Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield goes from walk-on to Heisman Trophy winner

Reporting from New York —  In a college football season full of surprises, the Heisman Trophy turned out to be utterly predictable.

Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield took the award as the 2017 season’s best player — as expected — at an award ceremony Saturday evening in New York.

Leading the No. 2 Sooners to the playoffs, Mayfield was the most efficient passer in the nation and ranked second with 4,340 passing yards and 41 passing touchdowns.

His often-spectacular play made him a landslide winner with more than 78% of the first-place votes, overshadowing the controversy over a lewd gesture he made toward opposing players late in the season.

“This is unbelievable for me,” he said during an ESPN telecast of the ceremony. “It’s something words can’t even describe. It’s such an honor.”

Stanford running back Bryce Love, who soldiered through the late season despite painful injuries, finished second. Last season’s winner, Louisville quarterback Lamar Jackson, was third.

More than 900 voters, including 870 media members and 58 former Heisman winners, selected the top player after a season filled with upsets and poll shifts.

Mayfield, who finished third in last fall’s balloting, became the first Heisman winner to begin his career as a walk-on. Early on, he transferred from Texas Tech.

Considered a heavy favorite in recent weeks, he suffered a bump in the road when television cameras caught him gesturing toward the opposing sideline in a mid-November game against Kansas.

The fifth-year senior publicly apologized and was suspended for the start of Oklahoma’s next game against West Virginia.

“It’s been a long journey,” he said Saturday. “To all the Sooner fans back home … it’s been a dream come true.”

Oklahoma will face No. 3 Georgia in the Rose Bowl on Jan. 1.

david.wharton@latimes.com

Twitter: @LATimesWharton