Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields finished seventh in the final voting for this season’s Heisman Trophy.
The four finalists for college football’s most prestigious award, as well as the rest of the top-10, were unveiled on ESPN during a reveal show this week.
A winner between Alabama quarterback Mac Jones, Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence, Alabama wide receiver DeVonta Smith and Florida quarterback Kyle Trask will be announced on Jan. 5 during a virtual ceremony.
Fields was among the front-runners for the Heisman entering the season and the only returning finalist from last fall, but appeared in only six games following a handful of cancellations due to coronavirus outbreaks, limiting his opportunities to impress voters or add to his stat line.
As recently as two weeks ago, Buckeyes coach Ryan Day had voiced support for Fields to be selected as a finalist for the second consecutive season despite the smaller sample size.
His closing case was rather limited.
In two of the Buckeyes’ final three games to finish the regular season, he threw multiple interceptions, along with completing less than 50 percent of his passes in last Saturday’s Big Ten championship game.
Fields, who was selected as the offensive player of the year in the Big Ten, threw for 1,521 yards, 15 touchdowns and five interceptions with a 72.6% completion percentage.
In this season’s voting, Alabama running back Najee Harris and Iowa State running back Breece Hall also finished ahead of Fields at fifth and sixth, respectively.
He was a finalist last season with former teammate Chase Young, who was the Buckeyes’ star pass rusher. Fields finished third in the voting in 2019 behind Louisiana State quarterback Joe Burrow, who captured the award, and Oklahoma quarterback Jalen Hurts.
Former Ohio State quarterback Dwayne Haskins was also a Heisman finalist in 2018.
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