Tag: Heisman Trophy 2020

DeVonta Smith had a powerful message for young kids after winning the Heisman Trophy

DeVonta Smith had an inspiring message after winning the Heisman.

Alabama senior wide receiver DeVonta Smith made history Tuesday night, becoming the first WR to win the Heisman Trophy since 1991, when Michigan’s Desmond Howard won the award.

Smith, who had another monster game in the Crimson Tide’s playoff win over Notre Dame last Friday, finished with 447 first-place votes. Clemson QB Trevor Lawrence finished second with 222 first place votes.

After winning the award Smith gave an inspiring speech in which he told young kids who might be on the smaller side to not give up and to keep pushing and following their dreams of becoming a football star.

Here’s his entire speech:

Well said.

Here’s how the voting played out:

Alabama plays Ohio State this coming Monday in the national championship game.

Heisman Trophy: Final Thoughts On Who Will Win, How The Vote Will Go

Who’s going to win the 2020 Heisman Trophy? How will the vote go? Here are the Final Thoughts before tonight’s ceremony.

Who’s going to win the 2020 Heisman Trophy? How will the vote go, and why does each finalist deserve to win – or not? Here are the Final Thoughts before tonight’s ceremony.

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2020 Heisman Trophy Broadcast

Date: Tuesday, January 5
Time: 7:00 ET
Network: ESPN

– 2020 Heisman Prediction: The Top 6 Will Be …

– Before we get going, I have a Heisman vote. Under penalty of being forced to have a discussion about The Bachelor, I’m not allowed to reveal anything about my ballot until after this thing is done.

– I do, however, think it’s okay to reveal that I didn’t put RB Reggie Bush, USC in the third slot – as I’ve always sort of wanted to do – as a protest over his 2005 honor being vacated for silly reasons.

– I wouldn’t actually do that 1) because in hindsight, I wish I had voted for Vince Young, and 2) I would never dishonor the Heisman ballot process.

– No one is more cynical and less squishy about stuff than I am, but voting for the Heisman is one of those things I still totally geek out over.

– This year was the hardest voting process ever. I changed my mind and my order four different times before hitting submit. However, I will say this – my top three guys never changed.

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– With that said, I SO wish we could do the voting after the bowls are done. This is for another time and another article, but the line still works – it’s like assigning a grade for a class before the final exam.

– To all those “it’s a regular season award” types – who I don’t for the life of me understand – would awarding the national championship before the bowl games seem insane? Of course it would, but that’s what happened with the AP national champion before 1968 and the UPI/Coaches before 1974 until they realized how wacky that was.

– Sorry. That’s not why you called. Who’s going to win the 2020 Heisman Trophy? (The final prediction is at the bottom of all this.)

– Again, not to reveal anything on my ballot, and this is obviously anecdotal, but I know one person who voted for odds-on favorite DeVonta Smith in the top spot. I know around ten other people who didn’t.

– It’ll be fascinating to see how this all turns out. I get the sense that Smith is more of a broadcaster shoo-in pick than a real world sure-thing No. 1, but no matter what, this should be extremely tight. More on this later.

– In Smith’s favor, though, the Heisman quarterback fatigue is absolutely real. That’s not to dismiss or disrespect Smith if he wins it, but there isn’t a Joe Burrow, Kyler Murray or Baker Mayfield who’s a totally obvious pick this time around.

– For the record, I voted for Ndamukong Suh in 2009 and Manti Te’o in 2012. To me, it’s about 1) who the signature player is in a college football season – who’s THE guy, and 2) who’s the best combination of MVP and MOP, and …

– Sorry. The 2020 Heisman …

– Remember, and this is going to be totally forgotten in the final tally, the voting was all done before the bowl games. So throw out any preconceived notions from Kyle Trask’s disastrous day against Oklahoma, and the Trevor Lawrence’s night – even though he wasn’t bad – in the loss to Ohio State.

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– Again, here’s the problem. If Justin Fields throws six touchdown passes and Ohio State obliterates Alabama in the national championship, historically, the 2020 Heisman tally will look weird.

