For the second time in the past five years, an LSU quarterback has won college football’s highest honor.
Tigers signal-caller Jayden Daniels was awarded the Heisman Trophy on Saturday evening in New York over fellow finalists Ohio State wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr., Oregon quarterback Bo Nix and Washington quarterback Michael Penix Jr.
Daniels, 22, is LSU’s third Heisman Trophy winner in program history. He joins running back Billy Cannon in 1959 and quarterback Joe Burrow in 2019.
Both Cannon and Burrow helped the Tigers reach major bowl games. Daniels’s Heisman-winning campaign, however, was unique for what he achieved in spite of LSU’s relatively pedestrian record.
The Tigers went 9–3 this season, making Daniels only the fourth 21st-century winner of the award from a team with three or more regular-season losses. In that category, he joins Florida quarterback Tim Tebow in 2007, Baylor quarterback Robert Griffin III in 2011 and Louisville quarterback Lamar Jackson in 2016.
The San Bernardino, Calif., native’s statistical line jumped off the page even as LSU struggled at times this season. He finished 2023 with 3,812 passing yards, 40 passing touchdowns against just four interceptions, 1,134 rushing yards and 10 rushing touchdowns.
Daniels led FBS in passing touchdowns, passing yards per attempt, passing efficiency (an all-time record 208.01), and rushing yards per attempt.
This was Daniels’s second season with the Tigers following his transfer from Arizona State on March 6, 2022. He threw 32 touchdowns against 13 interceptions in three seasons with the Sun Devils, and 17 touchdowns against three interceptions in '22.
Like Nix and Penix, Daniels has played five collegiate seasons, embodying the pandemic-era phenomenon of the old college quarterback. Ironically, Daniels was the youngest of the three quarterback finalists, as both Nix and Penix are 23.
Daniels’s most memorable individual performance came Nov. 11 in No. 18 LSU’s 52-35 win over the Gators. He passed for 372 yards and three touchdowns while running for 234 yards and two scores—one of seven 300-yard games through the air and four 100-yard games on the ground this season.
The newly crowned Heisman winner’s Tigers are scheduled to play Wisconsin in the ReliaQuest Bowl on New Year’s Day.
