The results are in, and the winner of the 2023 Heisman Trophy is none other than Jayden Daniels, quarterback from Louisiana State University (LSU). By week six of the season, Daniels had already captured the attention of the entire country, including the Heisman voters, and continued to put up video game-level numbers the entire year. He wasn’t the only one in contention for this year’s prize.
Heisman Trophy Runners-Up
The runners-up to Daniels were, in order, Michael Penix, Jr. of the University of Washington; Bo Nix from the University of Oregon; and Marvin Harrison, Jr. out of Ohio State University. Each candidate held their own this season with impressive stats and peak performance.
Penix attained second place with 1,701 votes, having finished the year with 4,218 yards with 33 touchdowns to nine interceptions. What stands out most about Penix is that he led his team to a 13-0 record this season (and we will get back to that shortly).
Coming in third place with 885 total votes is Bo Nix. Nix, similar to Penix, finished the season with 4,145 yards but had 40 touchdowns to three interceptions. In addition to being as clean as a quarterback can get with those three interceptions, Nix also led the nation with a 77.2 completion percentage and led the Ducks to an overall 11-2 record.
Finally, Marvin Harrison, Jr. came in fourth place with 352 votes. Harrison is a dominant wide receiver who also won the Biletnikoff award as the top wide receiver in all of college football. Harrison’s presence caused Heisman trophy controversy, but he did put up an elite stat line with 1,211 yards along with 14 touchdowns.
Why Jayden Daniels?
So, what exactly made Jayden Daniels stand out? After all, his overall record of 9-3 without a conference championship would’ve caused most people to count him out of the race.
Well, it all comes down to what exactly it takes to be a Heisman trophy winner. The official definition states that the honor will go to the most outstanding college football player in the United States. Past winners have included players who will be competing in a championship or a playoff game and others who held an undefeated record that year. In certain rare but recent cases, we have seen winners who had three losses (Lamar Jackson in 2016 out of Louisville and Robert Griffin III in 2011 out of Baylor) and even one who had four (Tim Tebow in 2007 from the University of Florida). So, there have been cases in which the voters went with an outstanding college football player who had significant losses, but it doesn’t happen often.
Now insert Jayden Daniels, who threw for 3,812 yards (putting him just behind Penix and Nix for the year) and 40 touchdowns (tied for first) and faced only four interceptions. This is where Daniels separates himself from the pack.
Daniels not only had an elite passing stat line, which, as we can see, is at the top in the country, but he also used his legs. He rushed for 1,134 yards on the ground and had ten touchdowns, both of which were the most by any quarterback. His final stat line combined is responsible for 4,946 total yards and 50 touchdowns. He averaged 10.7 yards per play. Daniels was truly explosive and a threat to any team he played as a passer and a rusher.
Heisman Trophy Controversy
However, controversy arose over Daniels being the 2023 Heisman trophy winner because his team was 9-3 without a conference championship appearance. Those stats may be true, but if you watched the games where they lost, you see that it wasn’t because of Daniels. Unfortunately, despite Daniels doing his part, LSU ranked near the bottom in defense, ultimately costing them the game in those three losses.
Daniels, who started his career as a Sun Devil for Arizona State University, transferred to LSU for the 2022 season under new head coach Brian Kelly and has established himself as a legitimate quarterback who can hang in the SEC. Despite flying under some radars this year, he enshrined himself as an all-time-great in college football setting history as the only Football Bowl Subdivision player ever to throw for more than 12,000 yards and run for more than 3,000 yards in a career in which he ended up with 12,750 yards in the air and 3,307 yards on the ground.
So, who is the most Outstanding College Football Player of the Year in the United States? It is rightfully Jayden Daniels.