Opening Statements
The opening weekend of college football is upon us, which means the race for the 2016 Heisman Trophy is also about to get underway.
The first game of the season can be pivotal for dark horse candidates hoping to launch a Heisman campaign. It can also be important for preseason favorites looking to create some distance between them and their competition.
Listed below are the opening game statistics for each Heisman-winning season (with a few exceptions where records are unavailable). At the end of this weekend, come back and compare the current batch of Heisman candidates with these performances and see how they measure up.
But first, let’s start things off with perhaps the earliest available film from the opening game of a Heisman season. Here’s running back Tom Harmon of Michigan weaving his way through the California defense on a thrilling 86-yard touchdown run that concludes with him having to elude a drunken fan at the goal line. Enjoy.
Opening games for Heisman winners
| Heisman Winner | Opponent (Date) | Result | Statistical Highlights |
| Derrick Henry | #20 Wisconsin (9/15/15) | W 35-17 | 13 carries, 147 rush yds, 3 TDs |
| Marcus Mariota | South Dakota (8/30/14) | W 62-13 | 267 pass yds, 3 TDs, 43 rush yds, 1 TD |
| Jameis Winston | at Pittsburgh (9/2/13) | W 41-13 | 25 of 27, 356 pass yds, 4 TDs |
| Johnny Manziel | #23 Florida (9/8/12) | L 17-20 | 173 pass yds, 60 rush yds, 1 TD |
| Robert Griffin III | #14 TCU (9/2/11) | W 50-48 | 21 of 27, 359 pass yds, 5 TDs |
| Cam Newton | Arkansas State (9/4/10) | W 52-26 | 186 pass yds, 3 TDs, 171 rush yds, 2 TDs |
| Mark Ingram | #7 Virginia Tech (9/5/09) | W 34-24 | 150 rush yds, 1 TD, 35 rec yards, 1 TD |
| Sam Bradford | Chattanooga (8/30/08) | W 57-2 | 17 of 22, 183 pass yds, 2 TDs |
| Tim Tebow | Western Kentucky (9/1/07) | W 49-3 | 300 pass yds, 3 TDs, 38 rush yds, 1 TD |
| Troy Smith | Northern Illinois (9/2/06) | W 35-12 | 18 of 25, 297 pass yds, 3 TDs |
| Matt Leinart | Virginia Tech (8/28/04) | W 24-13 | 19 of 29, 272 pass yds, 3 TDs |
| Jason White | North Texas (8/30/03) | W 37-3 | 23 of 35, 248 pass yds, 3 TDs |
| Carson Palmer | Auburn (9/2/02) | W 24-17 | 23 of 32, 302 pass yds, 1 TD, 1 rush TD |
| Eric Crouch | TCU (8/25/01) | W 21-7 | 151 pass yds, 69 rush yds, 1 TD |
| Chris Weinke | BYU (8/26/00) | W 29-3 | 32 of 50, 318 pass yds, 2 TDs |
| Ron Dayne | Murray State (9/4/99) | W 49-10 | 135 rush yds, 3 TDs |
| Ricky Williams | New Mexico St (9/5/98) | W 66-36 | 36 carries, 215 rush yds, 6 TDs |
| Charles Woodson | #8 Colorado (9/13/97) | W 27-3 | 5 tackles, 1 INT, 1 reception for 29 yds |
| Danny Wuerffel | SW Louisiana (8/31/96) | W 55-21 | 224 pass yds, 1 TD, 30 rush yds |
| Eddie George | #22 Boston Coll (8/27/95) | W 38-6 | 99 rush yds, 2 TDs, 48 rec yards |
