CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

The 1992 season

Alabama finished No. 1 in the final AP poll, 13–⁠0 under Gene Stallings, after it beat Miami 34–⁠13 in the Sugar Bowl. The biggest game by the rankings: No. 2 Alabama 34, No. 1 Miami 13 (Jan 1, 1993). Two Division I-A teams finished unbeaten. 50 ranked teams lost to unranked or lower-ranked opponents.

Heisman Trophy: Gino Torretta, QB, Miami (FL), who also won the Maxwell, Walter Camp, Davey O’Brien and Unitas Golden Arm.

The Heisman vote: Gino Torretta 1,400 points, Marshall Faulk 1,080
PlayerPoints1st2nd3rd
Gino Torretta QB, Miami (FL)1,400310179112
Marshall Faulk RB, San Diego State1,080164207174
Garrison Hearst RB, Georgia982140196170
Marvin Jones LB, Florida State392815147
Reggie Brooks RB, Notre Dame294425362
Charlie Ward QB, Florida State126181836
Micheal Barrow LB, Miami (FL)64101014
Drew Bledsoe QB, Washington State486814
Eric Curry DE, Alabama4731312
Glyn Milburn RB, Stanford4751110

First-, second- and third-place votes (3, 2 and 1 points), from the season’s Wikipedia article, as published.

Scoreboards

Final AP poll

1AlabamaSoutheastern Conference
2Florida StateAtlantic Coast Conference
3MiamiBig East
4Notre DameIndependent
5MichiganBig Ten
6SyracuseBig East
7Texas A&MSouthwest Conference
8GeorgiaSoutheastern Conference
9StanfordPac-10
10FloridaSoutheastern Conference
11WashingtonPac-10
12TennesseeSoutheastern Conference
13ColoradoBig Eight
14NebraskaBig Eight
15Washington StatePac-10
16Ole MissSoutheastern Conference
17NC StateAtlantic Coast Conference
18Ohio StateBig Ten
19North CarolinaAtlantic Coast Conference
20Hawai’iWestern Athletic Conference
21Boston CollegeBig East
22KansasBig Eight
23Mississippi StateSoutheastern Conference
24Fresno StateWestern Athletic Conference
25Wake ForestAtlantic Coast Conference

Biggest upsets

Oct 10, 1992Arkansas 25, 4Tennessee 24
Nov 21, 1992Washington State 42, 5Washington 23
Nov 14, 1992Iowa State 19, 7Nebraska 10
Oct 17, 1992Arizona 21, 8Stanford 6
Oct 3, 1992Arizona 23, 11UCLA 3
Oct 10, 199225Clemson 29, 10Virginia 28
Oct 3, 1992Wisconsin 20, 12Ohio State 16
Sep 19, 199221Ohio State 35, 8Syracuse 12
Sep 19, 1992USC 20, 13Oklahoma 10
Oct 31, 199220Florida 26, 7Georgia 24
Oct 3, 199218Stanford 33, 6Notre Dame 16
Oct 31, 1992BYU 30, 14Penn State 17

Ranked teams that lost as the betting favorite, the longest shots first, with the winner’s odds on the line; before lines are on file, ranked teams beaten by unranked or lower-ranked ones.

