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| File-This Nov. 28, 2015, file photo shows Clemson quarterback Deshaun Watson scrambling out of the pocket looking for a receiver during the second half of an NCAA college football game against South Carolina in Columbia, S.C. Alabama running back Derrick Henry, Clemson quarterback Watson and Stanford's Christian McCaffrey are the finalists for the Heisman Trophy. Henry and McCaffrey will be trying to break a streak of five straight quarterbacks winning the Heisman on Saturday night when the trophy is presented in New York. |
NEW YORK
(AP) -- Alabama running back Derrick Henry, Clemson quarterback
Deshaun Watson and Stanford's Christian McCaffrey are the finalists for
the Heisman Trophy.
The announcement came Monday night.
Henry
and McCaffrey will be trying to break a streak of five straight
quarterbacks winning college football's top honor when the trophy is
presented Saturday night in New York.
Mark
Ingram of Alabama in 2009 was the last running back - and only Crimson
Tide player - to win the Heisman. Since 2000, 13 of the 15 Heisman
winners have been quarterbacks.
Among those
missing out on a trip to New York City was Oklahoma quarterback Baker
Mayfield, LSU running back Leonard Fournette, who was the early season
favorite and Navy quarterback Keenan Reynolds.
Henry
seems to be the front runner in a Heisman race that tightened over
championship weekend. He ran for 189 yards and a touchdown on 44 carries
in the Alabama's Southeastern Conference championship game victory
against Florida on Saturday.
Later that night,
McCaffrey had 461 all-purpose yards with touchdowns running, receiving
and passing as Stanford beat Southern California in the Pac-12 title
game and Watson had 420 total yards and accounted for five touchdowns in
Clemson's Atlantic Coast Conference championship game win against North
Carolina.
Close Heisman voting has been
uncommon in recent years. The last three winners - Marcus Mariota,
Jameis Winston and Johnny Manziel - all won by comfortable margins.
The
last time there was real suspense at the Heisman presentation was 2009,
when Ingram received only 1 percent more of the vote than Stanford's
Toby Gerhart. By percentage, that ranks as the closest Heisman vote in
history.
A look at the finalists:
HENRY
The
6-foot-3, 240-pound junior carried the Tide (12-1) to the College
Football Playoff, setting a Southeastern Conference with 1,986 yards and
nation's best 23 touchdowns. With a passing game that has been
inconsistent, the Tide has leaned heavily on Henry on its biggest games.
He carried the ball 90 times combined in Alabama's last two games and
has averaged 180 yards per game against SEC opponents.
"The
Heisman Trophy has been a dream of mine since I was a little kid and
the chance to go to New York as a finalist is amazing, but none of this
would be possible without my coaches and teammates," Henry said in a
statement. "The offensive line, the quarterback, wide receivers and
tight ends have done an unbelievable job all season and our coaches
always put us in a position to be successful."
McCAFFREY
While
Henry is the prototypical power runner, McCaffrey is all about
elusiveness and versatility. The 200-pound sophomore broke Barry
Sanders' NCAA record for all-purpose yards in a season with 3,496. He
has scored 13 touchdowns and thrown two TD passes.
He
would be Stanford's second Heisman winner, joining Jim Plunkett in
1970. The Cardinal did have a recent run of three straight seasons with
the runner-up. Toby Gerhart finished second behind Ingram in '09 and
Andrew Luck came in second to Cam Newton (2010) and Robert Griffin III
(2011).
WATSON
The
sophomore has Clemson in the playoff, trying for its first national
championship since 1981. Watson fits the mold of recent Heisman winners
Cam Newton, RGIII, Manziel and Mariota as a dual-threat quarterback,
capable of dominating as a runner or passer.
Watson
is the only player in the country who has surpassed 800 yards rushing
(887) and 3,500 yards passing (3,512), and he has accounted for 41
touchdowns. He would be Clemson's first Heisman winner.
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