Stanford running back Christian McCaffrey was named the college football player of the year by The Associated Press on Tuesday.
McCaffrey, the runner-up in the Heisman Trophy behind Alabama running back Derrick Henry, is the first non-Heisman winner of the AP award in the past six years.
The Stanford standout received 29 of 60 first-place votes from AP Top 25 voters. Henry finished second with 16 votes, followed by Clemson quarterback Deshaun Watson with 11 votes and Navy quarterback Keenan Reynolds and Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield with two each.
The last non-Heisman winner was Nebraska's Ndamukong Suh in 2009. No Stanford player had previously won the award.
McCaffrey, who broke the NCAA record for all-purpose yardage this season, has one game remaining when No. 6 Stanford faces No. 5 Iowa in the Rose Bowl on Jan. 1 in Pasadena, Calif.
