In an Alabama team with stars, DeVonta Smith steps out as the best player in college football. Smith became the first broad receiver to receive the Heisman Trophy in 29 seasons on Tuesday night, the monopolistic quarterbacks broke on the most coveted college football award by knocking out three of them.
“I want to thank my teammates,” Smith said during his speech. “With team success comes individual success, so without all of you, I would not be here today where I would win this award.”
Smith finished with 447 first-place votes and 1,856 points to easily surpass Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence (222, 1,187), Alabama teammate Mac Jones (138, 1,130) and Kyle Trask (61, 737) in Florida.
The Crimson Tide senior is the fourth receiver to win the Heisman. He worked with Desmond Howard in Michigan in 1991, Notre Dame’s Tim Brown in 1987, and Nebraska’s Nebraska’s Nebraska in 1972.
Quarterbacks have won 17 of the previous 20 Heisman trophies, including the last four.
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Smith is the third Alabama player to win the Heisman, all since 2009. Like Tide fullbacks Mark Ingram (2009) and Derrick Henry (2015), Smith will play as Heisman winner in the national championship game.
No.1 Alabama faces Ohio State in the College Football Playoff title game on January 11 in Miami Gardens, Florida.
The Heisman poll was completed on December 21, so playoff performance was not a factor. But Smith made those who support him feel good about it with a brilliant three-touchdown game against Notre Dame in the CFP semi-finals last weekend.
Smith had 105 catches for 1,641 yards and 22 total finishes in the final game of his college career – which will also be his third national championship game.
Smith took a place in the history of Alabama as a freshman and reached the offensive 41-yard pass from Tua Tagovailoa in overtime against Georgia to give the Tide the 2017 national championship.
For the next two seasons, Smith continued to be the top star in the Tide’s talented 2017 class receivers that included All-American Jerry Jeudy and Henry Ruggs. Both players decided to skip their senior seasons and enter the draft last year. Both were selected in the first round.
Smith returned to school to complete his degree and form an explosive combination for the Tide with junior Jaylen Waddle. Then, on October 24, Waddle will end the season with a leg injury.
While the tide was the undisputed number 1 receiver, Smith shone. The week after Waddle went out, Smith caught 11 catches for 204 yards and four touchdowns against Mississippi State.
Smith’s rising TD grip with one hand against LSU was not only his distinctive game, but also one of the best in the 2020 season.
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A former four-star winner from Amite, Louisiana, Smith came from LSU’s backyard to Tuscaloosa and disappointed the numerous Tigers fans in his hometown.
He only had seven receptions as a first-year student, and while playing the winning streak in the national title, the story of the match was the man who threw it.
Tagovailoa was Alabama’s rival of Heisman for the next two years.
The under-emphasized Smith quietly led the Tide as a junior in reception and gardens last year and became an All-American from the second team.
Smitty – as teammates and coaches call him – did not appear as a Hesiman contender this season until Waddle came down.
Starting with the Mississippi State game, Smith entered a four-game split with 35 catches for 749 yards and 11 touchdowns that reinforced another nickname for the 6-foot-1, 175-pound technician: the Slim Reaper.