Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck entered the season as the overwhelming favorite to win the Heisman Trophy.
He will head to New York for the presentation of college football’s most celebrated player of the year award having relinquished front-runner status to another quarterback — one known as RG3.
Luck, along with Robert Griffin III, Trent Richardson, Tyrann Mathieu and Montee Ball are the Heisman finalists. The group, announced Monday on ESPN, will be at the presentation Saturday night in Manhattan.
It’s a return trip for Luck, the only repeat finalist this season, while Griffin is the first Baylor player to be invited to the ceremony. The school has never had a player finish better than fourth in the Heisman voting, but now it seems to have the favorite.
“I’m sure it will be a really close vote,” Griffin told reporters in Waco, Texas, after watching the announcement with teammates and coaches.
Richardson is the second Alabama running back to be a finalist in the past three years. Former teammate Mark Ingram won the Heisman in 2009.
Ball has scored 38 touchdowns for Wisconsin and needs one more to match Barry Sanders’ NCAA record.
Mathieu, the LSU defensive back nicknamed “Honey Badger,” has made numerous game-changing plays for the top-ranked Tigers.
Though he may not be the favorite, Luck will be in Manhattan after a Friday side trip to Baltimore to pick up the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award. It goes annually to the nation’s top quarterback who best exemplifies character and scholastic and athletic achievement.
DUCKS DISMISS HARRIS
Oregon coach Chip Kelly has dismissed junior All-American cornerback Cliff Harris from the team for violating team rules.
Harris missed the last five games of the regular season and last weekend’s Pacific-12 Conference championship game after he had his second traffic run-in this year.
HEAPS LEAVES BYU
Former Skyline quarterback Jake Heaps has been given his release from BYU and he plans to transfer elsewhere, the Seattle Times reported.
Heaps started the final 10 games in 2010 and the first five this season before he was displaced by Riley Nelson as the starter.
EXTRA POINTS
Former Idaho coach John L. Smith, 63, who also had stints at Utah State, Louisville and Michigan State, is the new coach at Weber State, where he played quarterback 1968-70. … Hawaii coach Greg McMackin is retiring after a 6-7 season and missing the postseason for the second time in his four years with the Warriors. … University of Missouri chancellor Brady Deaton said state funding cuts played a role in his decision to move the school from the Big 12 to the Southeastern Conference.
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