Jayden Daniels breezes to Heisman win: LSU quarterback becomes third player in school history to win award, followed by Penix, Nix and Harrison

LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels won the Heisman Trophy from Michael Penix Jr. on Saturday in New York City. from Washington, Bo Nix from Oregon and Marvin Harrison Jr. from Ohio State.

Daniels became LSU's third Heisman recipient, and he did so comfortably with 503 first-place votes. Penix, Nix and Harrison finished with 292, 51 and 20 votes respectively. Daniels also finished with 2,029 total points, while Penix trailed with 1,701.

In his speech, Daniels expressed his gratitude and said the milestone wouldn't be possible without his teammates.

“I want to thank my teammates, from Arizona to LSU,” Daniels said. 'You are my brothers, you work so hard every day and inspire me to be the best I can be. The truth is, I will really miss you all. Having future NFL players on my team makes my job seem easy.

“My recipients always say they're like Waffle House, they're always open.”

Jayden Daniels became the third LSU player to win the prestigious Heisman Trophy

Daniels won the award over fellow finalists Michael Penix Jr., Bo Nix and Marvin Harrison Jr.

This year's finalists include three quarterbacks, Daniels, Penix and Nix, who transferred to their respective schools and found success.

Penix played the past two seasons at Washington after four years at Indiana. This season, Penix recorded at least 300 passing yards in each of No. 2-ranked Washington's first six games. Penix also threw at least four touchdowns in four of those six games. The Huskies' facilitator paid tribute to his team on Saturday by including the names of his teammates on his suit.

Nix broke a family tradition when he left Auburn after three years to complete his collegiate career at Oregon. In his second season with the Ducks, Nix became the second-best quarterback in the NCAA in passer rating at 186.2 percent and passing yards with 4,145.

Harrison is the only non-quarterback and non-transfer finalist for the Heisman. The Ohio State wide receiver finished ninth in receiving yards with 1,221 and ranks second in touchdowns with 14.

After reading special messages to his coaches and parents, Daniels took time to inspire kids to keep fighting for their ambitions.

“I want to dedicate this award to every boy and girl who has a dream,” Daniels said. “With faith and hard work you never know what is possible.”

Daniels thanked his parents, coaches and teammates after accepting the Heisman Trophy

Daniels went on to discuss the adversities he faced on his way to winning the Heisman.

'They said I was too skinny, so I put on weight. They said I was too quiet. I got louder and stepped out of my comfort zone and now here I am today,” Daniels added. “I learned how to shut out the noise, how to overcome any obstacle and just be humble, be legendary and most of all be happy with what you do.”

Daniels played three seasons at Arizona State and no one saw him as a potential Heisman Trophy finalist.

But after the 2021 season, he transferred to LSU and a sudden transformation took place. The highly athletic Daniels became a dual-threat force. The exclamation point was Daniels' huge performance in 2023, which thrust him into the role of favorite to win the Heisman.

At LSU, Daniels is enjoying a monstrous 2023 season. He leads the nation in total offense (4,946) and has accounted for 50 touchdowns. He passed for 3,812 yards, 40 touchdowns and four interceptions and rushed for 1,134 yards and 10 scores.

His signature game was a 52–35 victory over Florida on November 11, when he accounted for 606 yards (372 passing, 234 rushing) and became the first player in FBS history to pass for 350 in the same game and rush for 200.

Daniels is the third Tigers player to win the Heisman, following running back Billy Cannon in 1959 and quarterback Joe Burrow in 2019.