Colorado’s own, Christian McCaffrey, finished second in Heisman voting to Alabama’s Derrick Henry, who became the second Alabama player to receive college football’s most prestigious player of the year award.
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After 85 minutes of waiting in the PlayStation Theater, Derrick Henry’s childhood dream came true as Alabama’s junior running back was named the Heisman Trophy victor.
Henry walked away with the award over No. 1 Clemson’s Deshaun Watson and No. 6 Stanford’s Christian McCaffrey on Saturday night at New York City’s PlayStation Theatre.
Henry was presented the 81st Heisman Memorial Trophy at PlayStation Theater in Times Square in a live announcement on ESPN.
Including the vacated 2005 award won by USC’s Reggie Bush, it also was the third time since 1999 a non-quarterback won the trophy. His 3,496 total yards (1,847 rushing yards, 540 receiving yards, 1,042 kick return yards, and 67 punt return yards) are the most in NCAA history in a single season, and he still has a Bowl game to play.
His 1,986 rushing yards crushed the school record (1,679) and beat Herschel Walker’s SEC mark of 1,891 yards.
Additionally, Henry shined late in the season after Kenyan Drake broke his arm. 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.
In one game against Auburn, Henry notched 46 carries for 271 yards – a career best in both, the Heisman site says. Many NFL scouts will tell you Florida State’s Dalvin Cook (7.9 yards per carry) is the most talented runner in college football. Sanders was the Heisman victor that year. Henry is the second victor from the University of Alabama joining former running back Mark Ingram.
Of course, with 23 rushing touchdowns and a ridiculous 339 carries this season, not all of Henry’s highlights could make this list.
“Roll Tide”, Henry said as he wrapped up his speech.
Well, it seems as if McCaffrey did give Henry quite the run for the top spot, maybe more so than most thought.
The Heisman Trophy purports to identify “the outstanding college football player in the United States”. He ranks eighth nationally in passer rating, completing 69.2 percent of his passes for 30 touchdowns and 11 interceptions.
Alabama’s defense may be chiefly responsible for Alabama’s national title chances, but it’s hard to imagine the Crimson Tide reaching these heights without Henry driving the offense and beating up on the rest of the SEC.
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He also caught 10 passes for 97 yards through the air.
