 His stellar senior season and dominance of the line of scrimmage caught the eye of the voters as Hicks won the Lombardi Award as the nation's most outstanding lineman and the Outland Trophy as the nation's best interior lineman.He was the runner up to running back John Cappelletti of Penn State in the voting for the 1973 Heisman trophy.The 6-3, 258 pound tackle started as a sophomore in 1970 when freshman weren't eligible, and helped them go to the Rose Bowl.