The College Football regular season concluded with Army defeating Navy 17-11 to win the Commander in Chief, meaning it was time to award the Heisman Trophy. On Saturday night, it was announced that Jayden Daniels, LSU Tigers Quarterback, had won the Heisman Trophy as the best player in college football.
The 2023 Heisman Trophy Winner
That Kid
No. 5 Jayden Daniels pic.twitter.com/S0yjfS9cyy— LSU Football (@LSUfootball) December 10, 2023
Though LSU did not make the College Football Playoff or play in the conference championship game, there was no doubt who the best player in College Football was this season. Daniels was first in total offense, passing TDs, TDs responsible for yards per pass attempt, yards per play, and rushing yards by a QB, and has the highest pass efficiency rating in FBS history.
Daniels edged Washington quarterback Michael Penix Jr., Oregon quarterback Bo Nix, and Ohio State wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. for college football’s most prestigious individual honor.
Penix Jr and Nix had a chance to move past Daniels in the Pac-12 Championship game, but neither player put up ridiculous stats in that game. Thus, it was easy for Heisman voters to award the trophy to Daniels.
Daniels is the second quarterback from LSU to win the Heisman Trophy in the last five years. Joe Burrow won the award during a prolific 2019 season that saw the Tigers win the National Championship. In addition, Daniels is the third player from the program to win the award. Along with Burrow, he joins running back Billy Cannon, who brought home the award in 1959. That’s a long time ago.
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Daniels’ 328-point margin over Penix was the closest since 2018, when Oklahoma’s Kyler Murray beat Tua Tagovailoa by 296 points.
The Heisman win caps a great final season for Daniels in College Football. Daniels transferred to LSU in 2022 after three seasons at Arizona State. He emerged as one of the SEC’s premier quarterbacks if not the premier quarterback, last season. While the Tigers did not make the playoff or SEC Championship Game, he guided the Tigers to a 9-3 record.
Again, Daniels had notable “Heisman” moments this season. Not to mention, as previously mentioned, his stats were the best in the game. Daniels totaled 3,812 yards passing with 40 touchdowns and just four interceptions while adding 1,134 yards and 10 touchdowns as a rusher. He joined Johnny Manziel as the only player to throw for over 3,500 yards and rush for over 1,000 yards.
While Daniels’ 317.7 yards passing per game ranked slightly behind fellow finalists Penix (324.5) and Nix (318.8), his passing efficiency mark of 208.0 ranked first nationally by a landslide entering bowl season.
There was no doubt Jayden Daniels was the best player in College Football this season.
2023 Heisman Trophy voting
- Jayden Daniels, QB, LSU: 2,029 points (503 first-place votes)
- Michael Penix Jr., QB, Washington: 1,701 points (292 first-place votes)
- Bo Nix, QB, Oregon: 885 points (51 first-place votes)
- Marvin Harrison Jr., WR, Ohio State: 352 points (20 first-place votes)
- Jordan Travis, QB, Florida State: 85 points (8 first-place votes)
- Jalen Milroe, QB, Alabama: 73 points (4 first-place votes)
- Ollie Gordon II, RB, Oklahoma State: 31 points (1 first-place vote)
- Cody Schrader, RB, Missouri: 29 points (1 first-place vote)
- Blake Corum, RB, Michigan: 28 points (3 first-place votes)
- J.J. McCrathy, QB, Michigan: 21 points (1 first-place vote)