Will this be Curt Cignetti’s best Indiana team? (1:48)Josh Pate joins Rich Eisen and discusses how future Indiana teams could stack up to this season’s squad. (1:48)
The Heisman Trophy is awarded to the players regarded as the best in all of college football — and this year’s winner helped carry his team to the national championship game.
However, Mendoza will look to join an exclusive club of Heisman Trophy winners who have finished the season with a national title.
With four quarterbacks who have won both the Heisman and the national championship, Mendoza is looking to become the fifth man on the list, with the most recent being then-Florida State quarterback Jameis Winston in 2013.
But there’s also a chance Mendoza could slip and join another exclusive club. Since the start of the BCS era, Heisman Trophy quarterbacks have gone only 4-7 in the national title game.
In his sophomore season at Alabama, Young won Heisman honors after leading the nation with 4,872 passing yards and 47 touchdowns while throwing only seven interceptions. He became the first quarterback in Crimson Tide program history to win the honor, beating out Aidan Hutchinson among other competitors.
Alabama faced Georgia in the national championship, where Young threw for 369 passing yards for a touchdown, but with two interceptions — both of which came in the second half. The Crimson Tide were steps ahead of the Bulldogs before Young’s interceptions, which caused a momentum shift, and Georgia took the trophy back to Athens.
Mariota carried the most efficient offense in college football, throwing for 4,454 passing yards and 42 touchdowns while rushing for 770 yards and 15 touchdowns. He threw only four interceptions the entire season, leading Oregon to compete in the inaugural College Football Playoff National Championship game against Ohio State.
Mariota was efficient in the passing game, completing 24 of his 37 attempts for 333 yards, two passing touchdowns and one interception. The game was a shootout from the jump, before a second-quarter Ducks turnover gave the Buckeyes a two-touchdown advantage. Ohio State running back Ezekiel Elliot was a difference-maker in a breakout game, gaining 246 rushing yards for four touchdowns.
The then-redshirt sophomore quarterback helped lead the Sooners, who had the highest-scoring offense in the NCAA that season, with 4,720 passing yards and 50 touchdowns through the air, along with five on foot, only throwing eight interceptions. He became Oklahoma’s fifth recipient of the honor.
In the BCS Championship Game, Bradford and the Sooners went up against a Florida team that was riding the highs of iconic quarterback Tim Tebow.
With the score at 17-14 with 9:59 left in the fourth quarter, Ahmad Black intercepted Bradford’s pass, which led to a Tebow passing touchdown to David Nelson with only 3:07 left in the game. In what was Oklahoma’s final chance with possession of the ball, Bradford completed only one of his four attempts, eventually turning the ball over on downs.
Smith’s senior year with the Buckeyes was the best out of his time with the team. He threw for 2542 yards with 30 touchdowns, completing passes at a 65.3 rate — and the latter two stats led the Big Ten.
All that fell apart in the title game against Florida, however. Though Ted Ginn led off the game with a 93-yard kickoff return touchdown, the Gators completely dominated the rest of the matchup, winning 41-14. Smith was only 4-of-14 for a measly 35 yards, with one interception to boot.
The Sooners’ offense was mostly muted in the national title game against Nick Saban’s LSU Tigers, however. White completed only 13 of 37 passes for 102 yards and two interceptions — and although the Tigers scored only three touchdowns, the Sooners managed a mere two in a 21-14 loss.
Crouch had no issues using his versatile gifts on the gridiron as a dual-threat quarterback, the reason he hoisted the Heisman Trophy in the 2001 season. The quarterback threw for 1,510 passing yards with seven touchdowns in the air while impressively collecting 1,115 rushing yards and 18 touchdowns on the ground. Crouch led the Cornhuskers to the BCS Championship Game against Miami.
However, Miami was just too much for Nebraska, jumping to a quick 34-0 lead in the first half. Though Crouch led Nebraska in rushing yards with 114, he struggled through the air, going 5-for-15 with only 62 passing yards and an interception in the 37-14 loss.
Weinke went out with a bang as a senior at Florida State. He amassed 4,167 passing yards and 33 touchdowns, collecting an 11-2 record as a starter. His leadership led the Seminoles to the Orange Bowl against Oklahoma.
Weinke unfortunately struggled in the title game, going 25-for-51 for 274 passing yards, throwing two interceptions with no touchdowns in a 13-2 loss.
Will this be Curt Cignetti’s best Indiana team? (1:48)Josh Pate joins Rich Eisen and discusses how future Indiana teams could stack up to this season’s squad. (1:48)
Josh Pate joins Rich Eisen and discusses how future Indiana teams could stack up to this season’s squad. (1:48)
Here’s a list of Heisman winners who have failed to collect both trophies in the same season.
Bradford and Tebow went pass-for-pass, throwing two touchdown passes and two interceptions apiece.