Henry, Watson, McCaffrey up for Heisman

While Stanford was left out of the top 4 this season, the Cardinal wouldn’t have won as many games as they did without the do-it-all McCaffrey, who rushed for 1,847 yards and eight touchdowns on 319 carries.

He also saved his best for last, accumulating 461 all-purpose yards in Stanford’s 41-22 win over USC for the Pac-12 title.

There will be three finalists for the 2015 Heisman Trophy, which will be awarded on December 12 in New York City. Watson is a finalist for the Heisman Trophy.

Watson is Clemson’s first Heisman finalist and thus would be the school’s first Heisman victor. And he’s deserving too, accounting for 30 passing touchdowns and 11 rushing scores.

Close Heisman voting has been uncommon in recent years. “Exactly a year later he will be in NY as a Heisman finalist”. But Henry also matched the SEC record of 23 rushing touchdowns shared with Tim Tebow and Tre Mason during his 189-yard performance against the Gators.

And in the fourth quarter, which began with the Crimson Tide clinging to a 19-13 lead, Kiffin let his workhorse carry the load even more frequently, even though the Tigers knew it was coming. Last week, he won the ACC’s player of the year and now makes his first trip to NY, where either he or running backs Derrick Henry of Alabama or Christian McCaffrey will be awarded the Heisman on Saturday night.

Among those missing out was Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield, LSU running back Leonard Fournette, who was the early season favorite, and Navy quarterback Keenan Reynolds.

But much like the argument that McCaffrey didn’t actually break Sanders’ single-season all-purpose yards record, that knock doesn’t leave much of a mark.

He was a powerful runner between the tackles, a speed demon on the sidelines, a crisp and precise route-running receiver, the nation’s most electrifying and intelligent kick and punt returner, and he even threw two touchdown passes. He would be the second for an Alabama player under coach Nick Saban. I guess leading the nation in rushing yards, rushing TDs and points scored isn’t good enough to overcome the SEC bias, so … sorry, am I ranting?

A Broyles Award finalist for the second time in his coaching career, Venables did not win the honor announced Tuesday morning.

We’re talking about the Heisman Trophy here.

He hopes to become the first Heisman victor from Stanford since it went to Jim Plunkett in 1970. The true sophomore quarterback for the undefeated and top-ranked Clemson Tigers deserves plenty of respect.

McCaffrey, from Colorado, played his high school football at Valor Christian, where he led his team to two state championships his Junior and Senior seasons.