– The whole career honor thing never really works. It’s a talking point, and it’s enough to get some great players on a ballot, but it’s never enough to get a player over the top, at least not anymore. That used to be how this worked back in the day – it went to the top upperclassmen – and then Tim Tebow in 2007 shattered that as the first sophomore to win it. Which means …

– I’ll be shocked if Trevor Lawrence finishes in the top three. I’m going to guess he wasn’t higher than three on most of the ballots that put him in the mix.

– Kyle Trask will be the most fascinating finisher. It’s been memory dumped after the bowl season, but his last argument came on the Saturday night just before most voters submitted their ballots. Remember, he lit up Alabama for 408 yards and three touchdowns with a rushing score and no picks in a heroic effort in the loss. However …

– DeVonta Smith was pretty good against the Gators – 15 catches for 184 yards and two scores. Mac Jones completed 77% of his passes for 418 yards and five touchdowns and one pick – and won.

– The other guy no one talks about could screw this up – Alabama RB Najee Harris. The Heisman used to be a running back award, and he was a rock all season long. The mass numbers aren’t there, but he ran 31 times for 178 yards and two scores with three touchdown catches and 67 yards against Florida. He’s not a finalist, so why does he matter?

– It’s possible he splits the Alabama vote that much more. I’ll be surprised if he doesn’t finish fifth, and there’s a chance that everyone watching Alabama games had different opinions on who the main man for that team really was.

– If 45ish% of the Bama voters like DeVonta, and 45ish% like Mac, that 10% who liked Najee – but not enough to make him a finalist – might be enough to squeak in Trask if the vote is split.

– If you want to see, hear, read what college football hair-on-fire reactions look like, watch what happens if the Bama guys cancel each other out and Trask gets this.

– Remember, Peyton Manning, Adrian Peterson, Aaron Rodgers, Tommie Frazier, and legendary college player after legendary player never won the Heisman. It’s really, really hard to get this thing. How hard? No Alabama quarterback has ever won it, and Desmond Howard in 1991 was the last wide receiver to get it.

– However, when Howard won, there really wasn’t another option. Florida State’s Casey Weldon was fine, BYU’s Ty Detmer wasn’t going to win it twice, and Washington DT Steve Emtman didn’t have a shot. There are a few amazing options this year, so if DeVonta Smith gets it, it’ll be a fantastic win.

– So after all of that blather, here’s what’s going to happen …

– 2020 Heisman Prediction: The Top 6 Will Be …

NEXT: 2020 Heisman Trophy Prediction

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Heisman Trophy Finalists Prediction: Why Each Possible Candidate Should and Shouldn’t Win

Who are the likely finalists for the 2020 Heisman Trophy? Here’s the best projection along with why each should and shouldn’t win.

Who are the likely finalists for the 2020 Heisman Trophy? Here’s the best projection along with why each should and shouldn’t win.

2020 Heisman Finalist Prediction

– Contact/Follow @PeteFiutak

Joe Burrow made this easy last season, and Kyler Murray was a bit of a no-brainer in 2018. This year’s Heisman race, though, is as wide-open as it gets.

There’s no obvious signature star who made the 2020 season all his.

In a perfect world we get to vote on the Heisman after the season is over – the Heisman race might be vastly different depending on who wins the national championship and how – but that’s not how this works.

Notre Dame QB Ian Book will get on a few ballots, as will Ohio State QB Justin Fields along with a few other random players, and yeah, someone will put Vanderbilt (now North Texas graduate student) PK Sarah Fuller on a ballot.

Realistically, though, the almost-certain five Heisman finalists will be …

1) I’m a Heisman voter, so the projections below are just that – predictions. It’s not my ballot, which I can’t reveal under penalty of being forced to listen to Christmas music non-stop for 24 hours. 2) in alphabetical order …

RB Najee Harris, Alabama

Resumé: 214 carries, 1,262 yards, 24 TDs, 5.9 yards per carry, 32 catches, 316 yards, 3 TDs

Why he should win the Heisman: He’s the guy. Oh sure, there might be a whole lot of gushing about Mac Jones and his amazing season, and DeVonta Smith brings the flash, but Najee Harris is the one who helps make everything go. Don’t ignore just how much he meant to the offense – everyone had to focus on him, and it opened up everything else.

