As Caleb Williams seeks second Heisman Trophy, how recent repeat attempts have fallen short
Winning the Heisman Trophy involves individual statistics, a highlight-worthy play, aka a "Heisman moment," and almost as critical, how a team navigates its schedule during the season.
Southern California quarterback Caleb Williams won college football's most treasured trophy last season after leading the Trojans to 11 wins and a Cotton Bowl berth. He finished with 4,537 yards with 42 touchdowns while becoming the third quarterback in the last six seasons coached by head coach Lincoln Riley to win the award.
It isn't rare that a Heisman Trophy winner returns to school, as there have been nine instances this century of it happening; most are due to a player being ineligible for the NFL draft. Williams enters his junior season attempting to become the first back-to-back winner of the Heisman since Archie Griffin pulled off the feat nearly 50 years ago. The Trojans and Williams start their campaign this Saturday against San Jose State.
Here is how the Heisman winners who returned to school since 2000 fared:
Jason White, Oklahoma (2003)
A year after winning Oklahoma's first Heisman since Billy Sims in 1978 and leading the Sooners to the BCS national title game, White again led Oklahoma to the national title game before running into a buzzsaw in Southern California. White finished third in the balloting in 2004 (his teammate, Adrian Peterson, finished second) after throwing for 35 touchdowns with a better rating than his Heisman season.
Matt Leinart, Southern California (2004)
Leinart threw for 33 touchdowns during his Heisman-winning season that ended with the Trojans defeating Oklahoma in the BCS championship game. The following year, USC again went to the title game behind Leinart, who threw for 28 scores but passed for more yards with a higher completion percentage than the prior. Leinart finished third in the Heisman voting, behind his teammate Reggie Bush and Vince Young of Texas.
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Tim Tebow, Florida (2007)
Tebow's Gators lost four games the year he won the Heisman, but his stats were too good to ignore. He rushed and passed for 55 total touchdowns on the year and was the first sophomore to take home the award. Tebow returned to the Gators for the 2008 season, leading the Gators to the BCS title game, finishing third in the Heisman voting behind Sam Bradford and Colt McCoy despite having the most first-place votes. He also came back for his senior season in 2009, leading the Gators to a 13-1 record and finished fifth in the voting.
Sam Bradford, Oklahoma (2008)
Oklahoma's offense in 2008 lit up the competition behind Bradford's 4,720 yards and 50 touchdowns as the Sooners reached to the BCS title game. Bradford hurt his shoulder in the season-opening loss to Brigham Young the following season and re-injured it against Texas. He finished the season attempting 69 passes and playing in three games, but that was good enough for the St. Louis Rams to select him with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2010 NFL draft.
Mark Ingram, Alabama (2009)
Alabama's first Heisman winner broke the school's single-season rushing mark as he helped lead the Crimson Tide to the 2009 national title. Ingram won the award by 28 points over Stanford running back Toby Gerhart. Ingram followed that up by running for 875 yards and 13 touchdowns in 2010, following an early season knee injury, and wasn't a factor in the Heisman voting.
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Johnny Manziel, Texas A&M (2012)
"Johnny Football" took the college football world by storm with his dazzling play and became the first freshman to win the award. The dual-threat quarterback had one of the greatest seasons in history, throwing for 3,706 yards and 24 touchdowns, rushing for 1,410 yards and 21 more scores on the ground to cap his season. Manziel ran afoul of the NCAA because of alleged autograph signings at the beginning of his sophomore season but still threw for 4,114 yards and 37 touchdowns, adding 759 rushing yards and nine touchdowns, placing fifth in the voting in 2013.
Jameis Winston, Florida State (2013)
Winston, a redshirt freshman like Manziel, led the Seminoles to the final BCS title in his Heisman-winning season and returned to lead Florida State to the first-ever playoff, where they lost to Oregon, breaking the school's 29-game winning streak. After throwing for 40 touchdowns and only 10 interceptions in 2013, Winston had 25 touchdowns, was picked off 18 times in 2014, and ended up sixth in the Heisman voting.
Lamar Jackson, Louisville (2016)
Jackson, for all intents and purposes, probably won his award in September after one highlight reel after another, scoring 51 total touchdowns with 3,543 passing yards and 1,571 rushing yards. His sophomore season may have been even better, as he racked up another 3,660 passing yards and 1,601 rushing with 18 scores. But he finished third behind Oklahoma Baker Mayfield and Stanford running back Bryce Love in the Heisman voting.
Bryce Young, Alabama (2021)
Young completed 68% of his passes for 4,322 yards with a school-record-tying 43 touchdowns and just four interceptions in the regular season, becoming Alabama's fourth Heisman winner in the past 12 seasons under Nick Saban. Young injured his shoulder early in his sophomore season but still threw for 3,328 yards and 32 touchdowns for Alabama. He was sixth in the Heisman balloting.