The best performances of the past 25 Heisman Trophy winners

The best performances of the past 25 Heisman Trophy winners: 23. Troy Smith

Troy Smith is a prime example of a player benefitting from a stacked roster and great head coach. During the 2006 college football season, Smith didn’t have your typical Heisman winning stats. The starting quarterback finished the year with 2,542 yards, 30 touchdowns, and six interceptions. Granted, his touchdowns and lack of interceptions were impressive but with just a shade over 2,500 yards, we were left scratching our head as to how exactly he won the Heisman that season anyways.

Finding Smith’s best game ever was relatively easy. Only once did Smith throw for over 300 yards that season, his second to last game of the year against Michigan. Smith took home the win after throwing for 316 yards, completing 70.7% of his passes, four touchdowns, and only one interception.

More times than not, outside of this one game, Smith struggled for much of the year. He routinely ended ball games with less than 200 yards. But, luckily for Smith, Ohio State went undefeated for most of the year, finishing their season at 12-1. If that didn’t happen, were fairly confident Smith’s numbers alone wouldn’t have gotten him the Heisman.