Heisman Seasons That Opened With Uphill Battles
Paul Hornung is the only Heisman winner to play for a losing team when he captured the award despite Notre Dame’s 2-8 finish in 1956. But even in that season, the Fighting Irish split its first two games.
Hornung’s distinction is unlikely to be equalled. Ever. Archie Griffin’s back-to-back wins seems a more likely record to be matched.
All that said, lets just give a nod to Oregon State’s Braden Atkinson, who is quarterbacking the Beavers in his first season in Corvallis. Oregon State is the only school to open the season against ranked teams in Weeks 1 and 2.
OSU is 0-2 after close losses to No. 22 Houston and No. 13 Texas Tech. But Atkinson has been doing his all to keep the Beavers close. He helped OSU to a fourth-quarter lead against the Red Raiders Saturday before Tech rallied for the win and had the Beavers within a score late in the loss to the Cougars.
Atkinson, a first-year transfer from Mercer, leads the nation in passing yards per game (394.5), throwing for 789 yards in eight quarters. He has completed 61-of-99 attempts and has thrown three touchdowns against just one interception while also rushing for a score.
The last Heisman winner to face two ranked teams in his squad’s first four games — let alone first two — was Robert Griffin III in 2011 when Baylor beat No. 14 TCU in Week 1 before falling at No. 15 Kansas State in Week 4.
You have to go back to USC’s Carson Palmer in 2002 to find the last Heisman winner to take on ranked teams in Weeks 1 and 2, and that year, the Trojans also played a ranked team in Week 3.
Palmer led the Trojans to a 24-17 win over No. 14 Auburn to start the season and followed it with a 40-3 win at No. 20 Colorado ahead of a 27-20 loss at No. 7 Kansas State. Week 5 also saw a 30-27 defeat at No. 10 Washington State.
USC did not lose another game and Palmer rode the Trojans’ momentum — in addition to being a chief reason for it — to the school’s first Heisman in two decades.
Other (relatively) recent cases of Heisman winners facing truly stiff competition right out of the gate include Ricky Williams, whose 1998 Texas squad lost road games to No. 8 UCLA and No. 10 Kansas State in Weeks 2 and 3 as well as Rashaan Salaam in 1994 when Colorado posted wins over No. 12 Michigan and No. 25 Texas in Weeks 3 and 4.
Desmond Howard’s Michigan squad in 1991 faced ranked foes in Weeks 2-4. The Wolverines beat No. 13 Notre Dame, fell to No. 4 Florida State and won at No. 10 Iowa.
The schedule gets easier for Atkinson and the Beavers moving forward with nary a ranked team remaining on the schedule, although that could change. Atkinson and Oregon State — whose only Heisman winner is 1962’s Terry Baker — are still eyeing a strong season, so the Hornung comparison is likely moot. We’ll check back on them later this fall.
As a weekly reminder, college football fans can now vote on a daily basis at hopefuls.heisman.com and have their vote count at the end of the season. The fan vote uses a season-long weighted model, developed in partnership with the Carnegie Mellon Sports Analytics Center, that gives greater weight to votes cast later in the year as the body of work grows and conference races intensify.
You can see where Atkinson ranks among is quarterback peers here.
