PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – A finalist for the Walter Camp and Davey O’Brien Awards, now Kenny Pickett has a chance to win the big one, the Heisman Trophy.
The quarterback of a team no one picked to win the ACC will be in New York on Saturday with three others as a finalist for the most prestigious honor in college football, likely all of college sports.
Pickett threw for 4.319 yards with 42 touchdowns and seven interceptions, completing 67% of his passes. The New Jersey native rushed for 233 yards with five touchdowns.
The front-runner appears to be Alabama quarterback Bryce Young, especially after the freshman threw for 421 yards and three touchdowns against a Georgia defense considered the best in the nation. There is also Ohio State redshirt freshman CJ Stroud.
Comparing the three QB:
Completion percentage—Pickett 67.2%/Young 68.0%/Stroud 70.9%
Yards—Pickett 4,322/Young 4,322/Stroud 3,862
Touchdowns—Pickett 42/Young 43/Stroud 38
Interceptions—Pickett 7/Young 3/Stroud 5
Team record—Pitt 11-2/Alabama 12-1/Ohio State 10-2
There are other comparisons-does Young get the benefit for doing it as a freshman and Pickett playing his fifth year. Young has more four and five-star athletes around him, does that help Pickett? Young plays in what is perceived to be a better conference, how does that play in?
The other finalists for the Heisman Trophy are Young, Stroud and Michigan senior defensive lineman Aiden Hutchinson-third in the nation with 14 sacks, adding 15.5 tackles for loss, a pair of forced fumbles and three passes defensed. Plus, he captained the Wolverines to a first win over Ohio State in Jim Harbaugh’s coaching career, a Big 10 Championship and into the College Football Playoff.
Tony Dorsett is the lone Pitt winner of the Heisman Trophy in 1976, Larry Fitzgerald a runner-up in 2003 (Jason White-Oklahoma), Hugh Green a runner-up in 1980 (George Rogers-South Carolina), Bill Fralic finished fifth in 1984 (Doug Flutie-BC), Craig Heyward, fifth in 1987 (Tim Brown-ND).