Alabama's Derrick Henry wins Heisman Trophy

To the surprise of very few, bruising Alabama running back Derrick Henry won the Heisman Trophy Saturday night over fellow finalists Christian McCaffrey of Stanford and Deshaun Watson of Clemson.

Henry has led Alabama to a 12-1 record, the SEC title and a place in the College Football Playoff. With 1,986 yards to date, the junior from Yulee, Fla., has broken Georgia legend Herschel Walker's single-season Southeastern Conference rushing record. His 23 rushing touchdowns also lead the nation, as do his 339 rushing attempts. The 6-foot-3, 242-pound Henry has carried the ball 90 tireless times in Alabama's past two games, victories over Auburn and Florida.

Since 2009, no program has been a more constant presence at the Heisman ceremony than Alabama: Henry was the Crimson Tide's fifth finalist in the past seven years, following running backs Mark Ingram (2009) and Trent Richardson (2011), quarterback AJ McCarron (2013) and wide receiver Amari Cooper (2014). But Ingram was the only player in Alabama history to have won the award until Henry took the trophy Saturday night.

To the exasperation of some Crimson Tide fans, Henry was used moderately through the first month of the season – he averaged 16.8 carries in four September games, one of them an upset loss to Mississippi. In the eight subsequent games against SEC competition – all Alabama wins – Henry averaged 32.9 carries.

The other Heisman finalists had great seasons as well. McCaffrey led Stanford to an 11-2 record and the Pac-12 championship, breaking Barry Sanders' single-season, all-purpose yardage record with 3,496 yards to date. Watson quarterbacked Clemson to a 13-0 record, the Atlantic Coast Conference championship and the No. 1 seed in the College Football Playoff while amassing 4,399 yards of total offense so far.

This season's balloting further establishes the Heisman as an award for the best players on the best teams. This is the third straight season that the winner was on a team that was in the national championship mix: Jameis Winston of eventual national champion Florida State in 2013; Marcus Mariota of eventual national runner-up Oregon in 2014; and now Henry of CFP-bound Alabama.