The AP poll, week by week

The AP poll’s top 10 in 1992, week by week1510152025Wk 1Wk 3Wk 5Wk 7Wk 9Wk 11Wk 13Wk 15FinalFlorida: Wk 1 No. 4, Wk 2 No. 6, Wk 3 No. 4, Wk 4 No. 4, Wk 5 No. 13, Wk 6 No. 13, Wk 7 No. 23, Wk 8 No. 23, Wk 9 No. 20, Wk 10 No. 20, Wk 11 No. 14, Wk 12 No. 11, Wk 13 No. 9, Wk 14 No. 6, Wk 15 No. 12, Wk 16 No. 14, Final No. 1010 FloridaStanford: Wk 1 No. 17, Wk 2 No. 20, Wk 3 No. 21, Wk 4 No. 18, Wk 5 No. 19, Wk 6 No. 18, Wk 7 No. 11, Wk 8 No. 8, Wk 9 No. 16, Wk 10 No. 15, Wk 11 No. 21, Wk 12 No. 15, Wk 13 No. 14, Wk 14 No. 14, Wk 15 No. 14, Wk 16 No. 13, Final No. 99 StanfordGeorgia: Wk 1 No. 14, Wk 2 No. 14, Wk 3 No. 14, Wk 4 No. 19, Wk 5 No. 18, Wk 6 No. 16, Wk 7 No. 12, Wk 8 No. 10, Wk 9 No. 7, Wk 10 No. 7, Wk 11 No. 15, Wk 12 No. 12, Wk 13 No. 10, Wk 14 No. 9, Wk 15 No. 8, Wk 16 No. 8, Final No. 88 GeorgiaTexas A&M: Wk 1 No. 7, Wk 2 No. 7, Wk 3 No. 7, Wk 4 No. 5, Wk 5 No. 5, Wk 6 No. 5, Wk 7 No. 5, Wk 8 No. 5, Wk 9 No. 5, Wk 10 No. 5, Wk 11 No. 5, Wk 12 No. 4, Wk 13 No. 4, Wk 14 No. 4, Wk 15 No. 4, Wk 16 No. 4, Final No. 77 Texas A&MSyracuse: Wk 1 No. 10, Wk 2 No. 10, Wk 3 No. 9, Wk 4 No. 8, Wk 5 No. 17, Wk 6 No. 17, Wk 7 No. 15, Wk 8 No. 14, Wk 9 No. 12, Wk 10 No. 12, Wk 11 No. 10, Wk 12 No. 10, Wk 13 No. 8, Wk 14 No. 8, Wk 15 No. 6, Wk 16 No. 6, Final No. 66 SyracuseMichigan: Wk 1 No. 6, Wk 2 No. 5, Wk 3 No. 6, Wk 4 No. 6, Wk 5 No. 4, Wk 6 No. 4, Wk 7 No. 3, Wk 8 No. 3, Wk 9 No. 3, Wk 10 No. 3, Wk 11 No. 4, Wk 12 No. 3, Wk 13 No. 6, Wk 14 No. 7, Wk 15 No. 7, Wk 16 No. 7, Final No. 55 MichiganNotre Dame: Wk 1 No. 3, Wk 2 No. 3, Wk 3 No. 3, Wk 4 No. 7, Wk 5 No. 6, Wk 6 No. 6, Wk 7 No. 13, Wk 8 No. 12, Wk 9 No. 10, Wk 10 No. 10, Wk 11 No. 8, Wk 12 No. 8, Wk 13 No. 7, Wk 14 No. 5, Wk 15 No. 5, Wk 16 No. 5, Final No. 44 Notre DameMiami: Wk 1 No. 1, Wk 2 No. 1, Wk 3 No. 1, Wk 4 No. 1, Wk 5 No. 1, Wk 6 No. 2, Wk 7 No. 2, Wk 8 No. 2, Wk 9 No. 1, Wk 10 No. 1, Wk 11 No. 2, Wk 12 No. 1, Wk 13 No. 1, Wk 14 No. 1, Wk 15 No. 1, Wk 16 No. 1, Final No. 33 MiamiFlorida State: Wk 1 No. 5, Wk 2 No. 4, Wk 3 No. 5, Wk 4 No. 3, Wk 5 No. 3, Wk 6 No. 3, Wk 7 No. 8, Wk 8 No. 6, Wk 9 No. 6, Wk 10 No. 6, Wk 11 No. 6, Wk 12 No. 5, Wk 13 No. 3, Wk 14 No. 3, Wk 15 No. 3, Wk 16 No. 3, Final No. 22 Florida StateAlabama: Wk 1 No. 9, Wk 2 No. 9, Wk 3 No. 8, Wk 4 No. 9, Wk 5 No. 7, Wk 6 No. 9, Wk 7 No. 6, Wk 8 No. 4, Wk 9 No. 4, Wk 10 No. 4, Wk 11 No. 3, Wk 12 No. 2, Wk 13 No. 2, Wk 14 No. 2, Wk 15 No. 2, Wk 16 No. 2, Final No. 11 Alabama
The top 10 of the final AP poll and where each stood every week before it; a gap is a week out of the Top 25. Hover or tab to a line for its weeks.

Climbed

  1. Washington Stateunranked → No. 15
  2. Ole Missunranked → No. 16
  3. TennesseeNo. 21 → No. 12
  4. NC Stateunranked → No. 17
  5. AlabamaNo. 9 → No. 1

Fell

  1. Penn StateNo. 8 → unranked
  2. ClemsonNo. 13 → unranked
  3. OklahomaNo. 15 → unranked
  4. IowaNo. 16 → unranked

From the season’s first AP poll (the preseason poll) to the final one.

National leaders

Passing yardsJimmy Klingler (Houston)3,818 yds
Passing touchdownsJimmy Klingler (Houston)32 TD
Passer ratingElvis Grbac (Michigan)154.2
Rushing yardsMarshall Faulk (San Diego State)1,630 yds
Rushing touchdownsGarrison Hearst (Georgia)19 TD
Yards per carryReggie Brooks (Notre Dame)8.0
ReceptionsSherman Smith (Houston)103 catches
Receiving yardsRyan Yarborough (Wyoming)1,351 yds
Yards per catchRon Peters (Houston)26.2
Receiving touchdownsSean Dawkins (California)14 TD
PointsGarrison Hearst (Georgia)126 pts
Points per gameGarrison Hearst (Georgia)11.5
Total offenseJimmy Klingler (Houston)3,768 yds
Total offense per gameJimmy Klingler (Houston)342.5
Punt return averageLee Gissendaner (Northwestern)21.8
Kickoff return averageFred Montgomery (New Mexico State)32.6

The NCAA’s official leaders. From Wikipedia’s yearly NCAA leader lists for passing, rushing, receiving, scoring, total offense and returns.

