2018 Heisman Trophy Winner Kyler Murray
The 2018 Heisman Trophy Ceremony was held on December 8, 2018 after the conclusion of the 2018 college football regular season and conference championship week. The ceremony took place in New York’s PlayStation Theater in Times Square. The presentation was broadcast live on ESPN and hosted by ESPN personality, Chris Fowler. The finalists on hand for the ceremony were Tua Tagovailoa, Dewayne Haskins, and Winner Kyler Murray. [1]
The 2017 Heisman Trophy Winner Baker Mayfield, entered the 2018 NFL Draft after completing his Senior season at Oklahoma. In the draft, Mayfield was selected 1st overall by the Cleveland Browns. The other finalists included Lamar Jackson, and Saquon Barkley both of whom entered the 2018 NFL Draft, and Bryce Love. In 2017, Love had over 2,000 rushing yards and returned to Stanford becoming a front runner for the Heisman Trophy in 2018. However, an ACL injury limited his playing time that prevented him from being selected.
Kyler Murray, entered the season in a very unique position at Oklahoma, replacing the 2017 Heisman Trophy Winner Baker Mayfield. While five other schools have had back to back Heisman Trophy Winners (Army, Yale, Ohio State, USC, and Alabama) no school had won the award with two different players in the same position. With this historical president, Kyler Murray wasn’t considered a front runner to win the 2018 Heisman Trophy. According to oddsmakers in Las Vegas, the top five favorites to win the Heisman Trophy before the season started were- [2]
- #1- Bryce Love, Stanford RB
- #2- Jonathan Taylor, Wisconsin RB
- #3- Jake Fromm, Georgia QB
- #4- Tua Tagovailoa, Alabama QB
- #5- Khalil Tate, Arizona QB
2018 Heisman Trophy First Place Voting Breakdown
- Kyler Murray- 517
- Tua Tagovailoa- 299
- Dwayne Haskins- 46
Like many other Heisman Trophy Winners, Kyler Murray also received other awards for his fantastic 2018 season. Kyler Murray’s accolades include the Davey O’Brien Award, the Manning Award, Associated Press College Football Player of the Year, All Big 12, Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year. He was also a first team All American by several awarding platforms, however, Kyler Murray became only the 3rd Heisman Trophy Winner to not be a unanimous All-American. (1956 Heisman Trophy Winner Paul Hornung and 2001 Heisman Trophy Winner Eric Crouch)
2018 Heisman Trophy Winner Kyler Murray’s Season
2018 Heisman Trophy Winner Kyler Murray led Oklahoma into a season opening blowout win against Florida Atlantic which was followed up with consecutive wins against UCLA, Iowa State, Army, and Baylor. Oklahoma entered the Red River Rivalry with a 5-0 record. On October 6th, Texas defeated Oklahoma in the Cotton Bowl stadium in Dallas, Texas in a nailbiter, 48-45. To rebound from the loss, Kyler Murray led Oklahoma to wins in all the rest of the regular season schedule- TCU, Kansas State, Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Kansas, and West Virginia.
Oklahoma finished the regular season with an 11-1 record. They won the right to play in the Big 12 Conference Championship Game against rival, Texas. Once again, playing in Dallas, Texas, this time at AT&T Stadium, Oklahoma was able to avenge their lone loss of the season by winning the Big 12 Championship, defeating Texas 39-27. After the Championship Game, Oklahoma was selected to the College Football Playoffs at #4 to play against #1 Alabama in the Orange Bowl, which Alabama won 45-34. A game that the 2018 Heisman Trophy Winner Kyler Murray had a standout performance, completing 19 of 37 passes for 308 yds and 2 touchdowns. He also rushed 17 times for 109 yards and another touchdown.
Kyler Murray’s season stats include 260 of 377 passes for 4,361 yards for 42 touchdowns and 7 interceptions. Murray, a dual threat quarterback also ran the ball 140 times for 1,001 yards with 12 touchdowns.
Other Oklahoma Sooners Heisman Trophy Winners
There have been six other Heisman Trophy Winners at Oklahoma. They are-
- Billy Vessels- 1952
- Steve Owens- 1969
- Billy Sims- 1978
- Jason White- 2003
- Sam Bradford- 2008
- Baker Mayfield- 2017
2018 Heisman Trophy Winner Kyler Murray in the NFL Draft
Following a fantastic Junior season, 2018 Heisman Trophy Winner Kyler Murray chose to forgo his Senior season and enter the 2019 NFL Draft. Many draft experts were split over Kyler Murray’s potential as an NFL quarterback due to his short stature as compared to the “prototypical” quarterback. At the NFL Combine Murray was measured at 5’-10” tall. Despite all this, the Arizona Cardinals selected Murray first overall in the draft, and later named him the starter for the 2019 season. [3]
Related-topics
References
- Heisman [ Kyler Murray ] September 10, 2024
- Jacksonville [ Murray Gives Oklahoma Back To Back Heisman Winners ] September 10, 2024
- USA Today [ Kyler Murray Height and Weight At the NFL Combine ] September 10, 2024
Contributors
Last Modified: September 11, 2024