Henry surpassed 100 yards in the SEC Championship Game for the second time in his career, becoming the only player ever to do that in the title game twice.
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Just the other day, Stanford running back Christian McCaffrey, son of National Football League great Ed McCaffrey, was named as one of three Heisman Trophy finalists. This time, Watson is pictured celebrating on the podium Saturday after he accounted for five touchdowns in the top-ranked Tigers’ 45-37 victory over North Carolina in the 2015 ACC Championship in Charlotte.
You could argue that McCaffrey’s “Heisman moment” came this past weekend in the Pac-12 title game when he eclipsed Sanders’ record in gashing USC for 461 yards and three touchdowns.
Case For: The most versatile player in all of the college football world is Stanford’s own, Christian McCaffrey. After all, McCaffrey played two more games. Combining his rushing and passing yards he contributed 2,387 yards of Stanford’s 5,668 this season.
In 13 games, Watson has thrown for 3,512 yards, 30 touchdowns, and 11 interceptions, while completing 69.5% of his passes and compiling a quarterback rating of 159.6, good for 11th in the country. Needless to say, he is the nation’s leader in terms of all-purpose yards, but Henry is the nation’s leading rusher.
If it was anyone other than Deshaun Watson making such a graceful and rapid transition from high school sensation to the best quarterback in college football, I wouldn’t believe it could be possible.
Close Heisman voting has been uncommon in recent years.
Deshaun Watson will fly to NY on Friday, but he has to finish finals first.
Clemson QB Deshaun Watson was selected as a Heisman Trophy finalist on Monday. Now, on Tuesday, McCaffrey was named to the First Team of the USA Today Sports All-American College Football Team. His average yards per game for the season stands at 152.8, but it’s an NCAA-best 180.1 against top 25 foes.
PRO PROSPECTS: A junior, Henry is widely regarded as the second-best running back who could be available in the 2016 draft behind Ohio State’s Ezekiel Elliott. After several seconds looking for a receiver, he tucked the ball down and headed right toward the defender near the goal line on the fourth-down play. He rushed for 207 yards, had 105 yards receiving and tallied 120 on kickoff returns and 29 on punt returns.
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.
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It’s been alleged that Sanders, who amassed 3,250 yards in 11 games in his Heisman-winning 1988 season, should still be considered the single-season all-purpose yards record holder.
