How Many Heisman Trophy Winners Have Won a National Championship?
College football's national championship is finally here after a season filled with opt-outs, cancellations, postponements, injuries and COVID-19 outbreaks.
DeVonta Smith, the 2020 Heisman Trophy winner, and Alabama will face off against Ohio State on Monday, Jan. 11 despite COVID-19 issues within the Buckeyes program.
"As I have said all week the game is on. Alabama's team will be traveling to Miami tonight, Ohio State will be arriving [Saturday]," College Football Playoff director Bill Hancock said, per Stadium's Brett McMurphy. "We look forward to a great night of college football."
With Smith, who also won the Walter Camp Player of the Year award, leading the way for the Crimson Tide, he has the opportunity to join a more rare company. He's the first wideout since 1991 to earn the Heisman Trophy, and if Alabama wins on Monday, Smith could be the 17th player with a national championship and Heisman Trophy victory in the same season.
Only nine quarterbacks have managed to do so, and five of the last 11 Heisman winners have pulled this off.
Here's a look at the 16 players who have won the Heisman Trophy and the national championship in the same season.
- 1938: Davey O’Brien, QB, Texas Christian
- 1940: Bruce Smith, RB, Minnesota
- 1943: Angelo Bertelli, QB, Notre Dame
- 1945: Felix ‘Doc’ Blanchard, FB, Army
- 1947: John Lujack, QB, Notre Dame
- 1949: Leon Hart, End, Notre Dame
- 1976: Tony Dorsett, RB, Pittsburgh
- 1993: Charlie Ward, QB, Florida State
- 1996: Danny Wuerffel, QB, Florida
- 1997: Charles Woodson, CB, Michigan
- 2004: Matt Leinart, QB, USC
- 2009: Mark Ingram, RB, Alabama
- 2010: Cam Newton, QB, Auburn
- 2013: Jameis Winston, QB, Florida State
- 2015: Derrick Henry, RB, Alabama
- 2019: Joe Burrow, QB, LSU
