Ranking Heisman Trophy winners from 1-81
Alan Ameche 1954 Season Statistics
- Games: 9
- Rushing Attempts: 146
- Rushing Yards: 641
- Rushing Yards Per Game: 71.2
- Yards Per Carry: 4.4
- Rushing Touchdowns: 9
Nicknamed “The Iron Horse” for his physical playing style and dependability, Wisconsin fullback Alan Ameche became the first Wisconsin football player to win the Heisman Trophy in 1954 after finishing sixth in the voting behind Notre Dame halfback John Lattner the previous season.
Ameche led the Badgers with 641 rushing yards and nine touchdowns in 1954, and helped Wisconsin to a 7-2 record, but it was far from his best season. In fact, it was his worst statistically.
Eligible to play as a freshman because of the Korean War, Ameche gained 774 rushing yards in 1951 to set a school record. Ameche was even better as a sophomore and galloped for 946 yards in the regular season for the 7-0 Big Ten champions, then added another 133 rushing yards in a losing effort in the Rose Bowl. As a junior, Ameche started on offense and defense and ran for 851 yards.
Overall, Ameche gained 3,345 yards on the ground during his four-year career, which was a college football record at the time. He was certainly one of the greatest college football players of his era, but because his senior season fell short of his previous success, and the competition for the award was scarce (Oklahoma lineman Keith Burris finished second with just 34 fewer first-place votes), Ameche’s Heisman-winning season ranks as one of the weakest all-time.
Angelo Bertelli 1943 Season Statistics
- Games: 6
- Pass Completions: 25
- Pass Attempts: 36
- Completion Percentage: 69.4
- Passing Yards: 512
- Passing Yards Per Game: 85.3
- Passing Touchdowns: 10
- Interceptions: 4
- Rushing Attempts: 14
- Rushing Yards: 22
- Rushing Yards Per Game: 3.7
- Yards Per Carry: 1.6
- Rushing Touchdowns: 0
Not only was college football a very different game in 1943, the world itself was a very different place.
Angelo Bertelli became the first Notre Dame player to win the Heisman Trophy in 1943. As a T-formation quarterback, Bertelli averaged a modest 85.3 passing yards per game and threw ten touchdowns and four interceptions while completing 69.4 percent of his passes. Bertelli wasn’t asked to run much, and gained just 22 rushing yards on 14 attempts.
While the statistics themselves are far from eye-popping by today’s standards, Bertelli was a near unanimous pick as the country’s best player during his senior season and won the Heisman in a rout ahead of Penn’s Bob Odell, Northwestern’s Otto Graham and Bertelli’s Fighting Irish teammate Creighton Miller. In fact, Bertelli capped off a terrific career that included a second place finish in the 1941 Heisman voting and a No. 6 finish in the 1942 poll.
But the most interesting thing about Bertelli’s Heisman-winning campaign was the fact that he played in only six games that season. While the Irish were in the middle of their ten-game schedule (with a 6-0 record and ranked No. 1 in the nation with impressive victories over No. 2 Michigan and No. 3 Navy), the United States Marine Corps activated Bertelli for service in World War II during the season.
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