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By Chris Huston 8.20.19

The Replacements

When Oklahoma’s Jalen Hurts takes the field against Houston on September 1, he’ll have some big shoes to fill.

That’s the day he officially takes over for Heisman Trophy winner Kyler Murray as the Sooners quarterback.

Talk about pressure. He has to replace a Heisman winning-quarterback who also replaced a Heisman-winning quarterback. This is the first time this has happened in Heisman history.

It’s not an easy task taking over for a college football legend, so it’s understandable that some have handled it better than others over the years. Three Heisman replacements did manage to win a national title in their first year taking over as a starter, but only Murray was able to win the Heisman itself (another two did go on to win Heismans in their own right in subsequent seasons).

Here’s a year-by-year look at how replacements fared in the seasons after taking over for their Heisman predecessors. Due to the unreliability of some early statistics, we only go back to 1960 with this chart:

Heisman winnerReplacementResult
Kyler MurrayJalen Hurts?????
Baker MayfieldKyler Murray4,054 yards, 40 TDs, 892 rush yards, won the Heisman.
Lamar JacksonJawon Pass1,960 yards, 8 TDs, 12 INTs
Derrick HenryDamien Harris1,046 yards, 2 TDs
Marcus MariotaVernon Adams2,643 yards, 26 TDs, 6 INTs
Jameis WinstonEverett Golson1,779 yards, 11 TDs, 3 INTs
Johnny ManzielKenny Hill2,649 yards, 23 TDs, 8 INTs
Robert Griffin IIINick Florence4,309 yards, 33 TDs, 13 INTs
Cam NewtonBarrett Trotter1,184 yards, 11 TDs, 6 INTs,
Mark IngramTrent Richardson1,679 yards, 21 TDs, 3rd in Heisman vote
Sam BradfordLandry Jones3,198 yards, 26 TDs, 14 INTs
Tim TebowJohn Brantley2,061 yards, 9 TDs, 10 INTs
Troy SmithTodd Boeckman2,379 yards, 25 TDs, 14 INTs
Matt LeinartJohn David Booty3,347 yards, 29 TDs, 9 INTs
Jason WhiteRhett Bomar2,018 yards, 10 TDs, 10 INTs
Carson PalmerMatt Leinart*3,556 yards, 38 TDs, 9 INTs, won national title, 6th in Heisman vote
Eric CrouchJammal Lord1,362 yards, 12 TDs, 12 INTs, 1,412 rush yards, 8 TDs
Chris WeinkeChris Rix2,734 yards, 24 TDs, 13 INTs, 389 rush yards, 3 TDs
Ron DayneMichael Bennett1,681 yards, 11 TDs
Ricky WilliamsHodges Mitchell1,343 yards, 9 TDs, 32 rec., 343 yards, 1 TD
Charles WoodsonJames Whitley53 tackles, 3 INTs, 8.9 PR avg.,
Danny WuerffelDoug Johnson2,023 yards, 20 TDs, 12 INTs
Eddie GeorgePepe Pearson1,484 yards, 17 TDs
Rashaan SalaamHerchell Troutman826 yards, 5 TDs
Charlie WardDanny Kannell2,781 yards, 17 TDs, 13 INTs
Gino TorrettaFrank Costa1,324 yards, 5 TDs, 5 INTs
Desmond HowardDerrick Alexander50 rec., 740 yards, 11 TDs, 2 PR TDs
Ty DetmerRyan Hancock2,635 yards, 17 TDs, 13 INTs
Andre WareDavid Klingler5,140 yards, 54 TDs, 20 INTs, 5th in Heisman vote
Barry SandersGerald Hudson910 yards, 2 TDs
Tim BrownRicky Watters15 rec., 286 yards, 2 TDs, 2 PR TDs, won national title
Vinny TestaverdeSteve Walsh2,249 yards, 19 TDs, 7 INTs, won national title
Bo JacksonBrent Fullwood1,391 yards, 10 TDs
Doug FlutieShawn Halloran2,935 yards, 12 TDs, 23 INTs
Mike RozierJeff Smith935 yards, 7 TDs
Herschel WalkerKeith Montgomery519 yards, 7 TDs
Marcus AllenTodd Spencer596 yards, 8 TDs
George RogersJohnnie Wright834 yards, 5 TDs
Charles WhiteMarcus Allen*1,563 yards 14 TDs, 30 rec., 231 yards, 1 TD
Billy SimsDavid Overstreet678 yards, 6 TDs
Earl CampbellA.J. Jones465 yards, 3 TDs
Tony DorsettElliott Walker1,025 yards, 12 TDs
Archie GriffinJeff Logan1,248 yards, 6 TDs
John CappellettiTom Donchez880 yards, 7 TDs
Johnny RodgersRitch Bahe32 rec., 441 yards, 2 TDs, 319 rush yards, 1 TD,
Pat SullivanRandy Walls736 yards, 5 TDs, 7 INTs
Jim PlunkettDon Bunce2,555 yards, 13 TDs, 16 INTs, 250 rush yards
Steve OwensJoe Wylie984 yards, 12 TDs
O.J. SimpsonClarence Davis1,351 yards, 9 TDs
Gary BebanJim Nader1,008 yards, 7 TDs, 10 INTs
Steve SpurrierLarry Rentz1,031 yards, 3 TDs, 9 INTs
Mike GarrettDon McCall560 yards, 5 TDs
John HuarteBill Zloch558 yards, 3 TDs, 9 INTs
Roger StaubachJohn Cartwright943 yards, 6 TDs, 10 INTs
Terry BakerGordon Queen1,281 yards, 16 TDs, 12 INTs
Ernie DavisJim Nance417 yards, 1 TD
Joe BellinoJohn Sai472 yards, 6 TDs

* — won Heisman later in career

This entry was posted in Heisman Winners and tagged Andre Ware, Archie Griffin, Barry Sanders, Billy Sims, Bo Jackson, Cam Newton, Carson Palmer, Charles White, Charles Woodson, Charlie Ward, Chris Weinke, Danny Wuerffel, Derrick Henry, Doug Flutie, Earl Campbell, Eddie George, Eric Crouch, Ernie Davis, Gary Beban, George Rogers, Herschel Walker, Jameis Winston, Jason White, Joe Bellino, John Cappelletti, John Huarte, Johnny Manziel, Johnny Rodgers, Marcus Allen, Marcus Mariota, Mark Ingram, Matt Leinart, Mike Garrett, Mike Rozier, O.J. SImpson, Pat Sullivan, Rashaan Salaam, Ricky Williams, Robert Griffin III, Roger Staubach, Ron Dayne, Sam Bradford, Steve Owens, Steve Spurrier, Terry Baker, Tim Brown, Tim Tebow, Tony Dorsett, Troy Smith, Ty Detmer, Vinny Testaverde. Bookmark the permalink.

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