In Stanford’s recent run of success, they have two other Heisman candidates that finished runner-up for the award with Toby Gerhart placing second behind Mark Ingram in 2009 and Andrew Luck sitting second to both Newton (2010) and Griffin III (2011).
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Joining Watson will be running backs Derrick Henry of Alabama and Christian McCaffrey of Stanford.
Henry and McCaffrey will be looking to snap a five-year streak of quarterbacks winning college football’s top honor when the trophy is presented Saturday night in Manhattan.
LSU running back Leonard Fournette and Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield did not receive a nomination. He has led to the Tigers to an undefeated season that included wins over Notre Dame, Florida State, South Carolina, and a win over top-10 ranked North Carolina for the ACC Championship Game.
As a high schooler, McCaffrey was a beast, however, college football, especially in Division 1, and especially in the Pac-12, one of the most underrated conferences in the NCAA, was going to be a much more hard game for the son of the former Denver Bronco to dominate.
Clemson quarterback Deshaun Watson was the third finalist and he was listed at 22-1 odds to win the award. Watson completed 287 passes for 3,512 yards while adding 887 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns. He also threw an 11-yard touchdown pass.
Quarterbacks have won the Heisman Trophy the past five years and 13 of the last 15 years. Watson’s knee injury late in his freshman season, which required season-ending surgery, makes it an even more remarkable journey.
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. He was only really “shut down” once and that was against Northwestern to open the year, the most perplexing game of the season.
Derrick Henry made a quick impression on his Alabama teammates upon arriving on campus as a coveted prospect with everything from his hardcore weight room workouts to those middle-of-the-night pushup sessions.
McCaffrey admitted he “got a little emotional”. He held a lead in ESPN’s Heisman Predictor for weeks, although Stanford’s Christian McCaffrey is now in front there after a dynamic performance in the Pac-12 title game.
McCaffrey, a sophomore, gained more national attention the second half of the season.
Watson jumped right up, handed the ball to the referee and ran back to an excited Gainesville sideline.
The underrated aspect of McCaffrey’s game is the kickoff return.
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Saban said he hasn’t coached “many players that actually set a better example to affect other people”. He has over 3,000 yards passing with 750 yards rushing and has accrued a total of 41 touchdowns.
