Alabama’s Derrick Henry wins 2015 Heisman Trophy

FILE – In this September 26, 2015, file photo, Duke’s Jeremy Cash tackles Georgia Tech’s Justin Thomas for a loss during the first half of an NCAA college football game, in Durham, N.C. Cash has been named to the AP All-American football team.

Henry was the nation’s top rusher, finishing with 1,986 rushing yards, almost 100 more than Herschel Walker’s 1981 SEC record.

Watson’s tremendous resume (69.5 percent passing, 887 yards rushing, 41 total touchdowns) and McCaffrey’s spectacular all-purpose campaign (3,496 total yards, 13 touchdowns) were incredibly impressive, but voters made it clear Saturday that Henry was their choice as the best player in college football for the 2015 season. I want to preface this article by saying, I don’t want to take anything away from Henry, but I want to explain to Tiger fans, rather, why Watson did not win. “Christian, breaking Barry Sanders’ record, doing all the things he does, he’s just unbelievable”. Derrick Henry said his grandmother was with him in spirit as his childhood dream of winning the Heisman came true. Even Saban, known for his stony demeanor, couldn’t seem to hide his feelings… Shaw said, “It’s like, ‘Wow, that’s what we’ve been missing'”. “And this is about as special as it gets”. This was the last time a running back had won the award since Ingram, who led the Tide to a national championship that season.

Henry is the first running back to win the Heisman since Ingram, and since the Heisman Trust stripped USC tailback Reggie Bush of his 2005 trophy, the pair of Alabama stars are the only non-quarterbacks to win the most famous trophy in American sports this century (Ron Dayne of Wisconsin won in 1999). For example, a lot of people think that Henry put up those stats on elite defenses.

The Southeastern Conference had the most players on the first team with six, followed by the Big Ten with five, including Penn State defensive end Carl Nassib.

That’s ESPN’s Paul Finebaum.

It was the closest Heisman voting 2011, when Baylor’s Robert Griffin beat out Stanford’s Andrew Luck by 280 points, but still a comfortable victory for Henry. The hosts of shows have gone out of their way to boost Henry’s Heisman Hype and make him the front-runner for the award. He has matched the all-time SEC single-season rushing touchdown mark and has recorded a rushing touchdown in 18 consecutive games, the longest active streak in the country and the most by any player in SEC history. Henry recorded nine 100-yard games this season, tying the Alabama record held by Ingram and Trent Richardson.

“To all the kids who are watching, I hope I’m someone you can look up to”, Henry said.