With much ado being made about the race for the Heisman it is important to remember that we have had plenty of other years without clear-cut contenders. Take the 1962 chase, which was won by Oregon State QB Terry Baker, who edged LSU HB Jerry Stovall 707-618. Baker and Stovall each won their respective regions, the West and the South, with neither finishing in the top 5 in their "opponent's" regional voting. But Baker beat Stovall in the East and finished higher in the Midwest vote, won by T Bob Bell of Minnesota. The surprise was that Arkansas QB Billy Moore won the Southwest vote but did not get enough votes anywhere else to finish in the top 10 of the overall calculations. Eleven different players finished in the top three of a region out of a possible 15 including C-LB Lee Roy Jordan of Alabama, second in the South, E Pat Richter of Wisconsin, second in the Midwest, and TB Eldon Fortie of BYU, second out West.
Baker won despite his inability to get Oregon State to the Rose Bowl that season or to have the 9-2 Beavers finish in the top 10. One of his two losses that season occurred on October 13 as the Beavers lost to rival Washington in a close one, as recapped in The USA Today Encyclopedia of College Football:
Washington 14 OREGON STATE 13 (Portland): As typhoon-racked city of Portland cleaned up Friday night's mess, QB Terry Baker and E Vern Burke staged Oregon State (2-2) aerial show in clear post-storm air. Burke caught 7/103y, including 2 TDs in 2nd Q that provided 13-7 lead. Washington (3-0-1) DE Lee Bernhardi recovered Beavers FUM to set up methodical 60y drive to Huskies TD. Washington HB Charlie Mitchell stretched across GL from 2YL, and C-K Jim Norton booted winning conv in last 3 mins of game.
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