Curious about the college career of legendary Dallas Cowboys quarterback Troy Aikman? Discover where this football icon pursued his college education and how it shaped his path to greatness in the NFL.
Troy Aikman split his college career between the University of Oklahoma and UCLA. He transferred to UCLA after his sophomore season at Oklahoma.
Troy Aikman started his college career at the University of Oklahoma. He was the first freshman to start a game at quarterback since World War II. Aikman only started one game, a loss to Kansas. During the 1984 season he attempted 20 passes, completing only 6. He didn’t throw any touchdowns, but he did throw 3 interceptions.
For his sophomore season, the Sooners relied on Aikman to lead the team. They were ranked #1 in the pre-season polls. He started the first 4 games of the season. He completed 27 of his 47 pass attempts for 442 yards, one touchdown and one interception. In the game against Miami, Aikman broke his ankle and was out for the rest of the season. Backup Jamelle Holieway took over for Aikman and carried the Sooners to the 1985 National Championship. With Holieway established as the starter, Aikman decided to transfer to UCLA.
Upon transferring to UCLA, Aikman took over the starting job for the Bruins in 1987. He led them to a 10-2 record with their only losses coming to Nebraska and USC. Aikman completed 159 of his 243 attempts for 2354 yards, 16 touchdowns and 6 interceptions. UCLA finished the season 9th in the final AP poll.
Coming into Aikman’s senior season, UCLA was ranked 5th in the nation. They knocked off the #2 team in the country, Nebraska on 9/10/88, and spent 2 weeks as the top ranked team in the country before losing to Washington State on October 29, 1988. They would lose again to USC, who was ranked #2 at the time, and finish the season with a Cotton Bowl victory over Arkansas.
Troy Aikman’s senior season was by far his best. He threw for 2599 yards, 23 touchdowns and 8 interceptions. He won the Davey O’Brien Award for the best college quarterback and was 3rd in the Heisman Trophy voting behind Pac-10 rival Rodney Peete, and winner Barry Sanders.
Aikman entered the 1989 NFL Draft where he was taken 1st overall by the Dallas Cowboys. He went on to a Hall of Fame NFL career with the Dallas Cowboys where Aikman won 3 Super Bowl trophies, and one Super Bowl MVP award before being inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame in 2006.
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