10 biggest snubs in Heisman Trophy history
By John Buhler
7. 1990: Raghib Ismail
During the Lou Holtz era in South Bend, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish were one of the best teams in college football. The Fighting Irish contended for National Championships and usually had some unbelievable perimeter weapons.
While wide receiver Tim Brown would win the 1987 Heisman Trophy, one could argue that Raghib “Rocket” Ismail was the most explosive playmaker of that era of Notre Dame football. Ismail was a Heisman finalist in 1990, but would lose to BYU Cougars quarterback Ty Detmer.
Detmer was deserving of the award, as the culmination of so much that was great about LaVell Edwards’ Cougars passing game in the 1980s. BYU won the National Championship in 1984 and Detmer would be BYU’s only Heisman winner to date.
Detmer did this in his junior season in Provo, but what seemed to have happened in retrospect was that Heisman voters were blown away by Detmer’s inflated passing numbers over Ismail’s undeniable playmaking ability out on the perimeter.
Keep in mind that the vertical passing game wouldn’t re-shape college football until Steve Spurrier took over at his alma mater at the University of Florida. The precursor to the Air Raid in college football was the pass-heavy Run-and-Shoot. BYU had this kind of aerial assault, and so did the Houston Cougars when Andre Ware won the 1989 Heisman Trophy.
Flash forward more than 25 years later and Heisman voters aren’t phased by the inflated passing numbers of Air Raid style offenses. How many Mike Leach quarterbacks have won the Heisman? Exactly.
Ismail was a player on-par with 1991 winner Desmond Howard of the Michigan Wolverines. Had he have won the 1990 Heisman, maybe the award would be more than the archaic quarterback/running back-centric honor it has become today. Ismail was one of the best kick returners and wideouts of his time. Detmer now looks like a product of a system that also produced better pros like Jim McMahon and Steve Young.