Texas Football: 3 players who nearly stole Heisman from Ricky Williams in 1998
During the 1998 season, one of the surprise rising stars was senior Kansas State Wildcats quarterback Michael Bishop. The two teams that were national title contenders out of the Big 12 in 1998 were head coach Bill Snyder and Kansas State, and the Longhorns in-state rival Texas A&M Aggies.
Texas A&M would eventually top Kansas State by a narrow three-point margin, though, in the 1998 Big 12 Championship Game.
Not only did Bishop have a better season in 1998 than the Longhorns starting quarterback at the time, the Wildcats had a much better campaign than Texas in general. Major Applewhite would eventually blossom into one of the Big 12’s best quarterbacks, but he among others, took a backseat to Bishop during the 1998 campaign.
Bishop registered 2,844 passing yards, 23 passing touchdowns, and just five interceptions. He registered a 55.6 completion percentage, 10.4 adjusted yards per passing attempt, and a 158.9 passer efficiency rating. Where Bishop really added a lot of value for Kansas State was with his legs. He registered 748 rushing yards and 14 touchdowns on the ground in 1998.
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Bishop finished second in the Heisman voting in 1998 only to Williams. It makes sense that he finished as the top quarterback, but he and King should’ve been neck and neck. If only Bishop led Kansas State past Texas A&M in the 1998 Big 12 Championship Game with a better final stat line, his final voting might’ve gotten him closer to winning the Heisman.