Ranking Heisman Trophy winners from 1-81
Gary Beban 1967 Season Statistics
- Games: 10
- Pass Completions: 87
- Pass Attempts: 156
- Completion Percentage: 55.8
- Passing Yards: 1,359
- Passing Yards Per Game: 135.9
- Passing Touchdowns: 8
- Interceptions: 7
- Rushing Attempts: 145
- Rushing Yards: 227
- Rushing Yards Per Game: 22.7
- Yards Per Carry: 1.6
- Rushing Touchdowns: 11
The AAWU, the fore-runner to today’s Pac-12 Conference, wasn’t the home of now-familiar high-flying pass-heavy offenses when UCLA quarterback Gary Beban played in the mid 1960s.
Beban led the league in passing in each of his three seasons as a starter for the Bruins, though he never passed for more than 1,483 yards in a single season. When Beban won the Heisman Trophy as a senior in 1967, he led the AAWU with 1,359 passing yards and eight touchdowns, and also led the conference in total yards (1,586), pass completions (87), pass attempts (156), completion percentage (55.8), yards per pass attempt (8.7, which also led the nation), pass efficiency rating (136.9) and total touchdowns (19, which ranked second in the country). Beban’s 11 rushing touchdowns ranks second in the league and ninth nationally.
Despite what would today be seen as modest passing statistics, Beban won a tightly contested race for the Heisman Trophy ahead of crosstown rival and future Heisman winner USC running back O.J. Simpson and Purdue running back Leroy Keyes. Beban earned 369 first-place votes and tallied 1,968 total points while Simpson (261 and 1,722) and Keyes (278 and 1,366) split many votes in the discussion over the best running back in the country in 1967.
With Beban under center, UCLA raced to a 7-0-1 record and a No. 1 ranking in the AP poll before losing 21-20 to USC and 32-14 to Syracuse. In addition to being named the Heisman winner, Beban was also a consensus All-American and won the Maxwell Award.
Billy Cannon 1959 Season Statistics
- Games: 10
- Rushing Attempts: 139
- Rushing Yards: 598
- Rushing Yards Per Game: 59.8
- Yards Per Carry: 4.3
- Rushing Touchdowns: 5
- Receptions: 11
- Receiving Yards: 161
- Receiving Yards Per Game: 16.1
- Receiving Touchdowns: 0
- Passing: 2-for-6, 20 YD, 2 INT
As the star player on LSU’s 1958 national championship team, Billy Cannon earned consensus All-American honors and was named SEC Player of the Year. The running back, who accounted for 848 yards of total offense and 11 total touchdowns for the undefeated Tigers, finished third in the voting for the Heisman Trophy behind Pete Dawkins and Randy Duncan.
In 1959, LSU posted a 9-1 record in the regular season, and Cannon won the Heisman in dominant fashion. After posting 598 rushing yards and five touchdowns in addition to 191 receiving yards, as well as a spectacular 89-yard punt return for a touchdown against Ole Miss that gave the Tigers a 7-3 victory on Halloween night, Cannon received 519 first-place votes and 1,929 total points in the Heisman race. Penn State quarterback Richie Lucas, who was the runner-up, earned just 97 first-place votes and 613 points.
Cannon also won the Walter Camp Player of the Year Award in 1959 and claimed both the Chic Harley Award and the UPI Player of the Year Award for the second time.
Arguably the most beloved player in LSU football history, Cannon’s No. 20 jersey was retired immediately after the 1959 season. Cannon was then selected first overall in both the 1960 NFL and AFL Drafts, and eventually signed with the AFL’s Houston Oilers.
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