BCS Championship 2011: Where Does Cam Newton Rank Among Champion QBs?
Cam Newton has now officially accomplished just about everything a college quarterback can ever hope to accomplish. He won a Heisman Trophy, Davey O'Brien Award, Maxwell Trophy, a BCS national championship and more to be named later, I'm sure.
Quarterbacks are the leaders of their teams, both statistically and usually in the locker room and on the sidelines. Whatever happens offensively is usually their fault, so they get all the blame and all the praise.
This list right here spotlights guys who never broke during the season and just kept winning at the highest level in college football.
The amount of pressure riding on these guys on a weekly basis was immense, and they always came out and performed. Check out the list and see where our newest college football legend Cam Newton ranks.
10. Gino Torretta, Miami
1 of 10
Gino Torretta was the starter for Miami for two season (1991, 1992). Torretta won the Heisman his senior year and led Miami to a co-national championship it split with Washington his junior year.
Torretta put up back-to-back 3,000-yard passing seasons and won seemingly every award known to man, including the Heisman Trophy and the Davey O'Brien Award his senior year.
Torretta got two rings at Miami: one in 1989, the other in 1991. He just missed out on a third as the 'Canes fell to Alabama 34-13 in the national championship game in 1992.
9. Johnny Lujack, Notre Dame
2 of 10
Johnny Lujack led Notre Dame to a national championship in 1947, the same year he won his Heisman Trophy. Lujack's passing stats for the 1947 season were 61-of-109, 777 yards and nine touchdowns. Think the game has changed much since then?
Not to say Lujack wasn't a beast. He was selected as the No. 4 overall pick in the NFL draft that year, and he played three seasons for the Chicago Bears.
8. Danny Wuerffel, Florida
3 of 10
Danny Wuerffel was the arm behind Steve Spurrier's high-flying offensive attack that dominated the SEC in the late '90s.
Wuerffel took the Heisman and the national title in 1996 with help from Jacquez Green, Reidel Anthony and Ike Hilliard out wide and Fred Taylor in the backfield.
Wuerffel painted the SEC record books for passing yards and efficiency. He finished his 1996 campaign with 3,625 yards and 39 touchdowns, while completing 57.5 percent of his passes.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
7. Charlie Ward, Florida State
4 of 10
Charlie Ward absolutely defined the term athlete. The guy won the Heisman Trophy and then went on to play in the NBA for 10-plus seasons.
Watching him play football, his athleticism was the first thing people noticed. Ward had a way of making defenders look silly, much like Michael Vick.
In 1993, Ward led a loaded Florida State team to a national championship, and he took home every offensive award known to man. His senior year, he passed for 3,023 yards while completing 69 percent of his passes, throwing 27 touchdowns and just four interceptions. He added 339 rushing yards and four rushing scores.
6. Tommy Frazier, Nebraska
5 of 10
Tommy Frazier led the Cornhuskers' high-powered option attack to back-to-back national championships in 1994 and 1995. He is perhaps best known for this run against Florida in the 1995 Fiesta Bowl.
Frazier ran the option to perfection for Tom Osborne. He finished his career 33-3 as a starter, while passing for 47 touchdowns and rushing for 36—a perfect quarterback for the system. He fell just a field goal short of beating FSU in the 1993 Orange Bowl.
5. Matt Leinart, Southern Cal
6 of 10
Matt Leinart was the Heisman-winning quarterback of college football's most recent dynasty. Leinart led USC to a 2004 BCS national championship while passing for 3,322 yards and 33 touchdowns.
We know he hasn't been a good NFL quarterback, but you can't argue with his college stats. Leinart holds USC records for passing yards (10,693), efficiency (64.8 percent) and touchdowns (99). He only threw 23 interceptions while doing all this too.
4. Chris Weinke, Florida State
7 of 10
Chris Weinke led Florida State to the first ever wire-to-wire national championship in 1999. The Seminoles started the year ranked first and never moved from that spot.
Weinke won the Heisman the next year when he passed for 4,167 yards and got FSU back in the title game for the third time in as many years. But they fell to Oklahoma 13-2.
Weinke won the Heisman at the age of 28 because he played professional baseball before attending FSU.
But to go the entire year with a huge target on your back and get through unscathed takes leadership and great quarterback play. Weinke provided both of those.
3. Cam Newton, Auburn
8 of 10
Here is the man of the hour: Cam Newton. Newton has cemented himself at the top of the college football quarterback landscape. He led his team through the most difficult conference in the country, using both his arm and his legs.
Newton accounted for 51 total touchdowns this year and 4,327 total yards.
Teams realized how mobile he was and loaded the box. He would beat them with his arm. They would back off, and he would take off or just run right through their biggest linebacker. He was the best player on the field in every game he played this year, and it wasn't even close.
I think it is safe to assume he will make the jump to the NFL, but college football will miss him.
2. Vince Young, Texas
9 of 10
Many experts called the 2005 USC team one of the greatest college football teams ever assembled. Well, Vince Young beat them pretty much by himself.
Young capped an amazing career at Texas with a one-man show at the Rose Bowl against the Trojans.
Young became the first player in NCAA Division I-A to pass for 3,000 yards and rush for 1,000 yards in the same season in 2005. His late-game heroics in the Rose Bowl cemented him at No. 2 on my list for sure, and he was just impossible to game-plan for.
He had an unbelievable career at Texas, and it ended with over 6,000 passing yards and 3,000 rushing in three years. One of the best college quarterbacks I have ever seen—without question.
1. Tim Tebow, Florida
10 of 10
I have to give credit where credit is due. Tim Tebow is arguably the greatest college quarterback of all time. The guy won a national championship as a starting quarterback 2009 and as a glorified fullback in 2007 and won the Heisman in between those two titles.
The word "decorated" doesn't begin to describe his college career. The fact that he was more media-savvy than most coaches certainly helped. Tebow finished his career with 88 passing touchdowns and 57 rushing scores (broke Herschel Walker's record).
His leadership was something that was constantly praised by his coaches and teammates, and his passion for winning is something he never was shy about. See here and here.
Kid was the best college quarterback ever.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
.jpg?w=600 "Colts Release Kenny Moore")
