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10 biggest snubs in Heisman Trophy history

By John Buhler

Larry Fitzgerald, Pittsburgh Panthers. (Photo by George Gojkovich/Getty Images)
Larry Fitzgerald, Pittsburgh Panthers. (Photo by George Gojkovich/Getty Images) /
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5 Sep 1992: Running back Marshall Faulk of the San Diego State Aztecs runs down the field during a game against the USC Trojans at Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego, California. The teams tied at 31-31. Mandatory Credit: Mike Powell /Allsport
5 Sep 1992: Running back Marshall Faulk of the San Diego State Aztecs runs down the field during a game against the USC Trojans at Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego, California. The teams tied at 31-31. Mandatory Credit: Mike Powell /Allsport /

1. 1992: Marshall Faulk

The 1992 Heisman Trophy went to the wrong guy, and everybody outside of Coral Gables knows it.

Miami Hurricanes quarterback Gino Torreta was a system quarterback if there ever was one. He edged out two incredible running backs to win the 1992 Heisman Trophy: Garrision Hearst of the Georgia Bulldogs and some guy named Marshall Faulk for the San Diego State Aztecs.

Hearst wasn’t Walker and Georgia was ehhh in 1992. It’s understandable that the 1992 trophy wouldn’t go to him. Hearst was like the Darren McFadden of the 1990s, an unbelievable playmaker in an SEC backfield that just could not stay healthy in the NFL. Hall of Fame talent, but a body that wasn’t built for the pros.

Now Faulk, on the other hand, is the greatest running back in college football history nobody talks about. Heisman voters belittled Faulk’s perceived lack of competition at San Diego State, but he was the reason mid-major football started to get nationally televised in the early 1990s.

Faulk was like a Christian McCaffrey-type of playmaker for the Aztecs. He would go No. 2 overall to the Indianapolis Colts in the 1994 NFL Draft. A 2016 Heisman finalist snub Donnel Pumphrey brought Faulk’s name back in college football conversations for his great NCAA career at San Diego State.

In the NFL, Faulk would become one of the most innovative running backs of all-time. He revolutionized pass catching out of the backfield in Mike Martz’s Greatest Show on Turf St. Louis Rams teams.

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On the ground or through the air, Faulk got all the yards he wanted and then some. Torretta would prove to be just a system quarterback at The U. He would be a backup in the NFL for a few years and almost never play as a seventh-round pick.

If Faulk won the 1992 Heisman Trophy, it would have changed the voting landscape entirely. Maybe mid-major stars could have a chance at winning college football’s most prestigious honor to this day?

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