For the second time in a span of three years, there will be a new Heisman Trophy winner…Practice your pose fellas!
As the college football season winding down, more history will be made on the day of December 13 in New York City. Recently, the final seedings of the first ever College Football Playoff were announced. Â As expected, college football powerhouses received the nod as the Alabama Crimson Tide were selected as the #1 seed and their opponent will be the #4 seed Ohio State Buckeyes. Meanwhile, you have the #2 seed Oregon Ducks ready to do battle against the defending national champions #3 seed Florida State Seminoles. But today, voters of the Heisman Trophy committee announced their final 3 candidates who will be in appearance to wait and see who will be named the 80th recipient of the Heisman Trophy Presentation. The candidates are Oregon Ducks quarterback Marcus Mariota, Wisconsin Badgers running back Melvin Gordon and Alabama Crimson Tide wide receiver Amari Cooper.Â
Going into this season one of the heavily favorites, Mariota did not disappoint college football critics and experts at all. Fresh off a 25-for-38, 313 yards and two passing TDs in their “statement” win against Arizona in the Pac-12 conference championship, Mariota wanted to make sure that the voters of the CFP committee would not have no doubts of selecting this 1-lose powerhouse while adding onto the amazing season he is having at his position. The junior from out of Honolulu, Hawaii has the top QBR in the nation (91.9) while having pro scouts drooling with the outstanding numbers he is putting up this year. Marcus has completed 68.3 % of his passes while throwing for 3,783 yards. His 38 passing TD’s are amongst the best of any quarterback. In addition, the young phenom shows his fans that he can run and score outside of the pocket by rushing for 669 yards, reaching the endzone 14 times. Numbers like this are reasons why this kid has NFL prodigy written all over him. But can he be the third consecutive quarterback to be named Heisman trophy winner? The odds and favorites are in his favor, only time will tell.
Junior running back Melvin Gordon can be labeled as your “dark horse” of this interesting race. Gordon has ran through and around the compeition figurately and literally. The outstanding back from out of Kenosha, Wisconsin has been setting new rushing records in highly competitive Big Ten conference. Gordon has rushed for a Big Ten conference record 2,336 yards while reaching the endzone 26 times. This includes the 408 yard performance he set against the Nebraska Cornhuskers, a NCAA single game rushing record that was held for only week when it was broken by freshman standout Samaje Perine of the University of Oklahoma. Â Despite the disappointing performance in the Big Ten championship game against the Ohio State Buckeyes, Melvin’s consistent elusive running style has had Heisman trophy voters in awe, in which he rightfully was granted the thumbs up to receive the invitation to come out to New York City. With just 300 yards away from breaking Barry Sanders NCAA all time career rushing mark, a Heisman trophy winner would be a perfect addition onto to his long list of accolades. This feat will definitely put Gordon in talks as one of NCAA’s all time decorated running backs.
Lastly, there’s college football’s “Mr. Highlight-Reel” Alabama’s Amari Cooper. The standout wide receiver from Miami, Florida has been embarassing corner backs and safeties all season long. Cooper caught 115 passes for a nation leading 1,656 yards while reaching the endzone 14 times. A former high school teammate of the Minnesota Vikings Teddy Bridgewater, Amari has been spectacular the moment he stepped onto the campus of the University of Alabama. Regarded as the best wide receiver of his recruiting class, the junior standout had an epic year receiving nod as this year’s SEC Offensive Player Of The Year. He played a vital role in the SEC conference championship game, catching 12 passes for 83 yards en route to help Alabama solidify their #1 seeding of the College Football Playoff by punishing the Missouri Tigers 42-13 at the Georgia Dome. The star wide receiver is a so admired down in Roll Tide land that he was a write in for one of the political positions. Already a BCS national champion, Cooper has a huge opportunity to add history to his resume as becoming a member of the first College Football Playoff championship team while being selected as the nation’s best player by raising the copper statue.
As you can see, the suspense is at a all time high. No famous Jameis around to repeat, New York City is going to be the hot spot to find out who will be the new 2015 Heisman trophy winner. Tune into ESPN on December 13 at 8 p.m to witness history in the making as one of these talented future NFL stars will join the list of greats such as Johnny Manziel, Jameis Winston, Desmond Howard, Peyton Manning, and Carson Palmer.
Get a head-start on your Christmas shopping with The Source’s Shopping section. Shop all the latest lifestyle, technology and music items, and more, HERE.
-Omari White (@SmooveGuyO)
