The College Football Playoff field has been decided. Now, the same goes for the Heisman Trophy finalists.
The Heisman Trust announced Monday that a group of three quarterbacks would form the group of finalists, one of which will take home the 84th Heisman Trophy when the winner is announced on Saturday night in Times Square. The finalists include Ohio State's Dwayne Haskins, Alabama's Tua Tagovailoa, and Oklahoma's Kyler Murray. All three signal callers are first-year starters.
Murray -- who was selected by the Oakland A's in the first round of the 2018 MLB Draft -- is attempting to follow in the footsteps of 2017 Heisman winner and fellow Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield.
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"I thank Baker for sure,” Murray told The Franchise's John Hoover. “He doesn’t know it, but I thank him. … No competitor wants to sit for the time that I did but I don’t think I would be here right now or playing the way that I am if I didn’t get to see how it’s done and watching him doing his thing. … Just competing against him every day, whether he knew it or not, practices were my game day. I’m thankful to have Bake in my corner.”
After a standout performance in Oklahoma's Big 12 Championship Game victory over Texas, Murray appears to have jumped into the pole position for this year's Heisman award. Bovada currently lists him as a -190 favorite, while an ESPN Heisman Expert Poll published Monday saw Murray receive the highest vote total (46) of any candidate. Tagovailoa received 44.