NCAA Football: 25 Heisman Trophy finalists who should have won in hindsight
By John Scimeca
Darren McFadden is a good example of a near-miss, of something so agonizingly close to greatness that it’s painful to revisit. And by greatness, we’re talking about greatness recognized in the form of some hardware: the Heisman Trophy.
McFadden won plenty of awards through his illustrious three-year career as a Razorback, including the Doak Walker Award and the Jim Brown Trophy, handed to the nation’s top running back, the SEC Offensive Player of the Year, and The Sporting News Player of the Year. McFadden was the only player besides Ricky Williams to win the Doak Walker Award twice.
The agonizing part: McFadden finished as the runner-up for the Heisman Trophy two years in a row. Although one can concede that the Heisman is not meant to be a career achievement, it’s hard to look at McFadden’s numbers and not award him the trophy in 2007.
McFadden was the first player since 1949 to finish as No. 2 for consecutive seasons. But was this justified?
In 2007, McFadden had 325 carries for 1,830 yards and 16 touchdowns, good for 5.6 yards per carry. That year’s winner was Tim Tebow, who was well on his way to a magical college football career with the Florida Gators as a sophomore.
Tebow put up some extraordinary numbers (throwing for more than 3,200 yards, 32 touchdowns, and only six interceptions) for a 9-4 Gators team.
McFadden did likewise (including throwing for four touchdown passes, interestingly enough — 6-of-11 passing on the season) for an 8-5 Arkansas team. In a triple-overtime win against then-No. 1 LSU, McFadden rushed 32 times for 206 yards and three touchdowns.
McFadden finished his college career with a career rushing mark second only to Georgia’s Herschel Walker. He was also the only player to rush for more than 1,000 yards for three straight seasons besides, you guessed it: Walker. Again, it’s not a career achievement award, but… it’s a difficult move, in hindsight, to not give McFadden his due.