How much do you really know about Oklahoma Heisman Trophy history?

Former Sooners are all over Heisman history.

Brad Penner-Imagn Images

The 90th Heisman Trophy presentation will take place on Saturday at Lincoln Center in New York City.

Four finalists are up for this year's award -- Oregon QB Dillon Gabriel, Colorado CB/WR Travis Hunter, Boise State RB Ashton Jeanty and Miami (FL) QB Cam Ward -- and at the end of the evening, the 2024 Heisman winner will be announced.

Oklahoma ranks second all-time among college teams with the most Heisman Trophy winners. Seven different Sooner players have been awarded college football's most prestigious individual award since it was first presented in 1935. The award was created by the Downtown Athletic Club in New York City and is named after that organization's former athletic director, John Heisman.

Oklahoma trails only USC (8) among schools with the most Heisman winners. The Sooners are tied with Ohio State and Notre Dame, each with seven.

Halfback Billy Vessels was the first Sooner to win the Heisman, taking home the prized trophy in 1952 after a season in which he rushed for 1,072 yards and scored 17 touchdowns and averaged 6.4 yards per carry.

It was another 17 seasons before a second Oklahoma player was awarded a Heisman. Running back Steve Owens won the award in 1969, and he was followed by the great Billy Sims, who sits second on the OU career rushing leaderboard, in 1978.

Four different Sooner quarterbacks captured the prestigious award between 2003 and 2018, including back-to-back Oklahoma winners in 2017 and 2018: Jason White (2003), Sam Bradford (2008), Baker Mayfield (2017) and Kyler Murray (2018).

Oklahoma might not be able to claim the most Heisman winners -- although a case could be made that OU deserves at least partial credit for Caleb Williams who gave USC its nation-leading eighth Heisman Trophy winner when he won in 2022 -- but the Sooners have a clear advantage over every other school in the number of Heisman runners-up.

An Oklahoma player has come in second in Heisman voting six times in the history of the award. That's two more than the next closest team. Notre Dame, Tennessee, Iowa and USC have all produced four Heisman runners-up.

The former Sooners who finished as Heisman runners-up include Kurt Burris (1954), Greg Pruitt (1972), Billy Sims (1979), Josh Heupel (2000), Adrian Peterson (2004) and Jalen Hurts (2019).

OU could also make a partial claim on Dillon Gabriel should the Oregon quarterback finish first or second in this year's Heisman voting. Gabriel was Oklahoma's starting quarterback in 2022 and 2023, passing for a combined 6,828 yards and 55 touchdowns, and rushing for another 688 yards and 17 touchdowns.


A reminder what the Sooners lost, Dillon Gabriel is a Heisman finalist


The Downtown Athletic Club did not begin announcing Heisman finalists until 1982. The finalists have been invited to New York for the award ceremony every year since then, except for the pandemic year in 2020.

Oklahoma is also prominently represented in the number of Heisman finalists. OU and Alabama are tied, both with 11 Heisman finalists. OU players in this category include Brian Bosworth (1986), Josh Heupel (2000), Jason White (2003, 2004), Adrian Peterson (2004), Sam Bradford (2008), Baker Mayfield (2016, 2017), Dede Westbrook (2016), Kyler Murray (2018) and Jalen Hurts (2019).

The iconic trophy was designed by New York City sculptor and art teacher Frank Eliscu, and the player that appears on the trophy is modeled after Ed Smith, a top player in the 1930s on the now-defunct New York University football team.

The Heisman Trophy is so engrained in Oklahoma history, it's even made every year in nearby Del City.

On Saturday, one of four finalists will join the select fraternity of Heisman Trophy winners, which will grow to 90 this year. The ceremony will be broadcast on ESPN, beginning at 7 p.m. CT.

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