10 biggest snubs in Heisman Trophy history

5. 2005: Vince Young

We’re now in the top five biggest Heisman snubs of recent memory. These next five get progressively more egregious. The “C’mon, Man!” level begins to go through the roof at No. 5.

While USC Trojans running back Reggie Bush was undeniably one of the most explosive offensive playmakers in the college game since the turn of the century, having him to later vacate his 2005 Heisman Trophy stands as more of a reason in retrospect that it should have gone to Texas Longhorns quarterback Vince Young.

Young was the signature player of the Mack Brown era of Texas football, much like how Bush would inevitably define the Pete Carroll era of USC football. Texas throttled the Colorado Buffaloes in the 2005 Big 12 Championship Game and the Longhorns would await USC in the 2006 Rose Bowl to decide the 2005 National Championship.

Nobody outside of the Big 12 thought that Texas was going to beat the powerhouse Trojans in the national title bout. Young would use his 2005 Heisman snub as motivation to stun USC to win it all. The 2005 National Championship Game remains one of the best games in college football history.

Both Bush and Young would go in the top three of the 2006 NFL Draft; Bush went No. 2 to the New Orleans Saints and Young went No. 3 to the Tennessee Titans. For different reasons, neither player were as great as a professional as they were in college.

Bush was slight of build, often-injured and really didn’t have a defined position to be an all-time great in the NFL. Young wasn’t accurate enough or good enough pre-snap to do much as an NFL quarterback.

At the time, it was a no-brainer to give the 2005 Heisman to Bush. Over a decade later, there is no 2005 Heisman winner because Bush took money as an undergrad at USC. Young would have been even more the crown jewel of the Mack Brown era in Austin had he won the 2005 Heisman.