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Tua Tagovailoa’s record-breaking season was not enough to net him college football’s biggest individual honor. The Alabama quarterback finished second in the voting for the Heisman Trophy on Saturday as Oklahoma quarterback Kyler Murray came away with the award. Ohio State quarterback Dwayne Haskins finished third, while Alabama defensive lineman Quinnen Williams came in eighth.
Murray recorded 2,167 total points on 517 first-place votes to beat out Tagovailoa, who tallied 1,871 points and 299 first-place votes. Tagovailoa’s point total was the highest ever received by a runner-up. Haskins tallied 783 total points and 46 first-place votes, while Williams received 27 total points and one first-place vote.
Tagovailoa completed 67.7 percent of his passes for 3,353 yards and set a new school record with 37 passing touchdowns with just four interceptions en route to a 202.30 passer rating. He added five more touchdowns on the ground to break the school’s single-season combined touchdown mark with 42. Tagovailoa also holds Alabama’s single-game touchdown record with six (five passing, one rushing) during the Crimson Tide's 52-21 victory over Auburn.
However, those records were not enough to top Murray, who boasts a 205.72 passer rating, the highest recorded rating in FBS history. The dual-sport athlete, who was selected by the Oakland A’s in the first round of this year’s Major League Baseball draft, completed 70.9 percent of his passes for 4,053 yards and 40 touchdowns with seven interceptions. He also piled up 892 yards and 11 touchdowns on the ground.
Tagovailoa and Murray will meet on the field in three weeks as No. 1 Alabama takes on No. 4 Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl on Dec. 29 in Miami Gardens, Fla. The game will serve as a College Football Playoff semifinal with the winner moving on the national championship game on Jan. 7 inside Levi Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif.