| Rashaan Salaam | NE Louisiana (9/3/94) | W 48-3 | 184 rush yds, 3 TDs, 40 rec yards |
| Charlie Ward | Kansas (8/28/93) | W 42-0 | 16 of 26, 194 pass yds |
| Gino Torretta | Iowa (9/5/92) | W 24-7 | 31 of 51, 433 pass yds, 2 TDs |
| Desmond Howard | at Boston Coll (9/7/91) | W 35-13 | 7 rec, 86 rec yds, 3 TDs, 1 KOR for 93 yds, 1 TD |
| Ty Detmer | at UTEP (9/1/90) | W 30-10 | 33 of 46, 387 pass yds, 1 TD, 2 rush TDs |
| Andre Ware | at UNLV (9/2/89) | W 69-0 | 390 pass yds, 5 TDs, 1 rush TD |
| Barry Sanders | Miami (OH) (9/10/88) | W 52-20 | 178 rush yds, 2 TDs,1 KOR TD |
| Tim Brown | at #7 Michigan (9/12/87) | W 26-7 | 3 rec, 40 rec yds, 1 TD, 82 APY |
| Vinny Testaverde | at So. Carolina (8/30/86) | W 34-14 | 17 of 30, 231 pass yds, 1 TD |
| Bo Jackson | LA-Lafayette (8/7/85) | W 49-7 | 23 carries, 290 rush yds, 4 TDs |
| Doug Flutie | West Carolina (9/1/84) | W 44-24 | 22 of 31, 330 pass yds, 4 TDs |
| Mike Rozier | #4 Penn State (8/29/83) | W 44-6 | 16 carries, 71 rush yds |
| Herschel Walker | #11 Clemson (9/6/82) | W 13-7 | 11 carries, 20 rush yds |
| Marcus Allen | Tennessee (9/12/81) | W 43-7 | 22 carries, 210 rush yds, 4 TDs |
| George Rogers | Pacific (9/6/80) | W 37-0 | 13 carries, 153 rush yds, 2 TDs |
| Charles White | at Texas Tech (9/8/79) | W 21-7 | 10 carries, 39 rush yds |
| Billy Sims | at Stanford (9/9/78) | W 35-29 | 19 carries, 107 rush yds, 1 TD |
| Earl Campbell | Boston College (9/10/77) | W 44-0 | 17 carries, 87 rush yds, 1 TD |
| Tony Dorsett | at #11 Notre Dame (9/11/76) | W 31-10 | 22 carries, 181 rush yds, 1 TD |
| Archie Griffin | at #12 Michigan St (9/13/75) | W 21-0 | 29 carries, 111 rush yds, 3 TDs |
| Archie Griffin | at Minnesota (9/14/74) | W 34-19 | 26 carries, 133 rush yds, 1 TD |
| John Cappelletti | at Stanford (9/15/73) | W 20-6 | 26 carries, 76 rush yds, 1 TD |
| Johnny Rodgers | at UCLA (9/9/72) | L 17-20 | 3 rec, 63 rec yds, 43 rush yds, 1 TD, 75 PR yds |
| Pat Sullivan | Chattanooga (9/17/71) | W 60-7 | 13 of 16, 132 pass yds, 2 TDs |
| Jim Plunkett | at #4 Arkansas (9/12/70) | W 34-28 | 22 of 39, 262 pass yds, 2 TDs |
| Steve Owens | at Wisconsin (9/20/69) | W 48-21 | 40 carries, 189 rush yds, 4 TDs |
| O.J. Simpson | at #15 Minnesota (9/21/68) | W 29-20 | 39 carries, 236 rush yds, 4 TDs, 6 rec, 57 rec yds |
| Gary Beban | #9 Tennessee (9/16/67) | W 20-16 | 107 pass yds, 72 rush yds, 2 TDs |
| Steve Spurrier | Northwestern (9/17/66) | W 43-7 | 15 of 22, 222 pass yds, 3 TDs |
| Mike Garrett | Minnesota (9/17/65) | T 20-20 | 33 carries, 146 rush yds, 1 TD, 41 rec yds, 1 TD |
| John Huarte | at Wisconsin (9/26/64) | W 31-7 | 15 of 24, 270 pass yds, 2 TDs |
| Roger Staubach | at West Virginia (9/21/63) | W 51-7 | 17 of 22, 171 pass yds, 1 TD |
