A slow build has given way to a resounding finish, flipping the Heisman Trophy conversation on its head and giving the nation plenty to talk about in the lead-up to the College Football Playoff.



Oklahoma quarterback Kyler Murray is the winner of The Athletic’s Heisman Straw Poll, ending Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa’s season-long reign atop the poll by a point margin of 96-71. Murray garnered 28 of 34 possible first-place votes, with Tagovailoa earning five first-place votes and Ohio State quarterback Dwayne Haskins getting one.



The Athletic follows the same protocol as the actual Heisman voting: three points for a first-place vote, two points for a second-place vote, one point for a third-place vote.



Memphis running back Darrell Henderson was the only other player to receive a vote in the final week of the poll. Previously, no fewer than seven players (and as many as 11) received votes in any given week. In the end, there are only four, with...