Derrick Henry Crowned 80th Heisman Trophy Winner

The most prestigious award in college sports was handed out on Saturday night, with Alabama ball carrier Derrick Henry taking home the Heisman Memorial Trophy, which “annually recognizes the outstanding college football player whose performance best exhibits the pursuit of excellence with integrity”.

“The year of the running back is what they call it this year”, Stanford running back and Heisman Trophy runner-up Christian McCaffrey said during a Heisman presser on Friday.

Fournette now places seventh in SEC history with 1,741 rushing yards this season. The latter half of the season proved especially fruitful for Henry, who rushed for at least 2oo yards in four games since October 17. He joins the 2009 victor, former Alabama running back Mark Ingram.

Henry’s margin of victory was narrower than recent Heisman winners’, the Associated Press notes, but the contest wasn’t quite a squeaker. He had received the most points (1,832) for the award versus fellow nominees.

Henry’s dream come true halted the recent trend of quarterbacks winning the award.

The votes by region show that Henry finished first in all regions except the far West, which is where McCaffrey won.

Henry is the flawless candidate for the Heisman based on the trophy’s criteria. He is just the fourth player in college football history win all four awards in the same season and the first since Ron Dayne accomplished the feat at Wisconsin in 1999. In the same game, Alabama’s Henry thrashed LSU for 210 yards and three scores on 38 rushes, as the Tide came out on top 30-16.

Previous winners of the award include O.J. Simpson (1968), Bo Jackson (1985) and Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton (2010).

Joining those three in the top five were Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield and Navy quarterback Keenan Reynolds. “Christian, breaking Barry Sanders’ record, doing all the things he does, he’s just unbelievable”. That is nearly 100 yards per game more than the first six games of the season.

The Yulee, Fla., native ran 339 times for 1,986 yards and 23 touchdowns in his first season as the team’s starting running back.

He choked up during his speech, thanking his family, coaches and teammates, and mentioning former Alabama teammate Altee Tenpenny, who was killed in a auto crash two months ago. Henry and the Crimson Tide will play the Spartans at the Cotton Bowl.

Henry is a beast, a manchild, and he carried Bama’s offense.