Florida Gators quarterback Kyle Trask finished fourth in Tuesday night’s Heisman Trophy ceremony following a season that will forever live in the record books.
Trask led the nation and set school records with 4,283 passing yards and 43 touchdowns on the season. He never had one specific Heisman moment, but rather, a collection of incredible games that rivaled last season’s undisputed winner Joe Burrow.
For much of the season, Florida’s quarterback was considered the frontrunner for the award, but a difficult last few games plummeted his chances. In the end, he received just 61 first-place votes.
Trask came in behind three players who competed in this season’s College Football Playoff. Alabama wide receiver DeVonta Smith became the first receiver to win the Heisman since Desmond Howard in 1991. Clemson star quarterback Trevor Lawrence finished second with Smith’s quarterback Mac Jones coming in third.
Smith set records of his own this season with 105 receptions for 1,641 yards and 20 touchdowns. He also added a rushing score and returned a punt for an 84-yard touchdown to add some versatility to his resume.
Jones is second to Trask with 4,036 passing yards for 36 touchdowns, while Lawrence threw for 24 touchdowns and rushed for eight in just 10 games.
Voting had already taken place before Florida’s ugly performance against Oklahoma in the Cotton Bowl, but a rough loss to LSU and a head-to-head loss against two of the other finalists in the SEC Championship Game ultimately sealed Trask’s fate.
While his stats were every bit of Heisman-worthy (just as good or better than his competitors), voters could not overlook the loss total.
After his unlikely journey to greatness, Trask talked about how honored he was just to be in the conversation for college football’s most heralded award all season.
His storybook career ended in nightmarish fashion, but choosing to take the field one last time without the help of his trusted weapons revealed his outstanding character.
Trask became the Gators’ first Heisman Trophy finalist since Tim Tebow (the sixth all-time). As he now takes those talents to the NFL, he will long be remembered for bringing offense back to Gainesville when it needed it most.
Florida’s next quarterback Emory Jones is already among the extremely early favorites for next season’s Heisman Trophy.