Down-ballot Heisman voting (continued)...
1990: Virginia WR Herman Moore gets 6 first-place votes to Rocket Ismail's 237, despite 11 more receiving TDs and a higher ypc avg on almost twice as many receptions.
1991: A defensive lineman finished 4th, with 29 1st-place votes (Emtman) and a CB finishes 8th, after a 12-interception season (officially, the most-ever - Buckley, FSU). It earned him 1 first-place vote.
Our 3rd FR makes an appearance in 9th place, with zero 1sts...Marshall Faulk.
1992: Faulk vaults to 2nd in the voting, despite a worse season. Down-ballot, we have 3 defensive players (1st place votes in parenthesis): FSU LB Marvin Jones (81), Miami LB Michael Barrow (10), and Alabama DE Eric Curry (3).
1993: With not many 1st place votes to go around (Ward won in a huge landslide), three mid-major programs boasted top-10 finishers: SDST's Faulk (7 1sts), NIU's LeShon Johnson (5), and Fresno's Trent Dilfer (2).
1994: Two linemen in the top 10 of voting garnered 1st place votes: DT Warren Sapp had 17, while OT Zach Wiegert had 1. Wiegert's RB also had a single 1st-place vote (Lawrence Phillips).
1995: The only WR in the top 10 got 9 first-place votes, and it took 100+ catches to get them, for USC WR Keyshawn Johnson. That was A LOT back then.
1996: A 2,000 yard rushing season by TTU RB Byron Hanspard earned him just 15 1st-place votes. Another WR with 100+ catches finished with 7: Wyoming WR Marcus Harris.
OT Orlando Pace had 87 1sts to finish 4th.
1997: 10th-place finisher WV RB Amos Zereoue had the same number of 1st-place votes as 5th-place Texas RB Ricky Williams, despite an inferior statistical season. Two WRs got 1st-place votes: Randy Moss and despite only 653 yds receiving, Iowa WR Tim Dwight. It may have been those punt returns...
1998: The year after we had our first defensive winner of the Heisman, CB Champ Bailey finishes 7th, with 6 firsts. And despite having the highest-rated season by a QB in history, Tulane's Shaun King got 1 first-place vote.
1999: FR QB Michael Vick only had 4 more 1st-place votes than Marshall QB Chad Pennington. 4th-place Purdue QB Drew Brees had far fewer 1sts than any of the next 4 players who finished behind him in overall voting. A LB got 3 first-place votes (as many as Brees): Penn State's LaVar Arrington.