Most Impressive Heisman Winner Since 1985

[HotGrillonGrillAction]

Few surprises....but interesting note about last year (Ingram over Suh).....

Seriously tho - B. Sanders - 11 games and those numbers!!! Holy Moly.

On to Husker Relevancy:

26. Eric Crouch, QB, Nebraska (2001). It's mean to say, but Crouch was easily the least impressive winner of the past 25 years. The option quarterback ranked 46th in the country in total offense (218.8 yards per game), rushing for 1,115 yards and 18 touchdowns while completing 55.6 percent of his passes for 1,510 yards, seven touchdowns and 10 picks. He won in large part due to a touchdown catch on a trick play to beat then-No. 2 Oklahoma.

Link

 

[ESPY]

16. Eddie George, RB, Ohio State (1995). In a loaded year for running backs (five averaged more than 150 yards), George put himself over the top with a school-record 314-yard day against Illinois. He ran for 1,826 yards (6.0 per carry) and 23 touchdowns. With hindsight, one might declare runner-up Tommie Frazier the more dominant player, but he averaged a modest 156.5 total yards in Nebraska's triple-option offense.

Gah! Gets me everytime!

7. Charlie Ward, QB, Florida State (1993). In an era before the spread-option, Ward set a new standard for dual-threat quarterbacks. He notched 3,371 yards of total offense, averaged 5.2 yards per carry, threw 27 touchdowns against just four interceptions, posted six 300-yard games and ranked fourth in pass efficiency (157.8) in leading the 'Noles to their first national title. Fresno State's Trent Dilfer put up better passing numbers but finished ninth.

Shouldn't have been. FSU didn't deserve that title.

10. Rashaan Salaam, RB, Colorado (1994). Salaam blew away the competition that year, rushing for a national-best 2,055 yards and 24 touchdowns. When remembering that season, we usually think of Salaam and runner-up Ki-Jana Carter of Penn State on roughly equal footing, but Carter rushed for 516 fewer yards (albeit averaging an absurd 7.8 yards per carry). Alcorn State quarterback Steve McNair finished third.

If memory serves me right, his trip to Lincoln was the lone exception that year.

 

[suh_fan93]

It's too bad that article had to start off with Cam Newton. I love how he came out a few days ago in his first interview about the scandal and said he's never asked his father what went on between him and Mississippi State.

He'll be accepting the Heisman trophy tomorrow. I only watched last years presentation because of Suh but once again I won't be watching.

 

[krc1995]

Few surprises....but interesting note about last year (Ingram over Suh).....

Seriously tho - B. Sanders - 11 games and those numbers!!! Holy Moly.

On to Husker Relevancy:

26. Eric Crouch, QB, Nebraska (2001). It's mean to say, but Crouch was easily the least impressive winner of the past 25 years. The option quarterback ranked 46th in the country in total offense (218.8 yards per game), rushing for 1,115 yards and 18 touchdowns while completing 55.6 percent of his passes for 1,510 yards, seven touchdowns and 10 picks. He won in large part due to a touchdown catch on a trick play to beat then-No. 2 Oklahoma.

Link

I actually thought it was that play against Missouri that won him the Heisman

 

[Pedro Guerrero]

The thing that I think is funny about the 1997 Heisman whenever Charles Woodson winning it is brought up they always throw out that he beat out Peyton Manning, which he did. That being said that same year counting the bowl game Ahman had 307 carries for 2083 yards and 24 TD’s at 6.78 YPC. That is insane and he never gets mentioned in the list of people that got slighted. His numbers are better then plenty of Heisman winning Running Backs throughout the year not to mention his team won the National Championship.

His non-bowl game numbers were 278 carries 1877 yards and 22 TD’s at 6.75 YPC. On par or better then that boob Mark Ingram, Eddie George, Ron Dayne, and Bo Jackson.

 

[NUance]

Who is that Reggie Bush fella at #5?

 

[VA Husker Fan]

At the very least, Crouch should be over Torretta. Crouch put that 2001 team on his back time and time again. Torretta just happened to be the QB on a couple of very talented Miami teams.

 

[RazzinGTO]

Few surprises....but interesting note about last year (Ingram over Suh).....

Seriously tho - B. Sanders - 11 games and those numbers!!! Holy Moly.

On to Husker Relevancy:

26. Eric Crouch, QB, Nebraska (2001). It's mean to say, but Crouch was easily the least impressive winner of the past 25 years. The option quarterback ranked 46th in the country in total offense (218.8 yards per game), rushing for 1,115 yards and 18 touchdowns while completing 55.6 percent of his passes for 1,510 yards, seven touchdowns and 10 picks. He won in large part due to a touchdown catch on a trick play to beat then-No. 2 Oklahoma.

