Alabama running back Derrick Henry is this year’s Heisman Trophy winner after breaking Herschel Walker’s SEC rushing record and leading the Crimson Tide back to the College Football Playoff. Henry beat out Stanford running back Christian McCaffrey and Clemson quarterback Deshaun Watson in the top three, in the 20th closest voting in 81 Heisman presentations.
Full Heisman Trophy 2015 voting results: The Stanford runner-up tradition continues
The top three ran away with the voting.
Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports
Only three finalists were invited to New York for the trophy presentation because they got by far the most votes. There was a significant drop-off in votes after the top three. Henry led the way with 1,832 points, followed by McCaffrey at 1,539 and Watson at 1,165. Fourth place was Oklahoma’s Baker Mayfield, with just 334 points.
Navy quarterback Keenan Reynolds finished in fifth place ahead of LSU running back Leonard Fournette. Fournette was a heavy favorite to win the Heisman early in the season, but he fell out of the top five after a rough game against Alabama.
This is the fifth time a Stanford player has finished as a Heisman runner-up, the fourth since 2009. McCaffrey joins John Elway (1982), Toby Gerhart (2009) and Andrew Luck (2010 and 2011).
Here’s a look at the voting:
| Player | School | First Place | Second Place | Third Place | Total |
| Derrick Henry | Albama | 378 | 277 | 144 | 1,832 |
| Christian McCaffrey | Stanford | 290 | 246 | 177 | 1,539 |
| Deshaun Watson | Clemson | 148 | 240 | 241 | 1,165 |
| Baker Mayfield | Oklahoma | 34 | 55 | 122 | 334 |
| Keenan Reynolds | Navy | 20 | 17 | 86 | 180 |
| Leonard Fournette | LSU | 10 | 25 | 30 | 110 |
| Dalvin Cook | Florida State | 7 | 18 | 22 | 79 |
| Ezekiel Elliott | Ohio State | 5 | 7 | 28 | 57 |
| Connor Cook | Michigan State | 2 | 3 | 1 | 13 |
| Trevone Boykin | TCU | 1 | 3 | 4 | 13 |
Henry unsurprisingly won every region, except for the Far West, which was won by McCaffrey. Watson finished ahead of McCaffrey in only one region, the Mid-Atlantic.
Heisman votes by region. pic.twitter.com/CA70OHPYlR
— Andy Staples (@Andy_Staples) December 13, 2015 McCaffrey might have been hurt by early voting, as 157 voters voted before watching him light up USC. From the Heisman release, which shows 15 percent of ballots were sent in before conference title weekend:
Percentage of ballots received by week
Week 1: 1%
Week 2:* 15%
Week 3: 84%
* - represents all ballots received before games started on Saturday, Dec. 5, 2015.
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