Why he shouldn’t win the Heisman: The Alabama season is about the passing game. He only ran for 43 yards against Texas A&M – but he ran for two scores – and the 5.9 yards per carry, while great, isn’t quite splashy enough.

Will he win the Heisman? No, but he’ll win the Doak Walker as the nation’s best running back.

QB Mac Jones, Alabama

Resumé: 76.5% completion, 3,739 yards, 32 TDs, 4 INTs, 11.4 yards per throw, 202.34 rating, 1 rushing TD

Why he should win the Heisman: He’s the nation’s most efficient passer, he finished as the nation’s most accurate passer among the top quarterbacks, and he was brilliant when he had to be. He threw a pick in the SEC Championship against Florida, but he also threw for 418 yards and five touchdowns, hitting 77% of his throws.

Why he shouldn’t win the Heisman: Is he the nation’s best passer in yards per game? No. Is he even the SEC’s best passer? Not really. Is he the guy who just so happened to be driving the souped-up car that all but drives itself? Yeah. It’s not a knock to call a Heisman-caliber quarterback Gino Torretta – Torretta really was good – but he’s the comp.

Will he win the Heisman? Very, very maybe. At the very least he’s going to finish No. 2 if he doesn’t win it as the GUY who ran the TEAM of the 2020 regular season.

QB Trevor Lawrence, Clemson

Resumé: 69% completion, 2,753 yards, 22 TDs, 4 INTs, 9.8 yards per attempt, 172.67 rating, 211 rushing yards, 7 TDs

Why he should win the Heisman: He’s the most talented player in college football. He’s the veteran who has seen it all, done it all, and won it all. He threw an interception but also threw for 322 yards and two touchdowns in the easy win over Notre Dame in the ACC Championship. However …

Why he shouldn’t win the Heisman: He missed the big game before the big game. It wasn’t his fault, but he was out for the regular season game that mattered against the Irish and DJ Uiagalelei was brilliant as his replacement. It was a great year for Lawrence, but it wasn’t Heisman-special.

Will he win the Heisman? No, but in a few short months the Jacksonville Jaguars will make him very, very rich.

WR DeVonta Smith, Alabama

Resumé: 98 catches for 1,511 yards and 17 touchdowns, averaging 15.42 yards per catch, 8 punt returns for 199 yards and a score.

Why he should win the Heisman: Dynamic, he ripped up Georgia for 167 yards and two scores, hit LSU for 231 yards and three touchdowns, and in the SEC Championship, he caught 15 passes for 184 yards and two scores in the win over Florida. Jaylen Waddle might have gone done early, but Smith still produced no matter who focused on him.

Why he shouldn’t win the Heisman: Wide receiver, schmide receiver. Not to be harsh, but take Smith off of Alabama and who’s the No. 1 seed in the College Football Playoff? Alabama. Did he lead the SEC in receiving yards per game? No, that was Ole Miss star. Elijah Moore. Did he lead the SEC in catches per game? No, that was Moore, who led both of those categories by a relative mile.

Will he win the Heisman? He’ll be on almost everyone’s ballot and will come really, really, really close, but he’ll likely finish a solid second or close third.

QB Kyle Trask, Florida

Resumé: 70% completion, 4,125 yards, 43 TDs, 5 INTs, 186.55 rating, 50 rushing yards, 3 TDs

Why he should win the Heisman: Who led the SEC in passing? Trask. Who led in TD passes? Trask. Who’s on the same yard and touchdown pass pace as 2019 Joe Burrow, but against an all-SEC schedule? Trask. Who carried the Gators to the brink of an SEC Championship against an Alabama team with three Heisman finalists? Trask.

Why he shouldn’t win the Heisman: Florida didn’t win the SEC Championship and isn’t in the College Football Playoff. It’s not Trask’s fault – blame the Gator defense – but it’s a factor. He only threw five interceptions, but the pick-sixes against Texas A&M and LSU weren’t killers, but they were costly.

Will he win the Heisman? No, but he could slip into the No. 2 spot depending on how voters think of Smith.

2020 Heisman Prediction

Again, not necessarily my ballot – this is a projection and prediction.

