Stanford’s Love learns Heisman fate today
Just like last year, Louisville quarterback Lamar Jackson is a Heisman Trophy finalist. Unlike last year, Jackson is not expected to win, with Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield expected to take home the trophy tonight.
On Friday, Jackson, Mayfield and Stanford running back Bryce Love arrived in New York to see the sights and prepare for the show.
The Heisman experience and first trip to New York blew away Jackson last year. Winning the trophy changed his life. Now, he is just enjoying the ride.
“I’ve been here before so it’s kind of like chill,” Jackson said.
Archie Griffin of Ohio State is the only player to win the Heisman Trophy twice. He did in 1974 and ‘75. Since then, eight winners have returned to try to win it again.
Jackson probably won’t join Griffin’s exclusive club, but he is averaging 411 total yards per game, up from 393 last year, and he is a more accurate passer, completing 60.4 percent after hitting 56.2 last season.
The difference? Last season, Jackson and the Cardinals were in the playoff picture until the end of the season. This year, the Cardinals lost three games by midseason.
Still, Jackson’s numbers were impossible to ignore, even by one of his trophy competitors.
“You see the highlight plays here and there,” said Love, who this week won the Doak Walker Award and has 1,973 yards rushing and 17 touchdowns heading into the Cardinal’s game against TCU in the Alamo Bowl. “He’s been doing it for two years now. It’s just amazing to see.”
Oregon hires coach
Oregon assistant Mario Cristobal was officially promoted to head coach a year to the day after Willie Taggart was introduced.
Taggart left Tuesday for the top job at Florida State, and Cristobal, the Ducks’ cooffensive coordinator and offensive line coach, was named interim coach for the Las Vegas Bowl. But after a groundswell of support from players, the interim label was removed on Friday.
The 47-year-old Cristobal becomes Oregon’s 34th head coach, saying he’ll give “every ounce of effort” to ensure student-athletes succeed on the field and in the classroom.
Before coming to Oregon, with Taggart, Cristobal spent four seasons as offensive line coach at Alabama. He has six seasons of head coaching experience at Florida International, where he went 27-47 from 2007-12. He was also an assistant at Miami, his alma mater.
Narduzzi extended
Pittsburgh coach Pat Narduzzi has received a contract extension that will run through 2024.
The Panthers finished 5-7 and will miss a bowl game for the first time in a decade but finished strong, upsetting then-No. 2 Miami on Nov. 24.
First-year athletic director Heather Lyke made it clear that she is seeking success through consistency in the program’s leadership. Narduzzi is the Panthers’ fifth coach since 2010.
“In our own city, obviously the Steelers are a great example of that,” she said. “In 48 years, they’ve had three head coaches and in those same 48 years, we’ve had 12.”
Frost completes staff
New Nebraska coach Scott Frost is bringing his entire on-field cadre of assistants with him from Central Florida.
The Huskers said Friday that two more UCF assistants would join Frost, including offensive coordinator Troy Walters, believed at one point to be a candidate to take over the Knights after the Peach Bowl.
Walters, a finalist for the 2017 Broyles Award as the nation’s top assistant coach, will serve as Nebraska’s offensive coordinator and receivers coach.
The nine UCF assistants will relocate to Lincoln once the Knights’ bowl game against Auburn is over.