Stanford University prides itself on greatness, both in academics and extracurricular pursuits. One of those pursuits is football, as the school known for its educational prowess has also found success on the football field.
One area that the school has seen such success is in developing candidates for the Heisman Trophy. Players from a variety of eras and positions have been a part of the Cardinal legacy.
The Heisman Trophy is an annual award given to the most outstanding player in college football, and multiple Stanford football players have been nominated for the award. Let’s examine the list of Stanford Cardinal Heisman candidates and see who won the award and why.
Jim Plunkett, QB, 1970
Plunkett is the lone winner of the Heisman Trophy to come from Stanford, despite the school having six nominees.
Plunkett won the award as a senior in 1970, one year after finishing eighth in voting. Although he was not considered to be a legitimate contender that season, he threw for 2,715 yards and 19 touchdowns to lead the Cardinal to a Pac-8 title.
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Plunkett surpassed Joe Theismann and Archie Manning to win the award and became the only Stanford player to climb that mountain. Plunkett is not the only quarterback to be nominated, however.
John Elway finished second in 1983 to Georgia’s Herschel Walker, and Andrew Luck finished in second place in consecutive years in 2010 and 2011, losing to Cam Newton and Robert Griffin III, respectively.
Other finalists to come from Stanford were all on the offensive side of the ball, including running back Toby Gerhart in 2010, running back Christian McCaffrey in 2015, and running back Bryce Love in 2017.
The string of second-place finishes may not have to do with anything other than bad luck, as Love lost to Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield, Gerhart lost to Alabama running back Mark Ingram, and McCaffrey lost to another Crimson Tide running back, Derrick Henry.
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