threw for a Heisman-record 48 touchdown passes. In Alabama’s case, however, it was an award so remarkably long in coming.ĩ. Traditional Heisman powers have been fairly quiet this past decade, so up-and-coming programs with exciting offenses have stepped up to take advantage. Texas A&M won its first Heisman since 1957. Since Tebow, we’ve been more likely to see a freshman or sophmore win the Heisman than a junior or senior - a stunning reversal of the award’s first 71 years.Ĩ. Six of the 10 winners during this period were sophomores or freshmen. This accomplishment by Manziel in 2012 was even more shocking than Tebow’s given that hardly anyone knew about the Aggies quarterback heading into the season.ģ. The first freshman (albeit of the redshirt variety), Johnny Manziel, won the Heisman. It took a monster season from the Florida quarterback to break one of the most enduring barriers in sports, but his win opened the floodgates for more underclass winners.Ģ. The first sophomore (Tebow) won the Heisman. Starting in 2007 with Tim Tebow, the following has occurred:ġ.

Young will try to do the same with Alabama set to face Cincinnati in the College Football Playoff semifinal on New Year’s Eve.The period between 20 has been, arguably, the most interesting and unpredictable span in the history of the Heisman Trophy. Smith also won a national title before his career with the Crimson Tide was up. He followed in the footsteps of wide receiver DeVonta Smith, who won the award last year. Young is the second consecutive Alabama star to win the Heisman. He completed 68 percent of his passes and had just four interceptions all year. The quarterback put up 421 yards and threw three touchdown passes while scoring another on the ground in the 41-24 victory.Īll told this season, Young threw for 4,322 yards and 43 touchdowns. Young was the favorite to win the Heisman after he led Alabama’s demolition of Georgia’s usually outstanding defense in the SEC Championship Game. He will be remembered as a Pitt legend, and that’s pretty great, too, because Pitt fans never forget. We all know that Pickett was the most consistently excellent player in the country. The Heisman would have been great for Pickett and Pitt, but it’s just a popularity contest.

Who won the heisman last year