5 reasons Kyler Murray should win the Heisman Trophy

Murray had the best Heisman moment

Aside from remarkable stats and earning a College Football Playoff appearance, there’s something else working in Murray’s favor here; Murray has a clear, definitive Heisman moment. This is something that the other finalists for the Heisman do not have.

Tagovailoa never had an opportunity to produce a Heisman moment this season. None of the teams that faced Alabama were really capable of challenging the Tide until the Georgia Bulldogs did just that in the SEC Championship Game. But, Tagovailoa was hurt during that game and Georgia had a commanding lead when he went out. It was backup Jalen Hurts that led the historic comeback for the SEC title.

Haskins did have a couple of moments that could certainly qualify as a Heisman moment this season, but they weren’t necessarily as impressive as Murray’s. Ohio State throttling Michigan is one such occasion that clearly comes to mind. Neither Murray nor Tagovailoa have as impressive of a performance against such a good defense. What works against Haskins here is that Jim Harbaugh and Michigan have struggled to come out on top over Ohio State.

That’s not Haskins’ fault and it may not necessarily be fair, but the fact is sometimes things that sway Heisman voters aren’t necessarily facts but rather narratives and mythological type performances.

That’s what a Heisman moment is and Murray had that against Texas in the Big 12 Championship Game. The Longhorns were the only team to defeat the Sooners all season. Oklahoma’s biggest rival was the one thing that stood in the Sooners’ way of having an unblemished season. Despite everything that Murray did in the first Red River Rivalry meeting of 2018, Texas still came out on top by a field goal.

And then, this past weekend, Oklahoma defeated Texas in convincing and commanding fashion. The Sooners defeated the Longhorns by 12 points. Oklahoma redeemed their only loss of the season and did that in a way that was worthy of putting the Sooners in the playoff. In the conference championship game against Oklahoma’s rival on the biggest stage that the Sooners played all season, Murray was the man who engineered the win.

He completed 73.5 percent of his passes for 379 yards and three touchdowns. Murray was borderline unstoppable and did everything his team needed him to do to get the win. That game is going to stick with Heisman voters. That moment, in all of its myth and lore and legend, is what college football is all about. And it’s a huge reason Murray should win the Heisman this year.