Ranking the most dominant Heisman campaigns of the last 25 years

Counting down the most dominant Heisman Trophy winners of the past 25 years.

With the 2017 Heisman Trophy ceremony set for Saturday night in New York, one player will soon be immortalized in college football history.

Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield, Stanford running back Bryce Love and defending champion Lamar Jackson of Louisville are the three finalists heading to the Marriott Marquis Hotel for Saturday’s 2017 Heisman Trophy presentation. While Heisman voters have provided a few surprises in the past, it would be a shock if Mayfield didn’t walk away with the most prestigious award in college football on Saturday night.

Mayfield will likely become the first-ever walk-on player to win the Heisman Trophy after throwing for 4,340 yards and 41 touchdowns to just five interceptions in his brilliant campaign. Love and Jackson both put up prolific numbers themselves, but Mayfield has been in control of the Heisman race for the past several weeks and capped off his run to the award with four touchdown passes in the Big 12 Championship Game against TCU.

Few players in the last 25 years have commanded the Heisman race like Mayfield, who has comfortably overtaken more hyped preseason candidates like Jackson and Saquon Barkley. Mayfield might not finish with the highest margin of victory or most impressive statistics in recent memory, but he turned in a dominant campaign that only a handful of Heisman winners have been able to top in the modern era.

The past quarter-century has provided us with some no-doubt Heisman winners like Charlie Ward and Troy Smith, while others like Mark Ingram have had to battle for their award. Here’s how the past 25 Heisman Trophy winners stack up in terms of dominance.

25. Eric Crouch 

While Crouch provided a few moments Nebraska Cornhuskers fans won’t ever forget, his numbers in 2001 just don’t compare well to other Heisman winners of the past 25 years.

A native of Omaha, Crouch stayed in his home state to join the Cornhuskers ahead of the 1997 season, but ankle surgery forced him to redshirt during Nebraska’s run for the national championship. Crouch played off and on as a freshman and was listed behind Bobby Newcombe on the depth chart entering the 1999 campaign, but took over the starting job for good three games in.

The move worked out well for the Cornhuskers, who went 10-2 in 2000 with Crouch piling up 31 touchdowns as the best dual-threat quarterback in the nation. Crouch became much more prolific as a passer during his senior season and set numerous Nebraska and Big 12 records with 1,510 yards through the air, 203 rushes for 1,115 yards on the ground, 26 total touchdowns and a 95-yard run against Iowa State that is still played on highlight reels today.

While Crouch was certainly in the Heisman discussion all season long and led Nebraska to the Rose Bowl, nobody really ran away with the 2001 award. In the closest Heisman Trophy voting since 1985, Crouch topped Florida’s Rex Grossman by 62 total points, with Miami’s Ken Dorsey not far behind in third.

With seven touchdown passes to 10 interceptions on the season, Crouch’s Heisman campaign can’t exactly be described as dominant. Grossman had a more prolific campaign overall, making Crouch’s run to the Heisman feel more like a lifetime achievement award than a particularly outstanding individual season.