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New York • Jameis Winston left voters no choice but to give him the Heisman Trophy.

The Florida State quarterback became the second straight freshman to win the Heisman on Saturday night, earning college football's most prestigious individual award with a performance so spectacular and dominant that even a criminal investigation couldn't derail his candidacy.

"I cannot explain the feeling that I have inside right now," Winston said. "I'm so overwhelmed. It's awesome."

When his name was announced, he popped from his seat and quickly made his way to his mom and dad for hugs and kisses. He smiled and laughed through most of his acceptance speech, but got a little choked up when he talked about his parents.

"When you see your mom and your dad and they've been struggling through this whole process it was nice to see a smile on their faces," he said.

Winston received 668 first-place votes and 2,205 points. He finished 1,501 points ahead of Alabama quarterback AJ McCarron for the seventh-largest margin of victory in Heisman history, despite being left off 115 of the 900 ballots that were returned.

Northern Illinois quarterback Jordan Lynch was third, followed by Boston College's Andre Williams, Texas A&M's Johnny Manziel and Auburn's Tre Mason.

Manziel was the first freshman to win the Heisman, and was trying to join Ohio State's Archie Griffin as a two-time winner.

Instead, Winston made it two freshman winners in the 79-year history of the Heisman. He also became the youngest winner at 23 days short of 20.

The 19-year-old also was investigated last month for a year-old sexual assault complaint, but no charges were filed and the case was closed four days before Heisman votes were due.

"People trusted me and saw us play," Winston said.

Winston is the nation's top-rated passer and has led the top-ranked Seminoles to a spot in the BCS championship game against No. 2 Auburn on Jan. 6, his birthday. The former five-star recruit from Bessemer, Ala., made college football look easy from his very first game. On Labor Day night, on national television, Winston went 25 for 27 for 356 yards and four touchdowns in a victory at Pittsburgh.

It was a brilliant debut that lived up to the offseason hype, when Winston wowed Florida State fans in the Seminoles' spring football game and on the baseball diamond as a hard-throwing reliever and clutch-hitting outfielder.

He had already earned the nickname Famous Jameis before he ever played a college football game.

Winston is the third Seminoles quarterback to win the award, along with Charlie Ward (1993) and Chris Weinke (2000). There was no doubting his on-the-field credentials. —

Heisman voting

Player Points

• Jameis Winston 2,205

QB, Florida State

• AJ McCarron 704 QB, Alabama

• Jordan Lynch 558 QB, N. Illinois

• Andre Williams 470 RB, Boston College• Johnny Manziel 421 QB, Texas A&M• Tre Mason 404

RB, Auburn