NEW YORK – Robert Griffin III beat out preseason favorite Andrew Luck for the Heisman Trophy, dazzling voters with his ability to throw, run and lead Big 12 doormat Baylor into the national rankings.

The junior quarterback known as RG3 became the first Baylor player to take home college football’s most famous trophy.

Right before his name was called, Griffin took a deep breath. When it was announced he broke into a bright smile, his face framed by his long braided hair. Then it was hugs all around, for his coaches, his parents, his sister and his fiance.

“This is unbelievably believable,” he said. “It’s unbelievable because in the moment we’re all amazed when great things happen. But it’s believable because great things don’t happen without hard work.”

Griffin started the season on the fringe of the Heisman conversation, a talented and exciting player on a marginal team, while Luck was already being touted as a No. 1 NFL draft pick.

Draft day might very well still belong to Luck, but Griffin diverted the Heisman to Waco, Texas, to a school that has never had a player finish better than fourth in the voting — and that was 48 years ago.

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Griffin received 405 first-place votes and 1,687 points.

“Everybody associated with Baylor has a reason to celebrate tonight,” he said.

Luck received 247 first-place votes and 1,407 points to become the fourth player to be Heisman runner-up in consecutive seasons.

Luck was also first to congratulate Griffin.

“It was so well-deserved by Robert Griffin,” Luck said. “It was very hard to be upset.”

Griffin’s highlights were simply spectacular — his signature moment coming on a long, cross-field touchdown pass with eight seconds left to beat Oklahoma — and he put up dizzying numbers, completing 72 percent of his passes for 3,998 yards with 36 touchdown passes and a nation-leading 192.3 efficiency rating.

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More importantly, he lifted Baylor (9-3) to national prominence and one of the greatest seasons in school history. The 15th-ranked Bears won nine games for the first time in 25 years, beat Oklahoma for the first time and went 4-0 in November.

“Everybody associated with Baylor has a reason to celebrate tonight,” said Griffin. 

NAVY 27, ARMY 21: When it comes to beating Army, Navy is a perfect 10.

A new venue for Army-Navy produced a familiar result as the Midshipmen (5-7) rushed for 296 yards and capitalized on three turnovers to beat the Black Knights (3-9) at Landover, Md.

With President Barack Obama presiding over the first Army-Navy game to be played in the vicinity of the nation’s capital, Navy (5-7) got a pair of touchdown runs from quarterback Kriss Proctor and one from fullback Alexander Teich to win its 10th straight in the rivalry.

NOTES

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UCLA: Former NFL coach Jim Mora Jr. was hired to replace Rick Neuheisel, becoming the first football coach of the Bruins in more than 60 years with no ties to the school.

Mora was the coach of the Atlanta Falcons and Seattle Seahawks, going 31-33 over four seasons.

TEXAS A&M: The Aggies hired Houston’s Kevin Sumlin as their new coach.

Sumlin, 47, went 35-17 in four seasons at Houston, and the Cougars routinely ranked as one of the nation’s highest- scoring teams.

Tony Levine will serve as interim head coach for Houston (12-1) in the Ticket-City Bowl against Penn State.

 


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