UCF QB Milton finishes sixth in Heisman voting
Dynamic UCF quarterback McKenzie Milton finished sixth in the Heisman Trophy voting, two spots ahead of last season’s finish.
He became the first Knight to earn Heisman votes during backto-back seasons.
Oklahoma quarterback Kyler Murray won the Heisman Saturday night.
Milton earned four first-place Heisman votes, four second-place votes and 19 third-place votes.
The Heisman ballot leaves space for just three candidates listed in first, second and third place.
Alabama’s quarterback Tua Tagovailoa finished second, Ohio State quarterback Dwayne Haskins third, West Virginia quarterback Will Grier fourth and Washington State quarterback Gardner Minshew fifth.
There was a significant drop in points between the fifth- and sixth-place slots, with Minshew in fifth garnering 122 points and Milton in sixth earning 39 points.
Clemson’s Travis Etienne was No. 7, Alabama’s Quinnen Williams was No. 8, Wisconsin’s Jonathan Taylor was No. 9 and Memphis’s Darrell Henderson was No. 10.
The Tigers’ Henderson, who Milton’s Knights’ beat twice to clinch the American Athletic Conference title, got zero firstplace votes, three second-place votes and 15 third-place votes for a total of 21 points.
Milton’s push to win over Heisman voters was cut short when he suffered a catastrophic leg injury during UCF’s win over rival USF in the regular-season finale. He had three surgeries to repair nerve damage and is expected to have surgery to repair a dislocated knee once doctors are pleased with the vascular flow in his injured leg.
He faces a long and difficult recovery, but he has been encouraged by a seemingly endless wave of support from the UCF community and others across the country he has never met.
Milton won back-to-back American Athletic Conference Offensive Player of the Year honors and has helped the No. 8 Knights earn the nation’s longest win streak that currently spans 25 games.
Milton passed for 2,663 yards, 25 touchdowns and six interceptions and rushed for 307 yards and nine touchdowns in 2018. He entered championship-game week ranked 10th nationally in pass efficiency (161.0), third in yards per completion (15.57) and sixth in points responsible for per game (20.4).