The 2023 Heisman Award came down to four of the best college football players: LSU QB Jayden Daniels, Oregon QB Bo Nix, Washington QB Michael Penix Jr., and Ohio State WR Marvin Harrison Jr.
All three of the quarterback options were former transfers who had played at least five years. Two of those options came out of the Pac-12, which as of now appears to be coming to an end. That is unless Washington State and Oregon State can add more teams within two years. It marks the first time since 2010 that the Pac-12 had two finalists, when Stanford Andrew Luck was the runner-up to Auburn’s Cam Newton and Oregon’s LaMichael James.
The 2023 Heisman Award was announced at 5 P.M. PST/ 8 P.M. ET. All Candidates had an appealing case but the voting committee has chosen Jayden Daniels. Who will be the successor to the 2022 Heisman and potential No. 1 Overall Pick Caleb Williams. For most of the season Williams, Nix and Penix were the favorites to win. However, within the final weeks of the regular season Daniels pulled himself ahead of the other candidates. He was the only candidate of the quarterbacks to have over 1,000 rushing yards. Not only that but he had nearly 4,000 yards through the air.
Final Votes:
Heisman Winner – Daniels (539 first place, 2,029 total points)
Runner Up – Penix (292 first place, 1,701 total points)
Third Place – Nix (51 first place, 885 total points)
Fourth Place – Harrison (20 first place, 352 total points)
The 2023 Heisman award race was the closest its ever been. Congrats to all of the deserving candidates.
Daniels began his career at Arizona State before transferring to Baton Rouge in 2022. During the 2023 season he led all of FBS players in QBR (95.7), yards per attempt (11.7, and FBS record) and passing touchdowns (40). He accounted for 4,946 yards of total offense (3,812 passing yards, 1,134 rushing yards) and 50 total touchdowns.
For the second year in a row and the fourth time in the past seven years, a transfer quarterback has won the Heisman Trophy. Daniels becomes the third LSU player ever to win the award (Billy Cameron in 1959 and Joe Burrow in 2019).
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