December is upon us, and that means the end of the college football season is in sight. The regular season for NCAA football has just wrapped up, and the committee is starting to make their looks for the lucky four to make the college football playoff. With Playoffs comes awards, and the biggest award in all of college sports is the coveted Heisman Trophy.
The Heisman Trophy is the annual award for the most outstanding college football player. The Heisman was created in 1934 by sculptor Frank Eliscu, who modeled the trophy after former high school classmate and former NFL running back Ed Smith. Smith never got the chance to achieve Heisman status, formerly known as the Downtown Athletic Club at that time, but it should be noted he would have if the award had been created just a year prior.
Jay Berwagner, a running back from the University of Chicago, was the first winner of the Heisman Trophy. Berwagner rushed for 577 yards, threw for 405 yards, returned kicks, scored six touchdowns, and kicked five extra points that season. Berwagner would go on to create more history as he was the first-ever draft pick of the NFL in 1936 by the Philadelphia Eagles.
There have been 85 unique winners of the award, the only two-time winner being Archie Griffin, a running back from Ohio State University. Griffin won it in succession in 1974 and ’75.
The Heisman is voted upon in three different ways; the first is through sports journalists. Sports journalists are given a vote as there are 145 hand-picked to vote from each of the six regions, which totals up to 870 media votes. Journalists are said to be “informed, competent, and impartial” and are the shoulders that the Heisman falls on every season.
The next category is previous Heisman Winners. According to Hesiman.com, 57 Hesiman winners are eligible to vote. A previous recipient of the award doesn’t have to vote, nor will they lose the right to vote if they choose not to in any given year. Every past winner is allowed one vote unless you are in the running like USC’s QB Caleb Williams, last year’s winner, still is.
The final voting category is You. The Heisman ceremony is partnered with Nissan every year, and Nissan is allowed one vote and gives it to the fans. To vote, go to ESPN.com and fill out the survey listed as NissanHeismanHouse.com at the end of November to cast your vote. The majority of the votes come together to give the public’s favorite candidate an extra leg up.
As we get to the end of the season, College Football’s best and brightest have been putting on a show. Michael Penix Jr., QB, Washington; Bo Nix, QB, Oregon; and Jayden Daniels, QB, LSU all headline as possible candidates. Only 34 men of all time have won the award as Quarterbacks. With that being said, at the turn of this century, only four players won it as non-quarterbacks. Reggie Bush, RB, USC in 2005; Mark Ingram, RB, Alabama in 2009; Derrick Henry, RB, Alabama, in 2015; DeVonta Smith, WR, Alabama, in 2020.
As it has been in recent history, we have three candidates this season, all Quarterbacks. These are the three most sought-after football players in the nation fighting for the most prestigious award in Collegiate sports.
Michael Penix Jr., QB, Washington. The Senior signal caller at the University of Washington put the country on watch out of nowhere. Penix Jr. transferred to the U of Washington in 2022 from Indiana University as a redshirt Junior. Penix Jr. hit the ground running in Seattle as the Junior gunslinger led the Huskies to an 11-2 record behind his 4,641 passing yards and 31 passing touchdowns on a 65.3% completion percentage. Penix Jr. finished eighth in Heisman voting last season and won AP Comeback Player of the Year. This fall is no different, as Penix Jr. has 3,899 passing yards and 32 passing touchdowns on a 65.6% completion percentage. The Heisman hopeful led the Huskies to huge wins this fall over 24th-ranked USC, 11th-ranked Oregon State, and 8th-ranked Oregon. Penix Jr. finds himself trailing in the race as he is seen as the public’s third favorite option.
Jayden Daniels of LSU is seen as another Heisman hopeful. Daniels started his senior campaign at home, totaling 410 all-purpose yards against Florida State. Daniels built off his week one performance and finished the regular season with 4,946 all-purpose yards, 1,134 of them being on the ground. With that tally, Daniels sported an impressive 50 total touchdowns, 40 of them being through the air. The fifth-year senior put himself on the map this fall through his significant development from past years. Daniels, in his collegiate career, played three seasons for Arizona State and last year for LSU. In those four seasons, Daniels never threw over 3,000 yards for a year; he never threw more than 17 touchdown passes and threw more passing attempts in those years. Daniels led the Tigers to a 9-3 record, beating six conference opponents (Mississippi State, Arkansas, Missouri, Auburn, Florida, and Texas A&M). Daniels has quite the resume and is seen as a close second favorite in the race.
The third and final candidate for the Heisman Trophy is Oregon signal caller Bo Nix. Nix, a fifth-year senior at Oregon, spent his first three years at Auburn and has only been a Duck the past two years. Last season, Nix put up an eerily similar line as he produced this fall, but has progressed this season. Nix threw for 313 more yards this year on a seven percent better completion rate, alongside eight more touchdown passes, and threw five fewer interceptions. This year, Nix has thrown for 3,906 yards on a 78.6% completion rate, throwing 37 touchdowns and only throwing an interception twice. Nix led the Ducks to an 11-1 record, beating three top-25 opponents in Colorado, Utah, and in-state rival Oregon State. The only loss Nix and the Ducks have endured was at the hands of conference rival Michael Penix Jr. and the Huskies in a week six shootout 36-33. Luckily for Nix, the Ducks face the Huskies for the Pac-12 Championship on Friday, December 1st, at 8 pm to look to get back into the college football playoffs and secure the Heisman Trophy. Nix is currently seen as the favorite and could lock that up with an impressive Pac-12 championship win and a playoff berth.
Every candidate has quite the resume and has their reason to be considered for this prestigious honor. There are two possible outcomes for the Hesiamn. The first outcome is Bo Nix and the Ducks beat Washington on December 1st, and could consider himself the newest Heisman recipient. Or second is Michael Penix Jr. beats the Ducks at home once again this year. In this case, you could draw names out of a hat and decide the winner. It is that close.
Heisman Winner Prediction: Bo Nix, QB, Oregon
Even though it seems to be a tight race, Bo Nix has the upper hand, and the consensus seems to be there would need to be a lot more to go wrong for Nix than for it to go right for any other candidate.