| Terry Baker | Iowa State (9/22/62) | W 39-35 | 252 pass yds, 3 TDs, 65 rush yds, 3 TDs |
| Ernie Davis | Oregon State (9/23/61) | W 19-8 | 12 carries, 68 rush yds, 2 TDs |
| Joe Bellino | at Boston College (9/17/60) | W 22-7 | 64 yd TD pass; 1 rush TD, 1 rec TD |
| Billy Cannon | Rice (9/19/59) | W 26-3 | 15 carries, 66 rush yds, 1 TD, 35 rec yds, |
| Pete Dawkins | South Carolina (9/27/58) | W 45-8 | 9 carries, 113 rush yds, 4 TDs |
| John David Crow | Maryland (9/21/57) | W 21-13 | Injured |
| Paul Hornung | at SMU (9/22/56) | L 13-19 | 1 pass TD, 1 rush TD |
| Howard Cassady | Nebraska (9/24/55) | W 28-20 | 21 carries, 170 rush yds, 3 TDs |
| Alan Ameche | Marquette (9/25/54) | W 52-14 | 18 carries, 107 rush yds, 1 TD |
| John Lattner | at #6 Oklahoma (9/26/53) | W 28-21 | Key interception to ice the game |
| Billy Vessels | at Colorado (9/27/52) | T 21-21 | 21 carries, 110 rush yds, 2 TDs |
| Dick Kazmaier | at NYU (9/29/51) | W 54-20 | N/A |
| Vic Janowicz | #10 SMU (9/30/50) | L 27-32 | 0 for 4 passing, 7 rushes, 19 rush yds, 1 TD |
| Leon Hart | Indiana (9/24/49) | W 49-6 | N/A |
| Doak Walker | at Pittsburgh (9/25/48) | W 33-14 | 1 TD rec, 1 PR for 75-yd TD, 4 of 5 pass, 3 XP |
| John Lujack | at Pittsburgh (10/4/47) | W 40-6 | 3 TD passes |
| Glenn Davis | Villanova (9/26/46) | W 35-0 | N/A |
| Felix Blanchard | Pers Dist Comm (9/29/45) | W 32-0 | N/A |
| Les Horvath | Missouri (9/30/44) | W 54-0 | 11 carries, 121 rush yds, 1 TD |
| Angelo Bertelli | at Pittsburgh (9/25/43) | W 41-0 | N/A |
| Frank Sinkwich | at Kentucky (9/19/42) | W 7-6 | 79 rush yds, 111 pass yds |
| Bruce Smith | at Washingon (9/27/41) | W 14-6 | 2 rush TDs |
| Tom Harmon | at California (9/28/1940) | W 41-0 | 2 rush TDs, 1 KOR TD, 1 PR TD, 4 XP, 1 TD pass |
| Nile Kinnick | South Dakota (9/30/39) | W 41-0 | 5 TDs scored |
| Davey O’Brien | Centenary (9/24/38) | W 13-0 | 12 of 22, 228 pass yds, 1 TD |
| Clinton Frank | Maine (10/2/37) | W 26-0 | 1 TD rec, 1 TD pass |
| Larry Kelley | Cornell (10/3/36) | W 23-0 | N/A |
| Jay Berwanger | at Nebraska (9/28/35) | L 7-28 | 18-yd rush TD |
+ = Neutral Site
Heisman opening-game records in bold
All rankings based on AP preseason poll
Notes:
— Pittsburgh and Boston College appear to be the opponents of choice to start out a Heisman-winning season. They have each been the losing team against four Heisman winners to begin the year.
— Only two Heisman winners since 1956 lost their opening game of the season. Both were named Johnny and both of their teams lost by a 20-17 score.
— Mike Rozier and Jim Plunkett both took part in victories over preseason-ranked No. 4 teams, the highest opponent ranking faced by a Heisman winner in an opener.
— The overall record of Heisman winners in opening games is 73-5-2
