For only the second time in Heisman history, the winner had fewer first place votes than the second place finisher. Oklahoma's Billy Sims had 12 fewer first place votes than Penn State quarterback Chuck Fusina but built a big final total with a strong showing in second place ballots.
Points | ||||||||
Place | Name | School | Class | Pos. | 1 | 2 | 3 | Total |
1st | Billy Sims | Oklahoma | Jr. | RB | 151 | 152 | 70 | 827 |
2nd | Chuck Fusina | Penn State | Sr. | QB | 163 | 89 | 83 | 750 |
3rd | Rick Leach | Michigan | Sr. | QB | 89 | 58 | 52 | 435 |
4th | Charles White | Southern California | Jr. | TB | 36 | 74 | 98 | 354 |
5th | Charles Alexander | Louisiana State | Sr. | TB | 42 | 51 | 54 | 282 |
No. of registered electors: 1,050
Date of announcement: November 28, 1978
The positions within each region are as follows:
Place | NORTH-EAST | MID-ATLANTIC | SOUTH | SOUTH-WEST | MIDWEST | FAR-WEST |
1st | Fusina | Fusina | Fusina | Leach | Sims | Sims |
2nd | Sims | Sims | Alexander | Sims | Fusina | White |
3rd | White | Fuller | Sims | Fusina | Whie | Fusina |
4th | Leach | Brown | White | White | Leach | Leach |
5th | Alexander | Leach | Ivery | Alexander | Alexander | Robinson |