1. QB Mac Jones, Alabama
2. WR DeVonta Smith, Alabama
3. QB Kyle Trask, Florida
4. QB Trevor Lawrence, Clemson
5. RB Najee Harris, Alabama

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Heisman Trophy Watch After Week 6

Who are the leaders to watch in the race for the 2020 Heisman Trophy?

Who are the leaders to watch in the race for the 2020 Heisman Trophy?

Top Heisman Contenders After Week 6 Are …

– Contact/Follow @PeteFiutak

The crickets you’re hearing is American not being interested in the 2020 Heisman Trophy race … yet.

There’s just no buzz – partly because the Big Ten hasn’t started up, there isn’t a Heisman-caliber signature star on Georgia or Notre Dame, and Clemson QB Trevor Lawrence is a better football player than everyone else – but it’s coming.

If the NFL can be all-in on the MVP discussion a month into its season, then it’s time to start making the 2020 Heisman a thing.

This isn’t about who the best players are. This is about who’s in the hunt to win the greatest individual trophy in all of sports.

Player of Week 6
(outside of the main guys on this list)

LB Monty Rice, Georgia
The Bulldogs held the Tennessee running game to -1 yard in the 44-21 win. Rice made a team-high eight tackles, two tackles for loss, and came up with a sack, forced fumble, and recovered fumble for a score to all but put the game away.

5 Other Players On The Heisman Trophy Watch List

In alphabetical order

QB Ian Book, Notre Dame
QB Sam Ehlinger, Texas
RB Travis Etienne, Clemson
QB Kellen Mond, Texas A&M
QB Zach Wilson, BYU

Bet on Heisman Trophy with BetMGM

5. QB Justin Fields, Ohio State

Of course, he hasn’t started playing yet, but because no one has been able to run away and hide with the Heisman race, he should be able to swoop in and shine once Ohio State kicks things off against Nebraska on October 24th. The talent is there, the numbers will be fantastic, and he’ll be in the spotlight each and every week for a team that will be knee-deep in the national title chase.

4. QB Kyle Trask, Florida

It’s not his fault the Gators blew it against Texas A&M. Had the defense been able to hold on in the 41-38 loss, he might be on top of this list. He’s second in the nation in touchdown passes with 14 – and with one fewer game than Sam Ehlinger of Texas, who has thrown 16 so far – on a pace that’s starting to approach 2019 Joe Burrow territory.

On the year he has completed 72% of his passes for 996 yards and those 14 scores with just one interception. Forget the A&M loss – he was brilliant in it, by the way – his chances will come to get back in this.

3. RB Najee Harris, Alabama

He doesn’t lead the nation in rushing, and his numbers probably won’t be off-the-charts compared to what the quarterbacks are doing across college football, but on Saturday night against Ole Miss he looked and played the part of the next Heisman-winning back from Bama.

He was held in relative check by Texas A&M and wasn’t needed much against Missouri, but he ran for five touchdowns in the first two games. Against the Rebels, though … 23 carries, 206 yards, five touchdowns. He couldn’t be stopped.

2. QB Mac Jones, Alabama

It helps to have an NFL receiving corps to work with, but he’s been flawless.

The numbers have been unbelievable considering the job wasn’t supposed to be his coming into the season. Super-recruit Bryce Young was going to arrive on campus, take over the gig, and that was going to be it, but Jones has completed 80% of his throws for 1,101 yards and eight touchdowns with a pick, averaging well over 13 yards per pass.

 1. QB Trevor Lawrence, Clemson

His brilliance is being taken for granted.

Of course he’s the No. 1 overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft. Of course he’s the best quarterback in college football. Of course he’s expected to lead his team to another ACC Championship and another College Football Playoff and – yawwwwwwn – another national title appearance.

He has made the amazing appear to be routine.

There’s nothing boring about 73%, 1,140 yards, 9.8 yards per throw, ten touchdown passes, four rushing scores, no interceptions, no drama.

Best of all this year, he’ll have more national spotlight games that matter to boost his Heisman resumé.

Week 6 Roundup: 5 Things That Matter
Rankings AP | Coaches | CFN 1-127 Rankings
Week 7 Early Line Predictions
College Football Playoff Chase, Who’s Alive?
Bowl Projections | Week 6 Scoreboard, Predictions
5 Thoughts: Texas A&M – Florida | Texas – OU

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