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 winner | Replacement | Result |
| Kyler Murray | Jalen Hurts | ????? |
| Baker Mayfield | Kyler Murray | 4,054 yards, 40 TDs, 892 rush yards, won the Heisman. |
| Lamar Jackson | Jawon Pass | 1,960 yards, 8 TDs, 12 INTs |
| Derrick Henry | Damien Harris | 1,046 yards, 2 TDs |
| Marcus Mariota | Vernon Adams | 2,643 yards, 26 TDs, 6 INTs |
| Jameis Winston | Everett Golson | 1,779 yards, 11 TDs, 3 INTs |
| Johnny Manziel | Kenny Hill | 2,649 yards, 23 TDs, 8 INTs |
| Robert Griffin III | Nick Florence | 4,309 yards, 33 TDs, 13 INTs |
| Cam Newton | Barrett Trotter | 1,184 yards, 11 TDs, 6 INTs, |
| Mark Ingram | Trent Richardson | 1,679 yards, 21 TDs, 3rd in Heisman vote |
| Sam Bradford | Landry Jones | 3,198 yards, 26 TDs, 14 INTs |
| Tim Tebow | John Brantley | 2,061 yards, 9 TDs, 10 INTs |
| Troy Smith | Todd Boeckman | 2,379 yards, 25 TDs, 14 INTs |
| Matt Leinart | John David Booty | 3,347 yards, 29 TDs, 9 INTs |
| Jason White | Rhett Bomar | 2,018 yards, 10 TDs, 10 INTs |
| Carson Palmer | Matt Leinart* | 3,556 yards, 38 TDs, 9 INTs, won national title, 6th in Heisman vote |
| Eric Crouch | Jammal Lord | 1,362 yards, 12 TDs, 12 INTs, 1,412 rush yards, 8 TDs |
| Chris Weinke | Chris Rix | 2,734 yards, 24 TDs, 13 INTs, 389 rush yards, 3 TDs |
| Ron Dayne | Michael Bennett | 1,681 yards, 11 TDs |
| Ricky Williams | Hodges Mitchell | 1,343 yards, 9 TDs, 32 rec., 343 yards, 1 TD |
| Charles Woodson | James Whitley | 53 tackles, 3 INTs, 8.9 PR avg., |
| Danny Wuerffel | Doug Johnson | 2,023 yards, 20 TDs, 12 INTs |
| Eddie George | Pepe Pearson | 1,484 yards, 17 TDs |
| Rashaan Salaam | Herchell Troutman | 826 yards, 5 TDs |
| Charlie Ward | Danny Kannell | 2,781 yards, 17 TDs, 13 INTs |
| Gino Torretta | Frank Costa | 1,324 yards, 5 TDs, 5 INTs |
| Desmond Howard | Derrick Alexander | 50 rec., 740 yards, 11 TDs, 2 PR TDs |
| Ty Detmer | Ryan Hancock | 2,635 yards, 17 TDs, 13 INTs |
| Andre Ware | David Klingler | 5,140 yards, 54 TDs, 20 INTs, 5th in Heisman vote |
| Barry Sanders | Gerald Hudson | 910 yards, 2 TDs |
| Tim Brown | Ricky Watters | 15 rec., 286 yards, 2 TDs, 2 PR TDs, won national title |
| Vinny Testaverde | Steve Walsh | 2,249 yards, 19 TDs, 7 INTs, won national title |
| Bo Jackson | Brent Fullwood | 1,391 yards, 10 TDs |
| Doug Flutie | Shawn Halloran | 2,935 yards, 12 TDs, 23 INTs |
| Mike Rozier | Jeff Smith | 935 yards, 7 TDs |
| Herschel Walker | Keith Montgomery | 519 yards, 7 TDs |
| Marcus Allen | Todd Spencer | 596 yards, 8 TDs |
| George Rogers | Johnnie Wright | 834 yards, 5 TDs |
| Charles White | Marcus Allen* | 1,563 yards 14 TDs, 30 rec., 231 yards, 1 TD |
| Billy Sims | David Overstreet | 678 yards, 6 TDs |
| Earl Campbell | A.J. Jones | 465 yards, 3 TDs |
| Tony Dorsett | Elliott Walker | 1,025 yards, 12 TDs |
| Archie Griffin | Jeff Logan | 1,248 yards, 6 TDs |
| John Cappelletti | Tom Donchez | 880 yards, 7 TDs |
| Johnny Rodgers | Ritch Bahe | 32 rec., 441 yards, 2 TDs, 319 rush yards, 1 TD, |
| Pat Sullivan | Randy Walls | 736 yards, 5 TDs, 7 INTs |
| Jim Plunkett | Don Bunce | 2,555 yards, 13 TDs, 16 INTs, 250 rush yards |
| Steve Owens | Joe Wylie | 984 yards, 12 TDs |
| O.J. Simpson | Clarence Davis | 1,351 yards, 9 TDs |
| Gary Beban | Jim Nader | 1,008 yards, 7 TDs, 10 INTs |
| Steve Spurrier | Larry Rentz | 1,031 yards, 3 TDs, 9 INTs |
| Mike Garrett | Don McCall | 560 yards, 5 TDs |
| John Huarte | Bill Zloch | 558 yards, 3 TDs, 9 INTs |
| Roger Staubach | John Cartwright | 943 yards, 6 TDs, 10 INTs |
| Terry Baker | Gordon Queen | 1,281 yards, 16 TDs, 12 INTs |
| Ernie Davis | Jim Nance | 417 yards, 1 TD |
| Joe Bellino | John Sai | 472 yards, 6 TDs |
* — won Heisman later in career
