Henry captured 42.2 percent of the first-place vote and led the way with 1,832 total points.
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Watson, who has thrown for 3,512 yards and 30 touchdowns, hopes he emulates former Auburn quarterback Cam Newton and ex-FSU star Jameis Winston, who won both won the Heisman and the national title in the same season (12 others have done so in prior years).
By midseason it was LSU sophomore Leonard Fournette (150-plus rushing yards in each of his first seven games) who was the odds-on-favorite.
“I love you so much”, he said during his speech. During the Crimson Tide’s last six contests against FCS opposition, Henry averaged 209 yards while breaking Walker’s mark in the third quarter last week.
Henry leads the NCAA in rushing yards and rushing touchdowns.
Henry has been a workhorse for the Crimson Tide all season. “They take pride in stopping the run”. “That whole week, the defense was hungry”.
“My offensive line, if I could have had them here I would have brought them all”.
Rashaan Salaam, Colorado, 1994: The junior ended the season with 2,349 yards from scrimmage (2,055 rushing) and ran for 24 scores for the Buffaloes, who beat Notre Dame 41-24 in the Fiesta Bowl to finish 11-1.
Watson has quarterbacked Clemson to a ideal 13-0 record and No. 1 national ranking in the College Football Playoff poll, the AP Poll and the USA Today rankings.
The Heisman Memorial Trophy is presented each year to the most outstanding individual player in college football. “I want to make plays”.
Asked which of the two was the better athlete, Christian smiled and said, “I always say my mom, because if I don’t, dinner’s not served when I get home”. Henry amassed 23 rushing touchdowns this season, tying SEC records set by Tim Tebow in 2007 and Tre Mason in 2013. Only twice (2008 and ’10) in the previous 10 seasons have at least two of the top three finishers in the Heisman voting returned to school the next year. He is the 12th player in Southeastern Conference history to win the Heisman Trophy and the first since Johnny Manziel (Texas A&M) in 2012. On Thursday, he won the Maxwell Award as college football’s best player and the Doak Walker award for being the nation’s top running back.
Prior to the official announcement, the NFL Mocks staff discussed who we thought should win.
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Henry is also the first running back since Ingram to win the award, and just the second back since 1999 (excluding Reggie Bush’s vacated Heisman). After the top three, the gap was wide.