Link

I actually thought it was that play against Missouri that won him the Heisman

:yeah

 

[druski_2k5]

At the very least, Crouch should be over Torretta. Crouch put that 2001 team on his back time and time again. Torretta just happened to be the QB on a couple of very talented Miami teams.

:yeah

Crouch carried that 2001 team, when there was little to no other talent around him, and the little talent that was around him was used poorly. Solich could call a great game with a quarterback like Crouch and Lord, but his downfall was his ability to recruit at other key positions to make the offense stable and productive against better defenses.

He probably won the award due to a "Great career" and the fact that Frazier should have won the Heisman in 1995, but he also may have been "punished" by voters because of how Osborne handled the Phillips situation.

Regardless, Crouch was the heart and soul of the 2001 offense, carried them as far as he could with minimal help along the way. There was other talent on that team too, as stated, but they weren't used properly like they should have been, or the offense could have been much better and more consistent.

 

[JTrain]

You aren't going to get freakish numbers in the type of offense we ran under Osborne and Solich. Even Frazier's numbers in 95 were nothing compared to what you see today in other systems.

Crouch had a pretty phenomenal year, but as a team we weren't tested much because of a poor schedule, and didn't have the athletes to match against a team like Miami. Our offense had become too simplistic, partially because of Solich's limitations as a playcaller and partially because of our complete lack of a gamebreaking I-back. Combine that with a McBride-less defense (which still played well but wasn't elite like 99) and you had a team ripe for exposure against Colorado and Miami. Crouch did what he could.

 

[Blaze1up]

Barry = Amazing

Timmy at 3 is OVERRATED

 

[DJR313]

The thing that I think is funny about the 1997 Heisman whenever Charles Woodson winning it is brought up they always throw out that he beat out Peyton Manning, which he did. That being said that same year counting the bowl game Ahman had 307 carries for 2083 yards and 24 TD’s at 6.78 YPC. That is insane and he never gets mentioned in the list of people that got slighted. His numbers are better then plenty of Heisman winning Running Backs throughout the year not to mention his team won the National Championship.

His non-bowl game numbers were 278 carries 1877 yards and 22 TD’s at 6.75 YPC. On par or better then that boob Mark Ingram, Eddie George, Ron Dayne, and Bo Jackson.

Ahman was awesome, but Randy Moss was the best player that year, IMO. 96 catches, 1,820 yards, 27 TD's. Absolutely unstoppable.

 

[Count 'Bility]

to me a guy like Crouch defines the Heisman. Most outstanding player. He was, without Crouch the 01 team was nothing. in addition, i also think that when voters vote they look closely at how a player performs in a loss(es) if so happens. In Crouch's case, he did all he could against Miami and Colorado. In 97, the race was between Manning and Woodson from the getgo, and we all now the this joke award is 99% publicity and 1% skill, that to me is why Green was never mentioned. He was too steady and never had that "moment" With how the Heisman has been percieved over the past 2 decades, Woodson's win goes down as a complete insult to me. He intercepted a few passes and returned a couple kicks. Whoopty doo. Peyton Manning was deserving. Rashaan Salam? He was the only Colorado player the had an "ok" game against us. had the TD, went for over 100 yards, and broke a couple long ones, again i think sometimes a lot goes into how you played in a loss.

 

[NUance]

The problem with this list is that it's hard *not* to give extra credit for a player's NFL career. And it's hard to avoid penalizing a player for not making it in the NFL. Like Barry Sanders. Barry Sander is one of my all-time favorite players. But if he had never played NFL ball would he be ranked #1 on this list? Same with Crouch, in the other direction. Without Eric Crouch that 2001 NU team would have dropped at least three or four more games. #7 carried that offense on his back. But because Crouch didn't pan out in the NFL he gets killed on this list. Which is total BS in my book.

 

[krc1995]

The problem with this list is that it's hard *not* to give extra credit for a player's NFL career. And it's hard to avoid penalizing a player for not making it in the NFL. Like Barry Sanders. Barry Sander is one of my all-time favorite players. But if he had never played NFL ball would he be ranked #1 on this list? Same with Crouch, in the other direction. Without Eric Crouch that 2001 NU team would have dropped at least three or four more games. #7 carried that offense on his back. But because Crouch didn't pan out in the NFL he gets killed on this list. Which is total BS in my book.

I know it. They says it's for the best player in college, then they judge them by what they do in the nfl.