Looking back at three memorable ‘September Heisman’ winners
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One of the most fascinating phenomenons in college football is the September Heisman Trophy winner. He’s usually a quarterback, he’s usually putting up video game numbers against overmatched early-season opponents, and he usually has the sport buzzing about a trophy that won’t be handed out for another three months.
Then October arrives. Conference play begins, the competition stiffens, and the stat lines that looked unstoppable suddenly come back to Earth. Some September stars hold on. Plenty of others become cautionary tales for those tempted to get a little too excited about an early-season start.
Here are three of the most memorable September Heisman winners who faded once the calendar turned.
Denard Robinson, Michigan (2010)
No one embodied the September Heisman quite like Denard Robinson in 2010.
In his first career start, he set a Michigan record with 383 total yards against UConn, throwing for 186 and running for 197. The next week at Notre Dame, he broke it with 502 total yards, including 258 rushing yards and an 87-yard touchdown run, the longest in Notre Dame Stadium history. He capped it with a 2-yard game-winning touchdown run with 27 seconds left.
Unfortunately, the magical season all came crashing down as soon as the leaves began to brown.
During an Oct. 9 home game against Michigan State, Robinson threw three interceptions and completed just 58.6 percent of his passes in a blowout loss. That proved to be a sign of things to come as Michigan then lost six of its next eight games, including a blowout loss to Mississippi State in the Gator Bowl, and head coach Rich Rodriguez was fired after the season.
Robinson may have won the September Heisman, but he finished just eighth in the actual end-of-season Heisman voting.
Geno Smith, West Virginia (2012)
Geno Smith’s September of 2012 was one of the most dominant stretches in college football history.
He opened the 2012 seeason with a 32-of-36 passing performance for 323 yards and four touchdowns in a 69-34 win over Marshall, then he followed that up with a 34-for-39 passing showing for 411 and five touchdowns the following week against James Madison. He stayed hot, going 30-for-43 through the air with 338 yards and 3 touchdowns against Maryland a week later.
His best game came against Baylor, when he completed 45 of 51 passes for 656 yards an eight touchdowns. His eight touchdowns tied the Big 12 record, and he had more touchdown passes than incompletions. His 656 yards fell just 60 yards short of the FBS record.
By the end of the month, he had thrown for 1,728 yards and 20 touchdowns while completing 83 percent of his passes, all while throwing zero interceptions.
Smith was able to keep the hot streak going for one game into October, when he completed 25-of-35 passes for 268 yards and four touchdowns in a 48-45 win over No. 11 Texas. Smith was the clear Heisman Trophy favorite and the Mountaineers were the No. 5 team in the country. And then the wheels fell off.
Texas Tech crushed the Mountaineers 49-14, holding Smith to 29-of-55 passing for 275 yards and one touchdown. The next week, Kansas State and Collin Klein, who went on to become a Heisman finalist himself, embarrassed West Virginia 55-14 in Morgantown. Those losses started a five-game losing streak that included a double-overtime loss to TCU and a one-point loss to Oklahoma.
It looked like Smith had locked up the Heisman Trophy before October. However, by December, he wasn’t even in the top 10.
Kenny Hill, Texas A&M (2014)
Replacing Johnny Manziel was supposed to be impossible. Kenny Hill made it look easy – at leaset, for a month.
In his first career start, against No. 9 South Carolina, the sophomore threw for 511 yards and three touchdowns, breaking Manziel’s school single-game passing yardage record.
“Kenny Trill” became an instant sensation. After his second start, a rout of Lamar, his parents filed a trademark for the nickname. He threw 11 touchdown passes before his first interception, and after five straight wins he had 1,745 passing yards, 17 touchdowns and just two interceptions.
Then Texas A&M ran into three straight top-15 teams, and everything fell apart.
Hill threw three interceptions in a 48-31 loss at Mississippi State. A week later, in front of a then-SEC-record crowd, he turned the ball over three times in a 35-20 loss to Ole Miss. Then came a 59-0 loss at Alabama, when Hill threw for just 138 yards and was benched. Across the three losses, he had as many interceptions as touchdowns, with six of each.
Throughout September, Hill was the Heisman Trophy favorite. But by October, he had lost his starting job to freshman Kyle Allen. He was then suspended two games shortly after for violating team rules, and he never played another snap for the Aggies.
Four months after his record-setting debut, he was granted his release and transferred to TCU where he had a decent career, but never recreated the magic of the 2014 September.
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