NCAA Football: 25 Heisman Trophy finalists who should have won in hindsight

John Hicks is remembered today as the last lineman to finish as high as runner-up in the Heisman Trophy voting. With the pace of today’s game and the trend of passing/rushing Heisman winners in the past two decades, it certainly doesn’t look like an offensive tackle is going to win anytime soon.

How did Hicks get so close to winning in 1973 and why did the award go instead to Penn State running back John Cappelletti?

Hicks was part of a gargantuan Buckeye offensive line that paved the way for 355 rushing yards per game (compared to 54 yards through the air per game), including an average of four rushing touchdowns per contest.

Consider two statistical comparisons from 2018: all 130 Division I FBS teams averaged more passing yards per game (even Navy and Georgia Southern) and 2018 Heisman Trophy winner Kyler Murray averaged more passing yards per quarter (77 yards).

Hicks was the first player to ever start in three Rose Bowls, although he did not help lead the Buckeyes to a victory in Pasadena until his third try in 1974.

The Nittany Lions’ Cappelletti rushed for 1,522 yards and 17 touchdowns, numbers comparable to a sophomore running back in Columbus, Ohio, who would go on to win the next two Heisman Trophies. Before Archie Griffin became the first and only player to win the award twice, he finished No. 5 in votes in 1973 behind the blocking of Hicks.

Here’s a shot of Hicks by the Columbus Dispatch shortly after his death in 2016: