By Danny Morales
NEW YORK CITY — Melvin Gordon, Amari Cooper and Marcus Mariota will all be in attendance for the Heisman Trophy presentation in New York City on Saturday.
Mariota is the likely front runner going into the weekend but Wisconsin's Gordon could surprise some people, as the junior leads the nation with 2,336 yards rushing on the season and he’s 293 yards away from breaking Barry Sanders’ single-season rushing record.
Gordon comes from a line of Heisman finalists over at Wisconsin, where he spent his freshman year watching Montee Ball make a run for the same exact award.
“It’s good, especially when you come in as a freshman and you watch Montee your first year do the great things he did and come to New York and be a Heisman finalist,” said Gordon on Friday. “I kind of sat there throughout the year and I just wishing, I wished I was in his shoes and one day I hoped to be there,
“And now I’m in his shoes and I’m here with my opportunity, it’s just surreal, it’s just real special.”
Cooper leads the FBS in receiving with 1,656 yards on 115 receptions and is the first wide receiver to be invited to New York as a finalist since Larry Fitzgerald in 2003.
The junior wideout from Miami, Florida has been excelling on the field with first-year quarterback Blake Sims and Lane Kiffin, who is in his first year as Alabama’s offensive coordinator. Kiffin has been known as a coordinator whose offense is made for playmaking wide receivers and this season it showed with Cooper’s stats.
“He’s helped a lot,” said Cooper of Kiffin. “He’s made the offense player friendly, not too hard and I think that was the biggest thing.
“He’s a cool guy, he’s a genius as an offensive coordinator and that’s who he is.”
Despite having to build newfound chemistry with both, Cooper has been one of the standout wide receivers in college football this season as he won the Biletnikoff Award, given to the nation’s top receiver, on Thursday in Orlando.
Mariota is considered the favorite to win the Heisman on Saturday, as the junior signal caller has thrown for 3,783 yards and 38 touchdowns while only throwing two interceptions for the season.
Both Cooper and Mariota will be preparing for a National Championship run after the weekend’s ceremony, as both Alabama and Oregon will be preparing to play in the semifinals of the first-ever College Football Playoff on New Year’s Day.
“You have to focus on the team because we still have a lot of plays to be played,” said Cooper of looming semifinal. “We still have to win if we want to get to our ultimate goal so we can’t get caught up on individual achievements.”
Gordon, Cooper and Mariota will all be at the Best Buy Theater in New York City on Saturday, where the winner of the 2014 Heisman Trophy will be presented on Saturday night. Television coverage for the event will start at 8 p.m. EST on ESPN.
Mariota is the likely front runner going into the weekend but Wisconsin's Gordon could surprise some people, as the junior leads the nation with 2,336 yards rushing on the season and he’s 293 yards away from breaking Barry Sanders’ single-season rushing record.
Gordon comes from a line of Heisman finalists over at Wisconsin, where he spent his freshman year watching Montee Ball make a run for the same exact award.
“It’s good, especially when you come in as a freshman and you watch Montee your first year do the great things he did and come to New York and be a Heisman finalist,” said Gordon on Friday. “I kind of sat there throughout the year and I just wishing, I wished I was in his shoes and one day I hoped to be there,
“And now I’m in his shoes and I’m here with my opportunity, it’s just surreal, it’s just real special.”
Cooper leads the FBS in receiving with 1,656 yards on 115 receptions and is the first wide receiver to be invited to New York as a finalist since Larry Fitzgerald in 2003.
The junior wideout from Miami, Florida has been excelling on the field with first-year quarterback Blake Sims and Lane Kiffin, who is in his first year as Alabama’s offensive coordinator. Kiffin has been known as a coordinator whose offense is made for playmaking wide receivers and this season it showed with Cooper’s stats.
“He’s helped a lot,” said Cooper of Kiffin. “He’s made the offense player friendly, not too hard and I think that was the biggest thing.
“He’s a cool guy, he’s a genius as an offensive coordinator and that’s who he is.”
Despite having to build newfound chemistry with both, Cooper has been one of the standout wide receivers in college football this season as he won the Biletnikoff Award, given to the nation’s top receiver, on Thursday in Orlando.
Mariota is considered the favorite to win the Heisman on Saturday, as the junior signal caller has thrown for 3,783 yards and 38 touchdowns while only throwing two interceptions for the season.
Both Cooper and Mariota will be preparing for a National Championship run after the weekend’s ceremony, as both Alabama and Oregon will be preparing to play in the semifinals of the first-ever College Football Playoff on New Year’s Day.
“You have to focus on the team because we still have a lot of plays to be played,” said Cooper of looming semifinal. “We still have to win if we want to get to our ultimate goal so we can’t get caught up on individual achievements.”
Gordon, Cooper and Mariota will all be at the Best Buy Theater in New York City on Saturday, where the winner of the 2014 Heisman Trophy will be presented on Saturday night. Television coverage for the event will start at 8 p.m. EST on ESPN.