Sanders Is Easy Winner of Heisman : Peete, Aikman Finish 2-3 to Oklahoma State Junior

Representing a triumph of performance over propaganda, junior running back Barry Sanders of Oklahoma State was named Saturday as the 54th winner of the Heisman Trophy.

“I’m relieved,” the unassuming Sanders said in a televised interview from Tokyo, where Oklahoma State ended its regular season Sunday with a 45-42 victory over Texas Tech. “I want it to be known that individual accomplishments (don’t mean) as much to me as team goals. Individual goals never meant that much to me. The Heisman is no exception.”

Sanders, who has established 20 National Collegiate Athletic Assn. rushing and scoring records, easily beat out the four quarterbacks who also were invited to a ceremony at the Downtown Athletic Club, including Rodney Peete of USC and Troy Aikman of UCLA, who finished second and third in the voting.

Peete, who led USC to the Pacific 10 Conference championship, is the fourth Trojan to finish second in the Heisman voting, joining O.J. Simpson (1967), Anthony Davis (1974) and the late Ricky Bell (1976). Four USC players, including Simpson in 1968, have won the Heisman.

Aikman received more votes than any UCLA player since former Bruin quarterback Gary Beban won the Heisman in 1967.

Only 721 of the 913 eligible voters, who include the media and past winners, took part in the voting, in which a first-place vote is worth 3 points, second place 2 and third place 1.

Sanders, a virtual unknown at the start of the season, received 559 first-place votes and 1,878 points. Peete had 70 first-place votes and 912 points, and Aikman had 31 first-place votes and 582 points.

Miami quarterback Steve Walsh finished fourth in the voting, and West Virginia quarterback Major Harris was fifth.

“I thank God for putting me in this position,” Sanders said before the outcome was announced shortly before 8 a.m., Tokyo time. “Secondly, I’d like to thank my offensive line and my fullback, Garrett Limbrick. They’ve done a great job. I couldn’t have asked for a better season out of those guys.”

Why did winning the Heisman seem to mean so little to him?

“It’s hard to see myself get a lot of credit and see those guys getting put aside,” Sanders said of his teammates.

Sanders won on the strength of his accomplishments, which some believed was impossible because of the hype surrounding the award.

John O’Keefe, chairman of the Heisman Trophy committee, said: “I’m very pleased that Barry Sanders is the 1988 winner, because not only did he have tremendous numbers, he did not do it Saturday to Saturday on nationwide TV. He did it on his athletic performance.

“The criticism in the past was that you couldn’t win the Heisman unless you were on television every Saturday. I only saw Barry Sanders in clips one night on cable. He came out of nowhere.”

Although Sanders was the nation’s leading kickoff returner last season, he was a backup to Thurman Thomas, who is now with the Buffalo Bills.

“I’d never even heard of him before,” said Aikman, who met Sanders last June in Miami at a photo session for the Playboy All-American team.

Sanders made the Playboy team as a specialist. By the end of the season, though, he was an All-American running back and established NCAA scoring records for touchdowns and points.

Going into Sunday’s game, he was averaging 289.7 yards a game in all-purpose rushing and piled up well over 300 more in Tokyo, which put him ahead of the record of 246.3 set in 1937 by Colorado’s Byron (Whizzer) White, who is now a U.S. Supreme Court justice. White’s record was the oldest in the NCAA books.

Sanders’ 2,897 total yards (before Sunday) broke the previous record of 2,633, set by Temple’s Paul Palmer in 1986.

And his 2,624 yards rushing, including 328 in Sunday’s game, shattered the one-season record of 2,342 set by USC’s Marcus Allen in 1981.

Four times this season, including Sunday, Sanders rushed for more than 300 yards in a game, establishing another record.

Sanders, a native of Wichita, Kan., is only the third player in NCAA history to rush for more than 2,000 yards in a season, joining former Heisman Trophy winners Mike Rozier of Nebraska, who ran for 2,148 in 1983, and USC’s Allen.

Neither Peete nor Aikman expressed any disappointment in not winning the award. Both said they believed that Sanders, who is the eighth junior to win, was the rightful recipient.

“Troy, myself, Steve and Major had great years, but Barry Sanders had a phenomenal year, so he’s well deserving of the trophy,” said Peete, who passed for 2,654 yards and 18 touchdowns this season in leading USC into the Rose Bowl game for the second straight time.

“I think a lot of people give him a bad rap because he didn’t play against the tougher competition, but it doesn’t matter who you’re playing against when you’re running for 300 yards a game. That’s very impressive.”

