Lee Daniels, a quarterback for LSU, is the clear favorite for winning the Heisman Trophy.
Jayden Daniels of LSU won the sport’s most important individual award on Saturday night. He had a season with 50 touchdowns and 4,946 yards for offense (3,812 passing yards and 1,134 rushing yards).
He started his college career that Arizona State and then transferred to Baton Rouge in 2022.
Daniels won with 503 first-place votes and a total of 2,029 points, beating out Ohio State receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. (20 first-place votes, 352 total points), two other quarterback transfers from Washington State (Michael Penix Jr., 292 first-place votes, 1,701 total points), and Oregon’s Bo Nix (51 first-place votes, 885 total points).
The ceremony took place at Lincoln Center in New York City. Jordan Travis from Florida State came in fifth place after getting eight first-place votes, which added up to 85 points.
The tightest Heisman vote was between Daniels and Penix by 328 points. The last time this happened was in 2018, if Oklahoma’s Kyler Murray took with 2,167 points over Alabama’s Tua Tagovailoa’s 1,871 points.
For Daniels, getting the Heisman was like “a dream come true.” “I want to thank all my teammates, to Arizona State to LSU,” he said. “I call you brothers.” Every day, you work so hard that it makes me want to do my best.
Daniels, a 22-year-old to San Bernardino, California, was the first player since 2016 to win a Heisman while playing for a team that didn’t win its conference.
There is a bowl game between the No. 13 Tigers and Wisconsin on January 1. Daniels has not yet chosen if he will play.
Daniels told the LSU fans, “I really wish I had the opportunity to brought you back another championship.” Daniel has gotten better as a runner every season as he started college. In 2023, he had more than three times as many running yards as he did in 2019.
Daniels threw for more yards per attempt (11.7), scores (40), and completions of 20 yards or more (70) than any other FBS player.
His QBR was 95.7. His completion rate of 72.2% was seventh best in the country, and his 412.2% average overall yards per game was the best, 74 yards more than his next best player.
Daniels ran for more yards than all but 25 other running backs combined. He was placed fourth in the FBS for running backs in an average of 8.4 yards per carry.
Even though LSU qb Jayden Daniels wasn’t in the running for the Heisman Trophy, he had a great season that voters were unable to overlook.
The player, who moved to Arizona State to LSU in 2022 and is now in his fifth year, got 503 first-place votes as well as 2,029 points.
Saturday night, Daniels won the Heisman Trophy. He is the first star since 2016 to take home college football’s top player of the year award while on a team that didn’t win a conference title.
Second place went to Michael Penix Jr. of Washington, who got 292 first-place votes and 1,701 points.
Third place went to Bo Nix of Oregon, who got 51 points and 885 votes, making all three of the top three players transfer quarterbacks. Fourth place went to Ohio State wide Marvin Harrison Jr. (20, 352).
On December 18, Daniels will turn 23 years old. This week, he won AP Player Award of the Year. As a whole, he is LSU’s third Heisman winner. The first was for running back Billy Cannon in 1959.
Daniels has become the fifth quarterback within the last seven years to win the Heisman after moving. The other four were Caleb Williams of USC last year and Joe Burrow of LSU in 2019.
“I want to thank all my colleagues, from Arizona State to LSU,” he said. “I call you brothers.” Every day, you strive so hard that it makes me want to do my best.
Burrow led LSU to the national title, and Cannon’s team was very close, coming in third place in the country.
The Tigers (9-3) lost two games in the very first six weeks and fell out of the race, but Daniels wasn’t to blame. Daniels told the LSU fans, “I really wish I had the opportunity to brought your back another championship.”
He ran and passed so well that every week, the best attack in the country grew. Daniels had 50 touchdowns, 3,812 yards passing, and 1,134 yards running in 12 games during the regular season.
With an amazing 10.71 yards per play, he is getting 412 yards per game, which is the most in the country.
Lamar Jackson of Louisville was the final contestant to win a Heisman on a team who lost three games as well as didn’t play for a title. Daniels did even better than Jackson.
Even though Daniels had a great game with 382 yards and three scores, LSU lost to Alabama within early November and was eliminated to the Southeastern Conference race.
Daniels fell out of the running for the playoffs, but his success kept getting people’s attention.
He was the first college football player in history to throw for at least 350 yards and run for at least 200 yards in the same game. Against the Gators, he had a total of 606 yards.
During the game within Baton Rouge, Louisiana, his friends pushed him to make a Heisman pose.
After that performance, Daniels said he began to think that winning the Heisman was possible.