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By Chris Huston 9.8.15

Teammates and the Heisman

Teammates and the Heisman

Pat Forde of YahooSports.com posed a simple question following Ohio State’s 42-24 victory over Virginia Tech on Monday night.

“Who is the Buckeyes’ top Heisman candidate?” asked Forde, who also wrote:

The only suspense [regarding Ohio State’s season] will be finding out which of the Buckeyes’ star players turns out to be their leading candidate for the Heisman.
They could have four candidates, if they didn’t all play for the same team. But they do. And Urban Meyer isn’t sharing with the poor teams tasked with trying to beat the Buckeyes.

It would indeed be an accomplishment if Ohio State managed to finish the season with four Heisman contenders. While 46 teams have managed to place more than one player in the top 10 of the Heisman vote in a single year, no team has ever had four players finish in the top 10. Only six teams have placed three players in the top 10: 1943 Notre Dame, 1944 Army, 1946 Army, 1949 Notre Dame, 1969 Ohio State and 1973 Ohio State.  Army in ’46 and Ohio State in ’73 ended up with three players in the top five in Heisman balloting and, in 2004, three teams had two entries each: USC, Oklahoma and California.  Notre Dame and Oklahoma are tied for the most seasons with multiple Heisman candidates at six.

Most important, having multiple candidates from the same team does not generally accompany a Heisman win — just 14 Heisman winners were joined by at least one other teammate in the top 10 of the vote.

The complete list of teams with multiple Heisman candidates:

Year Team Players (with position) Heisman Finish
1936 Yale Larry Kelley (E), Clint Frank (QB) 1st, 5th
1938 TCU Davey O’Brien (QB), Ki Aldri (C) 1st, 8th
1943 Notre Dame Angelo Bertelli (QB), Creighton Miller (HB), Jim White (T) 1st, 4th, 9th
1944 Army Glenn Davis (HB), Doc Blanchard (FB), Doug Kenna (QB) 2nd, 3rd, 8th
1944 Navy Don Whitmire (T), Bob Jenkins (HB) 4th, 7th
1945 Army Doc Blanchard (FB), Glenn Davis (HB) 1st, 2nd
1946 Army Glenn Davis (HB), Doc Blanchard (FB), Arnie Tucker (QB) 1st, 4th, 5th
1949 Notre Dame Leon Hart (E), Bob Williams (QB), Emil Sitko (HB) 1st, 5th, 8th
1952 Oklahoma Billy Vessels (RB), Tom Catlin (C) 1st, 10th
1952 UCLA Don Moomaw (LB), Paul Cameron (RB) 4th, 6th
1955 Navy George Welsh (QB), Ron Beagle (E) 3rd, 7th
1956 Oklahoma Tom McDonald (WR), Jerry Tubbs (C-LB) 3rd, 4th
1957 Michigan St. Walt Kowalczyk (RB), Dan Currie (RB) 3rd, 8th
1964 Notre Dame John Huarte (QB), Jack Snow (WR) 1st, 5th
1966 Notre Dame Nick Eddy (RB), Terry Hanratty (QB) 3rd, 8th
1966 UCLA Gary Beban (QB), Mel Farr (RB) 4th, 7th
1967 Tennessee Bob Johnson (C), Dewey Warren (QB) 6th, 8th
1969 Ohio St. Rex Kern (QB), Jim Otis (FB), Jack Tatum (S) 3rd, 7th, 10th
1970 Ohio St. Rex Kern (QB), Jack Tatum (S) 5th, 7th
1971 Oklahoma Greg Pruitt (RB), Greg Mildren (QB) 3rd, 6th
1972 Nebraska Johnny Rodgers (WR), Rich Glover (DT) 1st, 3rd
1973 Ohio St. John Hicks (OT), Archie Griffin (RB), Randy Gradishar (LB) 2nd, 4th, 5th
1973 Arizona St. Woody Green (WR), Danny White (QB) 8th, 9th
1974 Oklahoma Joe Washington (RB), Rod Shoate (LB) 3rd, 7th
1975 Oklahoma Joe Washignton (RB), Lee Roy Selmon (DT) 5th, 9th
1977 Notre Dame Ken McAfee (TE), Ross Browner (DE) 3rd, 5th
1979 USC Charles White (RB), Paul McDonald (QB) 1st, 6th
1982 Nebraska Dave Rimington (C), Mike Rozier (RB) 5th, 10th
1983 Nebraska Mike Rozier (RB), Turner Gill (QB) 1st, 4th
1989 Notre Dame Tony Rice (QB), Raghib Ismail (WR) 4th, 10th
1990 Virginia Shawn Moore (QB), Herman Moore (WR) 4th, 6th
1991 FSU Casey Weldon (QB, Terrell Buckley (CB) 2nd, 8th
1992 Miami (Fla) Gino Torretta (QB), Michael Barrow (LB) 1st, 7th
1992 FSU Marvin Jones (LB), Charlie Ward (QB) 4th, 6th
1994 Penn State Ki-Jana Carter (RB), Kerry Collins (QB) 2nd, 4th
1994 Nebraska Lawrence Phillips (RB), Zach Wiegert (OT) 8th, 10th
1995 Ohio St. Eddie George (RB), Bobby Hoying (QB) 1st, 10th
2001 Miami (Fla) Ken Dorsey (QB), Bryant McKinnie (OT) 3rd, 8th
2002 Miami (Fla) Willis McGahee (RB), Ken Dorsey (QB) 4th, 5th
2003 USC Matt Leinart (QB), Mike Williams (WR) 6th, 8th
2004 USC Matt Leinart (QB), Reggie Bush (RB) 1st, 5th
2004 Oklahoma Adrian Peterson (RB), Jason White (QB) 2nd, 3rd
2004 California J.J. Arrington (RB), Aaron Rodgers (QB) 8th, 9th
2008 Texas Tech Graham Harrell (QB), Michael Crabtree (WR) 4th, 5th
2010 Stanford Andrew Luck (QB), Owen Marecic (FB-LB) 2nd, 10th
2011 Wisconsin Montee Ball (RB), Russell Wilson (QB) 4th, 9th
This entry was posted in Heisman Winners and tagged Angelo Bertelli, Archie Griffin, Billy Vessels, Charles White, Charlie Ward, Davey O’Brien, Eddie George, Gary Beban, Gino Torretta, Glenn Davis, Jason White, John Huarte, Johnny Rodgers, Larry Kelley, Leon Hart, Matt Leinhart, Mike Rozier. Bookmark the permalink.

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