Aikman, who passed for 2,599 yards and 23 touchdowns, said earlier this week: “Barry Sanders had one of the greatest years in the history of college football. How could he not be the best in 1988?”

Oklahoma State (9-2), which will meet Wyoming Dec. 30 in the Holiday Bowl at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium, did not appear on network television this season, but Sanders got the voters’ attention with his statistics.

Sanders rushed for 189 yards and 4 touchdowns against Nebraska and 215 yards and 2 touchdowns against Oklahoma.

“I think Barry Sanders is the best college football player in the country,” Cowboy Coach Pat Jones said in an interview that was televised Saturday night. “I read someplace earlier on that anybody who’s got a brain and a vote and doesn’t vote for this youngster, they’re not very smart. I would fully agree with that.”

A lot of others agreed, too.

THE VOTING FOR THE 1988 HEISMAN TROPHY

Voting for the 1988 Heisman Trophy, with first, second and third-place votes and total points (voting on 3-2-1 basis).

Player (School) 1st 2nd 3rd Total Sanders (Okla. St.) 559 77 47 1878 Peete (USC) 70 264 174 912 Aikman (UCLA) 31 149 191 582 Walsh (Miami) 16 108 77 341 Harris (W. Va.) 27 60 79 280 Mandarich (Mich. St.) 3 9 25 52 Rosenbach (Wash. St.) 6 6 14 44 Sanders (Fla. St.) 0 3 16 22 Thompson (Indiana) 0 4 13 21 Thomas (Alabama) 3 2 7 20

BARRY SANDERS’RUSHING STATISTICS

Opponent Att. Yds Ave. TD Miami (Ohio) 18 178 9.8 2 Texas A&M; 20 157 7.8 2 Tulsa 33 304 9.2 5 Colorado 24 174 7.3 4 Nebraska 35 189 5.4 4 Missouri 25 154 6.2 2 Kansas State 37 320 8.6 3 Oklahoma 39 215 5.5 2 Kansas 37 312 8.4 5 Iowa State 32 293 9.2 4 Texas Tech 45 328 7.2 4 TOTALS 345 2624 7.6 37

HEISMAN WINNERS

1988 Barry Sanders Okla. St. RB 1987 Tim Brown Notre Dame WR 1986 Vinny Testaverde Miami (Fla.) QB 1985 Bo Jackson Auburn TB 1984 Doug Flutie Boston Col. QB 1983 Mike Rozier Nebraska TB 1982 Herschel Walker Georgia HB 1981 Marcus Allen USC TB 1980 George Rogers S. Carolina HB 1979 Charles White USC TB 1978 Billy Sims Oklahoma HB 1977 Earl Campbell Texas FB 1976 Tony Dorsett Pittsburgh HB 1975 Archie Griffin Ohio St. HB 1974 Archie Griffin Ohio St. HB 1973 John Cappelletti Penn St. HB 1972 Johnny Rodgers Nebraska FL 1971 Pat Sullivan Auburn QB 1970 Jim Plunkett Stanford QB 1969 Steve Owens Oklahoma HB 1968 O.J. Simpson USC TB 1967 Gary Beban UCLA QB 1966 Steve Spurrier Florida QB 1965 Mike Garrett USC TB 1964 John Huarte Notre Dame QB 1963 Roger Staubach Navy QB 1962 Terry Baker Oregon St. QB 1961 Ernie Davis Syracuse HB 1960 Joe Bellino Navy HB 1959 Billy Cannon LSU HB 1958 Pete Dawkins Army HB 1957 John David Crow Texas A&M; HB 1956 Paul Hornung Notre Dame QB 1955 Howard Cassady Ohio St. HB 1954 Alan Ameche Wisconsin FB 1953 John Lattner Notre Dame HB 1952 Billy Vessels Oklahoma HB 1951 Dick Kazmaier Princeton HB 1950 Vic Janowicz Ohio St. HB 1949 Leon Hart Notre Dame E 1948 Doak Walker SMU HB 1947 John Lujack Notre Dame QB 1946 Glenn Davis Army HB 1945 Doc Blanchard Army HB 1944 Les Horvath Ohio St. QB 1943 Angelo Bertelli Notre Dame QB 1942 Frank Sinkwich Georgia HB 1941 Bruce Smith Minnesota HB 1940 Tom Harmon Michigan HB 1939 Nile Kinnick Iowa HB 1938 Davey O’Brien TCU QB 1937 Clint Frank Yale HB 1936 Larry Kelley Yale E 1935 Jay Berwanger Chicago HB