New York - San Diego State senior Rashaad Penny (Norwalk, California) finished fifth Saturday night in the voting for the Heisman Trophy, the award presented annually by the Heisman Trophy Trust to the most outstanding player in college football.
Penny finished with 175 points in the Heisman voting, including seven first-place votes. Oklahoma’s Baker Mayfield won the 2017 Heisman Trophy with 2,398 total points and 732 first-place votes. Rounding out the top five were Stanford’s Bryce Love (1,300 points; 75 first-place votes), Louisville’s Lamar Jackson (793; 47), Penn State’s Saquan Barkley (304; 15) and Penny (175; 7). Penny had more total points than the next three finishers after him from No. 6-8 - Wisconsin’s Jonathan Taylor (58; 2), Oklahoma State’s Mason Rudolph (56; 2) and UCF’s McKenzie Milton (54; 4).
The fifth-place finish is the best by an Aztec since Marshall Faulk came in fourth in 1993 (third-best at SDSU overall), best by a Group of 5 running back since TCU’s LaDainian Tomlinson finished fourth in 2000, and the best by a Mountain West player since Utah’s Alex Smith took fourth in 2004 (second-best in MW history).
Additionally, San Diego State (Donnel Pumphrey in 2016, Penny in 2017), Oklahoma (Mayfield in 2017, Dede Westbrook in 2016 (also Mayfield in 2016)) and Stanford (Love in 2017, Christian McCaffrey in 2016) are the only schools with two different Heisman top-10 individual finishes each of the past two seasons.
Penny, who on Thursday garnered first-team All-America honors by Sports Illustrated, All-American and Bleacher Report, and second-team accolades by Walter Camp and SB Nation, has rushed for a NCAA FBS-best 2,027 yards and 19 touchdowns on 275 carries (7.4 avg.), while adding 18 catches for 142 yards (7.9 avg.) and two touchdowns, 15 kickoff returns for 459 yards (30.6 avg.) and two touchdowns, and two punt returns for 70 yards (35.0 avg.), including a 70-yard touchdown.
A finalist for the 2017 Walter Camp Player-of-the-Year award, and a semifinalist for the Maxwell Award (college player of the year) and Doak Walker Award (nation’s premier running back), Penny currently leads FBS in rushing yards (2,027), rushing yards per game (168.9), all-purpose yards (2,698) and all-purpose yards per game (224.8), and is second in total touchdowns (24), points (144) and points per game (12.0), tied for third in rushing touchdowns (19), tied for fifth in kickoff return touchdowns (2), sixth in rushing yards per carry (7.4), seventh in kickoff return average (30.6) and tied for 10th in punt return touchdowns (1). Penny has rushed for at least 100 yards in 10 of the team’s 12 games this year and five times has eclipsed 200 yards.
Last week Penny became the first player in Mountain West history to win two player-of-the-year awards when he was named the MW Offensive Player of the Year and the MW Special Teams Player of the Year. He is a two-time Walter Camp FBS National Offensive Player of the Week pick this year, five-time MW Offensive Player of the Week winner and a two-time MW Special Teams Player of the Week.
SDSU (10-2) will play Army West Point (9-3) in the Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl in Fort Worth, Texas, on Saturday, Dec. 23 at 2:30 p.m. CT.
Tickets are on sale online at GoAztecs.com, in person (SDCCU Stadium Window E) and over the phone ((619) 283-7378).
Heisman Trophy Voting (Top 10)
1. Baker Mayfield (Oklahoma) - 2,398 total points (732 first-place votes)
2. Bryce Love (Stanford) - 1,300 (75)
3. Lamer Jackson (Louisville) - 793 (47)
4. Saquan Barkley (Penn State) - 304 (15)
5. Rashaad Penny (San Diego State) - 175 (7)
6. Jonathan Taylor (Wisconsin) - 58 (2)
7. Mason Rudolph (Oklahoma State) - 56 (2)
8. McKenzie Milton (UCF) - 54 (4)
9. Kerryon Johnson (Auburn) - 45 (0)
10. Roquan Smith (Georgia) - 38 (3)
