Murray 2nd straight Oklahoma QB to win
NEW YORK — Kyler Murray replaced a Heisman Trophy winner by becoming a Heisman Trophy winner.
The Oklahoma quarterback won college football’s most prestigious individual award Saturday night, edging Alabama’s Tua Tagovailoa and setting up a College Football Playoff matchup of Heisman winner versus runner-up.
The fourth-ranked Sooners play the top-ranked Crimson Tide in the Orange Bowl semifinal Dec. 29 in the seventh bowl matchup of Heisman winner and runner-up, and first since second-place finisher Vince Young and Texas beat Reggie Bush and Southern California in the 2006 Rose Bowl.
This season, Murray stepped into the starting job at Oklahoma held by last year’s Heisman winner and first overall NFL draft pick, Baker Mayfield. Oklahoma is the first school with have Heisman-winning quarterbacks in consecutive seasons and the fifth overall with winners in back-to-back years.
“This is crazy,” Murray said in his acceptance speech. “This is an honor, something that I’ll never forget. Something that I’ll always cherish for the rest of my life.”
Unlike most seasons, the winner was far from a foregone conclusion, but Murray (517 first-place votes and 2,167 points) ended up with a fairly comfortable margin of 296 points over Tagovailoa. Ohio State quarterback Dwayne Haskins, the other finalists, was a distant third with 783 points. Three more quarterbacks followed: Will Grier of West Virginia, Gardner Minshew II of Washington State and McKenzie Milton of Central Florida.
Murray was named on 92 percent of the Heisman ballots, third most all time. Tagovailoa’s 1,871 points received was the most for a runner-up in the 84-year history of the Heisman.
Tagovailoa was the Heisman frontrunner for most of the season, but Murray surged late as the Sooners turned to him and its offense to bailout a leaky defense down the stretch. Meanwhile, Tagovailoa picked a bad time to have his worst game of the season, throwing two interceptions in the Southeastern Conference champi- onship against Georgia and leaving early with a sprained ankle.
Murray’s first season as a starting quarterback in college is set up to also be his last. The junior has already signed a $4.66 million contract with the Oakland Athletic after he was selected in the first round of the Major League Baseball draft in June.
Listed at 5-foot-10 and 195 pounds, Murray is small for an NFL quarterback but talented enough to be an intriguing prospect if he ever decided to give it a try.
Oklahoma’s late-season Heisman campaign for Murray harkened back Bo Jackson, the 1985 Heisman winner who went on to star in both the NFL and MLB, and his Bo Knows Nike ads.
“I’d like to do both (baseball and football) if possible,” Murray said Friday. “But I don’t know how possible that is.”
Draft analyst Dane Brugler of The Athletic called Murray a potential top-50 NFL draft pick.
“The NFL hasn’t had a 5-10 or shorter quarterback have sustained success in a long time, but Murray has a rare skill-set with his arm talent, mobility and instincts,” Brugler said.
Derek Forbort had a goal and an assist, and Jonathan Quick made 29 saves as the Kings defeated the Golden Knights 5-1 on Saturday.
It was only the sixth time in 30 games that the Kings scored four or more goals. They tied their season high from a 5-2 victory over Edmonton on Nov. 25. The Kings, who have two wins in their last five games, have a league-low 23 points and with 65 goals are last in the league in scoring.
Oscar Lindberg scored for the Knights before the Kings got goals from Nikita Scherbak, Matt Luff, Jeff Carter, Forbort and Nate Thompson. Jake Muzzin had two assists.
Alex Ovechkin scored his NHL-leading 22nd goal and Braden Holtby got his 34th career shutout as the Capitals beat the Blue Jackets 4-0. Ovechkin extended his points streak to 11 straight games, with 10 goals and six assists during the stretch. ... David Krejci had a goal and an assist to move past Hall of Famer Cam Neely for 10th on the Bruins’ all-time scoring list, and Boston snapped a three-game skid with a 6-3 victory over the Maple Leafs.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia — The approval of Seattle as the 32nd NHL franchise earlier this week has thrilled hockey fans who for years made their way north to Vancouver to see the game played at its highest level. But there’s an almost equally excited group just north of the 49th parallel who can’t wait for 2021, when the Seattle franchise begins play.
“Vancouver is already a partner. They were the most enthusiastic team in the league about this. They love the idea of this rivalry,” Seattle team President Tod Leiweke said. “I think for the two cities to connect like this, the two cities are 130 miles away, but now they’re going to connect in a whole different way and I think that’s one of the great things that is going to come out of all this is a deep, deep visceral connection between Vancouver and Seattle and we’re going to play some great games.”
Adding Seattle to the league helps the Canucks in various ways, from marketing to travel and interest in the game. Canucks COO Jeff Stipec is already planning ways the Canucks can sell Seattle’s addition, even if it’s three years away.