Heisman Trophy: Derrick Henry wins 2015 award

Running back Derrick Henry snapped a five-year streak of quarterback winners when he won the Heisman Trophy – the coveted award given to the top American football college player – late Saturday. Henry is the second Alabama player to win the Heisman in school history after Mark Ingram won the award in 2009.

Between his consistency, award-winning play and statistical achievements, Henry joins the ranks of many other college footbal legends as the 78th victor of the Heisman Trophy.

McCaffrey finished behind Henry despite breaking Barry Sanders’ 27-year-old NCAA single-season all-purpose yardage record with 3,496 total yards this year so far. McCaffrey finished second in the voting with 1,539 points (290 first place votes), while Watson finished third with 1,165 points (148 first place votes). Stanford won the Pac-12 title.

Henry was overshadowed at the beginning of the season by Louisiana State’s Leonard Fournette.

Derrick Henry owned his moment. For the year, Henry has 1,986 yards, a total that broke Herschel Walker’s Southeastern Conference record. The Tide stuffed Fournette and Henry ran for 210 yards and three touchdowns on 38 carries, assuming the role of front-runner.

Henry’s heartfelt gratitude was apparent in his acceptance speech as he thanked family members and a long line of coaches who supported him, especially Alabama associate head coach and running backs coach Burton Burns, who has been a mentor to him.

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

Image: Derrick Henry kisses the Heisman Trophy. In the Crimson Tide’s victories over Florida and Auburn, Henry carried the ball an astounding 90 times for 460 yards, including a school-record 46 times in the Iron Bowl against Auburn.

The ceremony Saturday night marked just another milestone in a historic season for Henry. Though he had only one touchdown, Henry managed to consistently put Alabama in field goal range for points that ultimately would win the game.

In a runaway vote, Henry received 378 first-place votes and earned 1,832 points overall. That is nearly 100 yards per game more than the first six games of the season.

In his sophomore season, McCaffrey emerged not only as the premier back for the Stanford Cardinal, but as the one of most versatile and explosive players in college football.

Watson has quarterbacked Clemson to a flawless 13-0 record and No. 1 national ranking in the College Football Playoff poll, the AP Poll and the USA Today rankings.