McCaffrey is attempting to do what runners-up John Elway (1982), Toby Gerhart (2009) and Andrew Luck (2010-11) could not: Become Stanford’s first Heisman victor since Jim Plunkett in 1970. Those three finalists for the 2015 Heisman Trophy are: Alabama RB Derrick Henry, Clemson QB Deshaun Watson and Stanford RB Christian McCaffrey.
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McCaffrey finished the season with 1,847 yards rushing (second most in the FBS), 1,109 yards returning, 540 yards receiving and 14 total touchdowns (eight rushing, four receiving and two passing).
The odds-on favorite for several weeks, “El Tractorcito” broke Herschel Walker’s SEC rushing record this year, finishing with 1,986 yards and a nation-leading 23 rushing touchdowns. But Henry’s Heisman campaign really took off last month when he rushed for 210 yards and three touchdowns in a 30-16 win over LSU.
Henry and McCaffrey will be trying to break a streak of five consecutive quarterbacks winning college football’s top honor when the trophy is presented Saturday night in NY. He led the team to a Pacific-8 Conference title and engineered a 27-17 upset over previously unbeaten Ohio State in the Rose Bowl.
“The Heisman Trophy has been a dream of mine since I was a little kid and the chance to go to NY as a finalist is unbelievable, but none of this would be possible without my coaches and teammates”, Henry said in a statement. He surpassed Barry Sanders’s 3,250 all-purpose yards from 1988, but in more games, so there’s a glowering asterisk, but then again, Barry Sanders. Watson and the Tigers will face Big 12 champion and No. 4 Oklahoma on New Years Eve in the national semifinals in Miami.
HEISMAN-DEFINING MOMENT: In the regular-season finale, Clemson saw its 18-point lead over SC dwindle to 28-25 in the fourth quarter.
Deshaun Watson is the epitome of what the Heisman Trophy is all about. He gained 461 on Saturday night alone, in the Pacific-12 championship against Southern California.
At the very least, McCaffrey is college football’s most versatile player.
Watson has more than proven himself on college football’s lone undefeated team heading into the College Football Playoff. He also added three touchdowns. But the Cardinal aren’t headed to the playoff, which is why heading into championship week this writer viewed McCaffrey more as a player that would make the ceremony and less as a guy that could realistically win the award.
Watson was second on the team in rushing with 887 yards. By percentage, that ranks as the closest Heisman vote in history. Those are the only Clemson players to finish in the top 10 of the Heisman voting since the award began in 1935.
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Who’s going to win the Heisman? In 2013, Florida State quarterback Jameis Winston clearly emerged as the best player in college football (on the best team) over the course of the season.
