The Heisman Trust announced the finalists for the Heisman 2020 Trophy on Thursday night, narrowing the field of competitors in one of the most open races in recent history. Following Joe Burrow’s record win in 2019 and the overwhelming victories of Marcus Mariota in 2014 and Baker Mayfield in 2017 (all three won at least 85% of the possible voting points with Burrow having almost 93.8% unanimous in the vote of the year past), we go to the next stage of the 2020 process with much more intrigue about who will hoist the rigid arm trophy.
The race has had its twists and turns throughout the season, but the names are no surprise to anyone who has followed the best college football teams this season. Included are the top three defenders in the sport this season, along with the most explosive star in college football.
Let’s take a look at each finalist’s resume.
Mac Jones, QB, Alabama: The evolution of Alabama’s attack on Nick Saban is clear from the way Jones recorded his name in the school’s record book in 2020. For example, there are only 10 passing performances over 400 yards in Alabama history, and Jones has four of them this year, the maximum for any defender. Jones is also on track to have the highest completion rate (76.5) for an Alabama QB in school history, while shooting for the nation’s second largest passing yard (3,739). He also brought his best game to the biggest tests, with 18 touchdowns and just three interceptions against qualified opponents. With a win, Jones would become only the third Alabama player and the first Crimson Tide QB to win the award.
Trevor Lawrence, QB, Clemson: An MVP performance against Notre Dame last Saturday made Lawrence the first full-back to win three ACC league games, and he followed that recognition as the ACC Player of the Year this week. Lawrence is one of the most winning quarterbacks in the FBS game since the Division I division in 1978, carrying a record of 34-1 in his third consecutive appearance on the College Football Playoff. Lawrence lost two games after a positive COVID-19 test, but still managed to total more than 2,700 passing yards, 22 touchdowns and just four interceptions. He ranked in the top 10 nationally in yards per attempt (9.6) and total attack (329.3 yards per game). If Lawrence wins the prize, it will be the first for Clemson, although Deshaun Watson was a finalist twice and runner-up in 2016 during his time as Tigers star quarterback.
DeVonta Smith, WR, Alabama: The story is at stake, as Smith may be the first non-quarterback to win the award since Derrick Henry in 2015 and the first wide receiver since Desmond Howard in 1991. But even if Smith doesn’t lift the trophy on January 5, this it’s been an all-season for wide receiver Crimson Tide. Smith is the national leader in receptions (98), receiving yards (1,511) and yards after reception (768), while ranking second nationally in receiving touchdowns (17) and receiving yards per game (137.4). The flare added to Smith’s performance this year was how he stepped up after teammate Jaylen Waddle’s injury with 13 of the 17 touchdowns that occurred in six games after Waddle suffered an ankle fracture returning a kick off against Tennessee. Smith has already achieved a place in Alabama’s history with the program record for career receiving yards (3,620) and single season receiving touchdowns, with the opportunity to build his second place for the single season receiving total in the College Football Playoff.
Kyle Trask, QB, Florida: Nobody in all college football was more prolific than Trask. The senior redshirt leads FBS in total touchdowns (46), touchdown passes (43), passing yards (4,125) and passing yards per game (375). With three touchdown passes against Alabama in the SEC Championship game, Trask became only the ninth player in FBS history to launch at least 43 touchdowns in the first 11 games of a season and only the third to accomplish that feat with less than 50. attempts per game. He is the only SEC quarterback to record five games of 400-yard passes in one season and his total touchdown count is second only to Tim Tebow’s 55 touchdowns (32 passes, 23 runs) in his winning season at Heisman in 2007 Trask was nominated for the CBS Sports All-America First Team earlier this week and hopes to join Tebow, Danny Wuerffel and Steve Spurrier as winner of the Heisman Trophy, after already claiming his position as one of Florida’s great defenders with its brilliant performance in the field in 2020.
2020 Heisman Trophy 10 best voters
1. TBA
2. TBA
3. TBA
4. TBA
5. Najee Harris, RB, Alabama
6. Breece Hall, RB, Iowa
7. Justin Fields, QB, Ohio State
8. Zach Wilson, QB, BYU
9. Ian Book, QB, Notre Dame
10. Kyle Pitts, TE, Florida
Pitts became the first tight end to finish in the top 10 in the Heisman vote since 1977. He finished with 770 yards and 12 touchdowns in just eight games this season.
As always, the revelation of the vote will be as interesting as the winner himself, especially with several players worthy of being considered the “most outstanding player in college football”. There are only three slots on the ballot, so voters have not only faced the challenge of limiting their choices to three players, but then assigning a first, second and third choice value to each. This information will not be available until the winner is announced, at which point we will know if the race was really as open as it looks here at the end of the season.
The Heisman 2020 Trophy will be awarded in a virtual ceremony on January 5 at 7 pm ET on ESPN. While we don’t have a list of previous winners or a trip to New York for each of the finalists, the timing will be no less special for those who end up winning the prize this unprecedented season.