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Alabama’s Derrick Henry a worthy Heisman winner, but LSU’s Leonard Fournette would have been, too
By John Hollis
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It’s not that Alabama’s Derrick Henry wasn’t a deserving Heisman Trophy winner. It’s just that LSU’s Leonard Fournette would have been, too.
At the very minimum, the Tigers’ sophomore tailback warranted an invitation to New York to attend the prestigious Heisman Trophy ceremony.
“Everybody was angry and upset about the situation,” Fournette said while in Atlanta last week for the 25th Annual Home Depot College Football Awards Show. “Like I told my coaches and my parents and the players on my team, everything happens for a reason.”
Give Fournette credit for taking the high road when repeatedly asked about a very disappointing outcome, but it’s a shame he was in that position in the first place.
A first-team All-American who led LSU to an 8-3 record and a berth in the Texas Bowl to face Texas Tech on Dec. 29, Fournette rushed for 1,741 yards and 18 touchdowns to set a school single-season record. He did so in just 11 games.
His robust average of 158.3 rushing yards per game was tops in the nation, while his sterling 6.42 yards per carry was far better than either of the two other running backs in New York in both Henry (5.86) and Stanford’s Christian McCaffrey (5.72).
Clemson quarterback Deshaun Watson was the third Heisman Trophy finalist in attendance last Saturday evening.
“They have three great players up there,” Fournette said.
Henry, who earlier claimed the Maxwell Award for National Player of the Year and the Doak Walker Award for the nation’s best running back, led the nation with 1,986 yards rushing and 23 scores. The versatile McCaffrey totaled 1,847 yards on the ground with eight touchdowns, but contributed in a number of other ways.
Of particular note, however, is the fact that Henry and McCaffrey played 13 games. Inclimate weather forced the cancellation of the Tigers’ season opener against McNeese State on Sept. 5, while both Alabama and Stanford had the good fortune of playing in their respective conference (SEC and Pac-12) championship games to increase the total rushing yardage difference between the three running backs.
It’s hardly unreasonable to suggest that Fournette’s numbers might have surpassed theirs had he played as many games.
Fournette could only speculate that his team’s three-game losing streak led to his omission to the Heisman ceremony. He rushed for a season-low 31 yards on 19 carries in a 30-16 loss to Henry and the Crimson Tide on Nov. 7 to start the Tigers’ three-game skid. The timing of his worst game of the season on the biggest national stage couldn’t have been worse.
“If we won (the Alabama game), I probably would have been in the Heisman race,” Fournette said.
True enough, but one forgettable game against the nation’s most ferocious defense should not have disqualified him from being in New York.
“At the end of the day, the best running backs in the NFL didn’t win the Heisman,” Fournette said.
Earlier this season, Fournette became the first running back in SEC history to rush for at least 200 yards in three consecutive games. He needed only five games to reach the 1,000-yard plateau for the season, also a first in SEC annals.
He was named national player of the week once and SEC Player of the Week on three different occasions this season.
“I had a wonderful season,” Fournette said, “and I enjoyed every minute of it.”
And it’s not over, yet, either.
John Hollis is a contributing writer for Saturday Down South. He covers Georgia and Florida.
