10 best Heisman Trophy winners in history

3. Tony Dorsett, 1976

Before Williams, the all-time NCAA rushing record belong to Dorsett, who posted huge numbers in a legendary 1976 Heisman campaign.

A Pennsylvania native, Dorsett decided to stay home and play for a Pittsburgh program that hadn’t finished above .500 in a decade. Dorsett helped the Panthers quickly get things turned around with a Fiesta Bowl berth in 1973 by rushing for a freshman record 1,686 yards.

In the three years after that, Dorsett would break just about every school and national rushing record. Dorsett became Pittsburgh’s all-time leading rusher just three games into his sophomore season, and his junior year was highlighted by a 303-yard performance against Notre Dame.

As a senior in 1976, Dorsett took it to another level by carrying the ball 370 times for a then-single season record 2,150 yards and 22 touchdowns. Dorsett became the first player with four separate 1,000-yard seasons, and his career record mark of 6,526 yards would stand for over two decades.

Pittsburgh went 12-0 and won its first national title in school history thanks to Dorsett’s effort. Dorsett earned 701 of the possible 842 first-place votes in the Heisman race, helping him easily win over USC’s Ricky Bell.

The Dallas Cowboys selected the undersized Dorsett second overall in the following draft, and he would go on to become the NFL’s second all-time leading rusher at the time of his retirement.