'Shocker': Williams Wins Heisman

Michael Bishop, winning by a 1,563 points -- the fourth-largest margin in Heisman history.

The 6-foot, 225-pound San Diegan with dreadlocks, pierced tongue and Mickey Mouse tattoo, ran for 2,124 yards and 27 touchdowns in one of the most sensational seasons in college football history.

Not only did Williams win nearly every other individual award -- the AP College Player of the Year and Walter Camp, Maxwell and Doak Walker awards -- he also carried the Longhorns to an 8-3 record and a berth in the Cotton Bowl.

Williams set or tied 16 NCAA and 44 schools records, including career marks for yards (6,279), scoring (452 points), touchdowns (75) and all-purpose yards (7,206).

Williams collected 714 first-place votes and 2,355 points from the 920 Heisman voters in winning college football's most precious prize. Bishop had 41 first-place votes and 792 points.

UCLA

Heisman Trophy winner Ricky Williams strikes a familiar pose. (AP)

The largest margin of victry in the Heisman was in 1968, when Southern California's O.J. Simpson beat Purdue's Leroy Keyes by 1,750 points. The closest vote was in 1985, when Auburn's Bo Jackson edged Iowa's Chuck Long by 45 points.

In 1993, Florida State's Charlie Ward won the Heisman by 1,622 points over Tennessee's Heath Shuler; and in 1991, Michigan's Desmond Howard won by 1,574 points over Florida State's Casey Weldon.

Central Florida quarerback Daunte Culpepper was sixth, followed by Georgia's all-purpose star, Champ Bailey, North Carolina State wide receiver Torry Holt, Ohio State quarterback Joe Germaine and Tulane quarerback Shaun King.

In receiving the highest percentage of first-place ballots in Heisman history, Williams eaasily won all six voting regions. Three points are awarded for a first-place vote, two for second and one for third.

Williams' Heisman-defining moment occurred against Texas' biggest rival -- Texas A&M -- in the final regular-season game. Needing 11 yards to top Dorsett's record late in the first quarter, Williams was looking to break a big one.

He left a tackler at the line of scrimmage, shed another a few yards later and raced down the left sideline as 84,000 hometown fans stood and screamed in delight. Near the goal line, cornerback Jason Webster caught him, but Williams dragged him the final yards to complete a record-smashing 60-yard touchdown run.

On the sidelines, Dorsett, Earl Campbell and even A&M's own John David Crow -- Heisman winners all -- cheered along with everyone else. They knew the run would be worth a lifetime of reruns.

"I was exhausted," said Williams, who ended up with 259 yards in the 26-24 upset of the Aggies. "I came to the sideline and I was mobbed by the whole team. I couldn't breathe and I was trying to say help, but I couldn't get anything out."

Williams, fifth in last year's balloting but upset he wasn't even invited to the ceremony, nearly passed on returning to Austin. Just when it looked like he would leave for the riches of the NFL, though, he changed his mind, saying he was coming back to win games, have fun and break some records.

Williams, who has a twin sister, Nisey, and another sister, Cassie, who are both students at Texas, entered the season needing 1,928 yards to break Dorsett's 22-year-old record.

His quest seemed impossible. THE Longhorns, with a new coach in Mack Brown, had one of the nation's worst defenses in going 4-7 last season and had only inexperience at quarterback.

"Every coordinator in the country had circled Ricky's name and there's absolutely no way a guy can get 1,800 or so yards," Brown said. "We had 23 1,000-yard rushers at North Carolina. I never thought of a guy getting 2,000."

But Williams isn't just any guy. As a freshman, he joked about how he'd win a Heisman and put his trophy alongside Campbell's in a glass case at Texas' T lounge. He gave himself an e-mail address with the word Heisman in it.

He plays vido games, He visits kids in school and in the hospital. He's one fun-loving kid himself.

This season was serious, though you'd never know it by talking to the soft-spoken Williams, who used the money he earned playing minor-league baseball to move his mother, Sandy, and sisters to Austin.

After Texas lost twice in the first three games -- Williams was stopped cold for 43 yards on 25 carries by Kansas State in game No. 3 -- the tailback went on a tear. He set an NCAA record with consecutive 300-yard games against Rice and Iowa.

Then, to honor 1948 Heisman winner Doak Walker, his newfound friend and idol who had just died, Williams donned Walker's No. 37 jersey and ran for 139 yards and two TDs in a victory over Oklahoma in the Cotton Bowl, the house that Doak built. He still wears a No. 37 decal on his helmet.

Against Baylor, he leaped over several defenders and prevented an interception from being returned for a TD. He did the same thing at Nebraska, where he was cheered by Huskers fans after running for 150 yards and leading the Longhorns to a 20-16 upset -- ending the Cornhuskers' 47-game home winning streak.

Oklahoma State stacked the line with nine defenders and Williams was shut down in the first half. When Brown approached him at halftime to apologize for not running him more, Williams told him to keep throwing the ball, the game had to be won. So Williams ended with 90 yards, but Major Applewhite threw for 408 yards and three TDs in a 37-34 victory.

Before the A&M game, the Longhorns had two long weeks to think about getting Williams his 63 yards for the record. Brown said the pressure on the players had to be enormous. Every day they walked out to practice, a billboard stared back at them: "63 yards to the record. Run, Ricky, Run."

"They're seeing this, and I'm saying to Ricky, `I hope you enjoy this. The nation's going to be watching, the Heisman voters are going to be watching,"' Brown said. "You need 63 yards in a rival game against a great defense. And he says, `I'm not worried about 63 yards."'

Turns out he wanted 135 yards to pass 2,000 yards for the season and then 263 to top Napoleon McCallum's all-purpose yards record.

"He asked me if it's tight, could he return a kickoff," Brown said. "I told him he better start worrying about 63 yards. So he breaks McCallum's record and with eight minutes left he walks up to me and says, `I don't need that kickoff, I'm going to be fine."'

Williams is Texas' second Heisman winner. Campbell won in 1977.

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