Marcus Mariota, Melvin Gordon and Amari Cooper named Heisman finalists
The Heisman Trophy finalists were announced Monday evening and there were no surprises.
Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota led a field that included Wisconsin running back Melvin Gordon and Alabama receiver Amari Cooper.
Mariota became the hands-down favorite to take home the bronze statue after accounting for five total touchdowns during the Pac-12 championship game against Arizona last week.
Mariota leads the country in quarterback rating and, according to ESPN, the last two quarterbacks to lead the country in quarterback rating won the award. Mariota accounted for 3,783 passing yards, 38 touchdowns and just two interceptions this season. He’s also rushed for 669 yards and 14 scores.
Mariota is the third Oregon player to be named a finalist, but would be the first to win the award.
If Mariota does win, it sets up an intriguing Rose Bowl matchup against the current Heisman winner and last year’s winner, Florida State quarterback Jameis Winston.
Winston, who dominated the voting a year ago, becomes just the seventh player since 2003 unable to win back-to-back trophies.
Ohio State's Archie Griffin is the only player to win two Heismans.
While Winston won’t be at the ceremony as a finalist, he can still participate as a former winner and he does have a Heisman vote.
Winston has won every collegiate game he’s ever played, however, his numbers were not as good as they were a year ago, especially his 17 interceptions to 24 touchdowns. Also, voters were turned off by his off-field incidents. Winston was suspended for a game earlier in the year for shouting an obscenity in the Florida State student union, and last week, he was involved in a student code of conduct hearing stemming from a sexual assault claim. The results of that hearing are due within the next week.
Before the Pac-12 title game, Mariota was in a heated foot race with Gordon, who was having a stellar season, which included briefly breaking a 15-year-old single-game rushing record with 408 yards against Nebraska. However, Gordon struggled against Ohio State in the Big Ten championship and he likely lost ground.
He did finish the year leading the FBS with 2,336 yards and 26 touchdowns.
Cooper caught 12 passes for 83 yards in the SEC title game against Missouri, but despite his best efforts all season, he faced a major uphill battle. Only three receivers have ever won the Heisman Trophy and the last was Desmond Howard in 1991.
Tim Brown won the award for Notre Dame in 1987. Johnny Rodgers, who played multiple positions, including receiver, at Nebraska, won in 1972.
Cooper led the FBS with 115 receptions for 1,656 yards and 14 touchdowns.
Voters had to submit their ballots by Monday and each had to sign a waiver saying they would not reveal their Heisman choice. However, it’s difficult to see anyone other than Mariota walking away with the hardware at this point.
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Graham Watson is the editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email her at dr.saturday@ymail.com or follow her on Twitter! Follow @YahooDrSaturday
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