Last night -- Robert Griffin III, from Baylor University, became the 77th recipient of the Heisman Trophy. If you regularly follow the ND GO IRISH BLOG you'll know that a week ago, we cast our
Heisman vote for Griffin. Congratulations!
Now, some fun and "not so fun" facts as they relate to the Heisman Trophy and the University of Notre Dame:
- Notre Dame's seven Heisman Trophy winners; Bertelli, Lujack, Hart, Lattner, Hornung, Huarte & Brown (pictured) -- still the most from one university!
- 22 of the 70 other Heisman Trophy winners played against the University of Notre Dame during their Heisman trophy season (including bowl games). 23 if you count the Heisman Trophy winner formerly known as Reggie Bush.
- The University of Notre Dame is (5 - 15 - 2) all-time in games played against teams with a player that won a Heisman Trophy that season (including bowl games).
- The past six winners of the Heisman Trophy did not play that season (including bowl game) against the University of Notre Dame -- the longest streak in the 77 year history of the Heisman Trophy without a ND player winning or an opponent's player winning the Heisman in a season.
- The worst team in history to have a Heisman Trophy winner was the 1956 Fighting Irish who won just 2 games during Paul Hornung's Heisman campaign.
- The last Heisman Trophy winner the Irish defeated was the 1993 game against Charlie Ward and the Florida State Seminoles. ND fans will remember the Irish dropped the game the next week to Boston College, yet won their bowl game - only to see Florida State claim the National Championship with the same record as the Irish (even though ND beat them "head to head."). I still haven't gotten over this!
- Notre Dame has now gone 24 seasons without a member of the Fighting Irish football team winning a Heisman Trophy -- which is now the longest consecutive season streak without a Heisman winner in a ND uniform, surpassing the 23 seasons between Huarte's and Brown's Heisman trophies.
Here's a look at every Heisman Trophy winner who played against Notre Dame or played for Notre Dame. You'll also see the score from that game - or, if it was an Irish player, the team record that year:
1939: Nile Kinnick, Iowa -- Iowa 7 - ND 6
1943: ANGELO BERTELLI, NOTRE DAME -- (9 - 1)
1945: Doc Blanchard, Army -- Army 48 - ND 0
1946: Glenn Davis, Army -- Army 0 - ND 0
1947: JOHN LUJACK, NOTRE DAME -- (9 - 0)
1949: LEON HART, NOTRE DAME -- (10 - 0)
1952: Billy Vessels, Oklahoma -- ND 21 - Oklahoma 21
1953: JOHN LATTNER, NOTRE DAME -- (9 - 0 - 1)
1956: PAUL HORNUNG, NOTRE DAME -- (2 - 8)
1958: Pete Dawkins, Army -- Army 14 - ND 2
1960: Joe Bellino, Navy -- Navy 14 - ND 7
1961: Ernie Davis, Syracuse -- ND 17 - Syracuse 15
1963: Roger Staubach, Navy -- Navy 35 - ND 14
1964: JOHN HUARTE, NOTRE DAME -- (9 - 1)
1965: Mike Garrett, USC -- ND 28 - USC 7
1968: O.J. Simpson, USC -- ND 21 - USC 21
1972: Johnny Rodgers, Nebraska -- Nebraska 40 - ND 6
1976: Tony Dorsett, Pittsburgh -- Pittsburgh 31 - ND 10
1977: Earl Campbell, Texas -- ND 38 - Texas 10
1979: Charles White, USC -- USC 42 - ND 23
1981: Marcus Allen, USC -- USC 14 - ND 7
1987: TIM BROWN, NOTRE DAME -- (8 - 4)
1991: Desmond Howard, Michigan -- Michigan 24 - ND 14
1993: Charlie Ward, Florida State -- ND 31 -- FSU 24
1994: Rashaan Salaam, Colorado -- Colorado 41 - ND 24
1997: Charles Woodson, Michigan -- Michigan 23 - ND 7
2001: Eric Crouch, Nebraska -- Nebraska 27 - ND 10
2002: Carson Palmer, USC -- USC 44 - ND 13
2004: Matt Leinart, USC -- USC 41 - ND 10
