Mark Ingram of Alabama was the last running back to win the Heisman. Clemson’s Deshaun Watson would like to keep the award with the quarterbacks.
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First, the finalists, who were revealed on ESPN’s “SportsCenter” on Monday night, The Associated Press reported.
Elliott was named the Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year last week, and he should still finish highly in Heisman voting. Henry continued to simply dominate the SEC following the win over the Tigers, racking up a total of 1,986 yards and 23 touchdowns on 339 total carries on the season, all while breaking the SEC rushing record set by Georgia’s Herschel Walker in 1981 (1,891 yards).
McCaffrey, a sophomore, gained more national attention the second half of the season. He’s the dual threat with 30 passing touchdowns, 11 rushing touchdowns and more than 3,500 yards through the air.
Henry seems to be the front runner in a Heisman race that tightened over championship weekend. Watson had 289 yards passing, 131 rushing and scored five touchdowns in Clemson’s ACC title game win. “It’s a walk-on award, and just thinking back to my journey, it’s pretty special”. When Alabama faced strife at home to Tennessee on October 24, trailing 14-13 inside five minutes, Henry carried five times after midfield, including the final 14 yards. No one else below him had more than 211. The Austin area hasn’t produced a Heisman finalist since Westlake’s Drew Brees made it to NY in 1999 and 2000.
The victor of the 2015 Heisman Trophy will be announced on ESPN at 8 p.m. ET on Saturday, Dec. 12. He ranks No. 2 in combined passing/rushing yardage, No. 6 in yards per pass against FBS opponents, and No. 1 in adorable photos taken while acknowledging young fans of the other team during coin flips.
Watson and Clemson will play Big 12 champion Oklahoma and Alabama will face Big Ten Champion Michigan State in the semifinal round of the College Football Playoffs on December 31.
If LSU sophomore running back Leonard Fournette is feeling a tinge sad because he wasn’t among the three players invited to NY for Saturday’s Heisman Trophy ceremony, he shouldn’t be.
On Saturday, McCaffrey had 461 all-purpose yards in a 41-22 win over USC in the Pac-12 championship game. The past three winners – Marcus Mariota, Jameis Winston and Johnny Manziel – won by comfortable margins.
The vote is also expected to close, whereas the past few winners were decided by large margins, and Stanford will hope to get a bit of revenge against Alabama.
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The quarterback of the Playoff’s No. 1 seed, Watson shook off a 2014 injury to lead Clemson to an undefeated season in 2015. Just like the actual Heisman ballot, SI.com’s People Heisman ballot awards three points for a first-place vote, two points for a second-place vot and one point for a third-place vote.
