Fansided

Bryce Love looks to snap Stanford’s Heisman Trophy curse

By Patrick Schmidt

PALO ALTO, CA - SEPTEMBER 30: Bryce Love #20 of the Stanford Cardinal runs for a touchdown during an NCAA Pac-12 football game against the Arizona State University Sun Devils on September 30, 2017 at Stanford Stadium in Palo Alto, California. (Photo by David Madison/Getty Images)
PALO ALTO, CA - SEPTEMBER 30: Bryce Love #20 of the Stanford Cardinal runs for a touchdown during an NCAA Pac-12 football game against the Arizona State University Sun Devils on September 30, 2017 at Stanford Stadium in Palo Alto, California. (Photo by David Madison/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

Bryce Love looks to break the Stanford Heisman curse that has seen Cardinal players finish as the runner-up four times in the last eight years.

Stanford is still looking for their first Heisman Trophy winner since Jim Plunkett won over Joe Theismann and Archie Manning in 1970. The Cardinal have come close, however, painstakingly close, in recent years, but the bronze statue has repeatedly given the stiff-arm to Stanford candidates.

There is a Heisman curse that’s been mentioned for decades but it’s been about the NFL careers of those who were awarded the greatest single individual honor in college football. There’s a new curse that’s come about and that’s the Stanford Heisman curse that has seen three players finish as the runner-up to the Heisman four times in the last eight years. Love will likely be the fifth occurrence in the last nine years on Saturday night with Oklahoma quarterback the runaway favorite to win the Heisman Trophy.

Always a bridesmaid, never a bride.

It all began in 2009 when Toby Gerhart finished a measly 28 votes shy of Mark Ingram for the Heisman. Gerhart was a monster that year, rushing for 1, 871 yards and 28 touchdowns. Numbers that are usually good enough to win in most years. And they were better than Ingram who had 1,658 yards and 17 touchdowns, although he had a 6.1 compared to a 5.5 yards per carry average for Gerhart. But this represented the slimmest vote in Heisman history as Ingram became the first Heisman winner for Alabama, and went on to win the national title a little less than a month later.

Related Story: Heisman Trophy winners with the best NFL careers

The next year, it was the man who handed the ball off to Gerhard the year prior that was up for the Heisman as Andrew Luck put up incredible numbers as a redshirt sophomore in 2010. Luck has better passing numbers than Cam Newton who won the Trophy, but Newton’s rushing totals and the impact he had on No. 1 Auburn was enough for him to win. It wasn’t a close vote between the two future No. 1 overall picks and Newton was certainly deserving, but it was nevertheless another tough break for Stanford fans.

For the third year in a row, Stanford finished as the runner-up as Luck was once again in second place. This time, Luck finished 280 votes shy of Baylor dual-threat quarterback Robert Griffin III who won despite his team losing three games. Luck had the better team, but RG3 had slightly better numbers, but Luck edged him when it came to the NFL Draft where he was the top pick and Griffin went one pick later.

Three years in a row Stanford finished as the runner-up. That’s impressive, even if it didn’t result in the desired outcome.

Fast forward to 2015 and Stanford has an electrifying playmaker in the backfield, on the perimeter as a receiver and on special teams as a lethal returner. Christian McCaffrey had a historic 2015 season, rushing for more than 2,000 yards and broke Barry Sander’s record for all-purpose yards set in a season. The 27-year-old record was set when Sanders won the Heisman in 1988. Despite the record-breaking season that McCaffrey had in leading Stanford to the Pac-12 title and the Rose Bowl, it wasn’t enough to win the Heisman as another Alabama running back stood in the way.

Derrick Henry won the Trophy by 293 votes after he ran for 2,219 yards and 28 touchdowns for the eventual national champions.

Next: Most impressive Heisman seasons of the last 25 years

And now it’s the man who replaced McCaffrey in the Stanford backfield who is up for the Heisman. Love would have broken McCaffrey’s single-season rushing record this year if not for an ankle sprain that forced him to miss the one-point win at Oregon State and had him severely limited the final five games of the season. Love gutted his way through those contests and still had four, 100-yard games and an average of 117 yards per game over those games.

Not bad for a running back on one leg.

Despite the injury, Love enters the Heisman ceremony second in the nation in rushing with 1,973 yards on an average of 164,42 yards per game and an explosive 8.32 yards per carry average. Love was the game’s biggest home threat, a veritable Giancarlo Stanton or Aaron Judge on the gridiron, who could crush the souls of opposing defenses anytime he touched the ball. His 12 runs of at least 50 yards are the most by any player in the last 10 years.

If not for the injury, Love would give Mayfield a better run for the Heisman, but it’s an inevitability that Love is set to join Gerhart, Luck and McCaffrey as Stanford players that finished as Heisman runner-ups. It’s not bad company to be in at all. It’s still a significant accomplishment but for Stanford, it’s another reminder of how close they’ve come and yet how far they remain from clutching the Heisman.

Home/Heisman Trophy