Pac-12 and the Heisman: Does Michael Penix Jr. or Bo Nix Have a Chance?
If the Heisman Trophy voting had ended a week ago, Oregon quarterback Bo Nix would probably be holding the straight-arming statue on Saturday (5 p.m. Pacific time, ESPN). But the Ducks had to play in the Pac-12 title game, and with the deadline for submission of Heisman votes two days after that game, most voters waited to cast their ballot until after the Pac-12 title game.
Oregon lost that game, and Nix’s statistics were decent, but not up to his standards. As a result, not only did Nix apparently drop out of the favorite’s role, he is likely to finish third in the voting, behind LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels, who did not play a game last weekend but is now likely to win the Heisman by a sizable margin, and Washington quarterback Michael Penix Jr., the midseason Heisman front-runner who by virtue of his role in the Huskies’ victory over Oregon appears headed for a second-place finish in the Heisman Trophy voting.
It demonstrates once again how influential the final impression is when determining the Heisman Trophy winner. If the voting were held after the bowl games, you might have a different Heisman Trophy winner.
Penix and Nix will both play in their bowl games -- Penix in the Sugar Bowl in a CFP national semifinal game against Texas and Nix in the Fiesta Bowl against Liberty. However, Daniels has not decided whether he will play in the ReliaQuest Bowl against Wisconsin. The guess here is that Daniels will wait until after Saturday's Heisman Trophy ceremony, then a day or two later will announce that he won't play in the bowl game.
Interestingly, Nix and Penix both are from Southeastern Conference country (Nix is from Alabama, Penix from Florida) but are now in the Pac-12, while Daniels is from Pac-12 country (San Bernardino, Calif.) and is now in the SEC. All three started their college careers at a different schools, and all three benefited from the extra season provided by the shortened, 2020 pandemic season. This is the fifth college season for Nix and Daniels and the sixth for Penix.
Even if neither Penix nor Nix wins -- and it would be a major surprise if either does win -- finishing second and third will reflect well on the Pac-12 in its final season.
This is expected to be the fifth time that two players from the Pac-12 finished among the top three in the Heisman voting.
And, believe it or not, if Penix finishes second as expected (or even third), he will become the first Washington player in history to finish in the top three in Heisman Trophy voting. That’s a little hard to believe considering Washington’s impressive football history. In fact, the only Huskies player to finish in the top five was a defensive player, lineman Steve Emtman, who was fourth in 1991.
Washington is one of six current Pac-12 schools that have never had a Heisman winner, and the Huskies are one of just three Pac-12 schools – along with Arizona and Utah – that have never had a top-three finisher in the Heisman voting. Five Pac-12 schools have had one Heisman winner apiece, then there’s USC with eight Heisman Trophy winners (if you include Reggie Bush)..
Cal is still looking for its first Heisman Trophy winner, but the Bears have had a slew of players finish among the top 10 in Heisman voting.
Here are four lists of Heisman Trophy voting as it relates to current Pac-12 schools: 1. Number of Heisman Trophy winners from each school, 2. Number of top-three finishers from each school, 3. Number of top-10 finishers from each school. 4. Years in which two players from Pac-12 members finished in the top three.
Heisman Trophy winners from Pac-12 schools (note USC number. If you count Reggie Bush's Heisman, the Trojans have the most of any college. If you don't count Bush, USC is tied with Notre Dame, Ohio State and Oklahoma at seven apiece )
USC -- 8 (including Reggie Bush's 2005 Heisman Trophy, which was later revoked because of violations, leaving that year's slot vacant) -- Winners: Mike Garrett 1965, O.J. Simpson 1968, Charles White 1979, Marcus Allen 1981, Carson Palmer 2002, Matt Leimart 2004, Caleb Williams 2002.
UCLA – 1 -- Winner: Gary Beban 1967
Colorado – 1 -- Winner: Rashaan Salaam 1994
Oregon – 1 -- Winner: Marcus Mariota 2014
Stanford – 1 -- Winner: Jim Plunkett 1970
Oregon State – 1 -- Winner: Terry Baker 1962
Cal -- 0
Arizona – 0
Arizona State – 0
Utah – 0
Washington – 0
Washington State – 0
.
Number of top-three Heisman finishers (note Stanford and Utah number):
USC -- 14
Stanford – 8
UCLA – 4
Colorado – 3
Oregon – 2
Cal – 1 (Chuck Muncie was second in 1975)
Arizona State – 1
Oregon State – 1
Washington State – 1
Washington – 0
Arizona – 0
Utah – 0
.
Number of top-10 Heisman finishes (note Cal and Utah number)
USC – 26
UCLA – 22
Stanford – 19
Cal – 12
Oregon – 9
Washington – 8
Washington State -- 8
Colorado – 6
Arizona State – 3
Oregon State -- 2
Arizona – 2
Utah – 2
.
Years two Pac-12 players finished in the top three
1967 – Gary Beban, UCLA (first), O.J. Simpson, USC (second)
1975 – Chuck Muncie, Cal (second), Ricky Bell, USC (third)
1988 – Rodney Peete, USC (second), Troy Aikman, UCLA (third)
2010 – Andrew Luck, Stanford (second), LaMichael James, Oregon (third)
Cover photo by Brad Penner, USA TODAY Sports
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