Sudden Non-Traditional Success

It’s been surprising to see the sudden emergence of so many running backs in this year’s Heisman race.  Even more interesting is that they all play for non-traditional Heisman powers.

To wit:

Clemson has never had a player finish in the top 10 of the Heisman vote.

Stanford has produced just one top 10 finisher–Glenn Milburn, who took ninth in 1992–since John Elway was the Heisman runner up in 1982.  Only four Cardinal have gained top 10 status since Stanford’s only Heisman win by Jim Plunkett in 1970.

Alabama (as everyone should know by now) has never won a Heisman.  But the Tide have never even had a Heisman runner up, either.  The best finish by a ‘Bama player was by David Palmer, who took third in 1993.

It looks like Spiller is going to easily hit that mark for Clemson, while I think Ingram is assured of making Alabama history by finishing no worse than second this year.  And Gerhart will likely be Stanford’s first top five finisher since Elway–not bad company at all.

About Heismanpundit

Chris Huston, A.K.A. ‘The Heisman Pundit‘, is a Heisman voter and the creator and publisher of Heismanpundit.com, a site dedicated to analysis of the Heisman Trophy and college football. Dubbed “the foremost authority on the Heisman” by Sports Illustrated, HP is regularly quoted or cited during football season in newspapers across the country. He is also a regular contributor on sports talk radio and television.
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