Conference champions

Division I-A

Atlantic Coast Conference
Florida State
Big East
Miami
Big Eight
Nebraska
Big Ten
Michigan
Big West
Nevada
Mid-American Conference
Bowling Green
Pac-10
Stanford and Washington (shared)
Southeastern Conference
Alabama
Southwest Conference
Texas A&M
Western Athletic Conference
BYU, Fresno State and Hawai’i (shared)

Division I-AA

Big Sky
Idaho
Big Sky Conference
Eastern Washington
Gateway Football Conference
Northern Iowa
Ivy League
Dartmouth and Princeton (shared)
Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference
North Carolina A&T
Ohio Valley Conference
Middle Tennessee
Patriot League
Lafayette
Southern Conference
The Citadel
Southland Conference
UL Monroe
Southwestern Athletic Conference
Alcorn State
Yankee Conference
Delaware

Division II and below

Arkansas Intercollegiate Conference
Central Arkansas
Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association
Hampton
Gulf South Conference
Jacksonville State
Midwest Intercollegiate Football Conference
Butler
North Central Conference
North Dakota State
Northern California Athletic Conference
UC Davis
South Atlantic Conference
Gardner-Webb
Western Football Conference
Portland State

From each program’s Wikipedia article, with the conference’s name that season. Titles come from the articles of today’s FBS and FCS programs, so a title shared with a school outside them lists only one champion.

Consensus All-Americans

25 playersAll 10 selectors’ teams

Players picked by enough of the major selectors to count as consensus, shown in bold in Wikipedia’s 1992 All-America article. Every selector’s teams, first to last, are on the 1992 All-America teams page.

The 1992 awards

Every award

Player of the year

By position

Scholarship and character

Coaches

The champion’s staff

Every title staff

Alabama 29 on the staff list

Support staff (19)

Strength and conditioning

  • LeBaron Caruthers strength and conditioning coach
  • Terry Jones assistant strength coach

Operations and recruiting

  • Randy Ross Departmental recruiting coordinator
  • Jack Rutledge Dorm director
  • Gerald Jack administrative assistant to athletic director
  • Cedric Burns football program support staff under head coach Gene Stallings (exact 1992 title not documented in the 1992 media guide; later titled coordinator of athletics relations)
  • Donald Rawson video director (football video)

Sports medicine and nutrition

  • Bill McDonald head athletic trainer

Equipment

  • Tank Conerly athletic equipment director
  • Lee Leonard assistant equipment manager

Video, communications and other staff

  • Mary Spybey football Secretaries
  • Debbie Gibson football Secretaries
  • Linda Knowles football Secretaries
  • Kent Gidley SID Photographer (later director of Photography)
  • Roots Woodruff SID assistant (listed as Rob Woodruff)
  • Jon Dever Academic assistant, athletics academic services (listed as John Dever)
  • Barry Allen assistant SID (football media relations)
  • Kevin Almond Academic advisor, director of Academics (football academic support)
  • Bobby Rice director of athletic Facilities

The staff as the school listed it that season, roles in the source’s words (students and graduate assistants left out). Names link to coach pages where we have one, else to Wikipedia. Staff lists: Drew Hoover’s how-many-rings (MIT), from the schools’ media guides and staff pages.

Bowls and playoff

Scoreboard
Dec 18, 1992Bowling Green 35, Nevada 34Las Vegas Bowl
Dec 25, 1992Kansas 23, 25BYU 20Aloha Bowl
Dec 29, 1992Fresno State 24, 23USC 7Freedom Bowl
Dec 29, 199218Washington State 31, Utah 28Copper Bowl
Dec 30, 1992Hawai’i 27, Illinois 17Holiday Bowl
Dec 31, 1992Baylor 20, 22Arizona 15John Hancock Bowl
Dec 31, 199214Florida 27, 12NC State 10Gator Bowl
Dec 31, 199220Ole Miss 13, Air Force 0Liberty Bowl
Dec 31, 1992Wake Forest 39, Oregon 35Independence Bowl
Jan 1, 19932Alabama 34, 1Miami 13Sugar Bowl
Jan 1, 19933Florida State 27, 11Nebraska 14Orange Bowl
Jan 1, 19938Georgia 21, 15Ohio State 14Citrus Bowl
Jan 1, 19937Michigan 38, 9Washington 31Rose Bowl
Jan 1, 19935Notre Dame 28, 4Texas A&M 3Cotton Bowl
Jan 1, 199313Stanford 24, 21Penn State 3Blockbuster Bowl
Jan 1, 19936Syracuse 26, 10Colorado 22Fiesta Bowl
Jan 1, 199317Tennessee 38, 16Boston College 23Hall of Fame Bowl
Jan 2, 199319North Carolina 21, 24Mississippi State 17Peach Bowl