Espn
A season-long look at ESPN’s voting
for college football’s most coveted award
It’s all over but the countin’.
After years of moaning over meh Heisman Trophy races, some began to question the relevance of an 88-year-old award “to the most outstanding player in college football” in this ever-changing world of NIL, the transfer portal and an impatient rush toward becoming NFL 2.0.
But look at that bronzed New Yorker, spending this entire 2023 season stiff-arming all that chatter about his demise. How? By joining forces with a roster of young teammates located coast-to-coast and conference-to-conference, throwing and running and catching footballs at a rate so rapid that it has had our Heisman Tracker graphic climbing and falling like the Griswolds on the Screaming Mimi.
From defending Heisman winner Caleb Williams and a sudden gaggle of would-be Pac-12 successors to SEC and Big Ten superstars, most of whom kept their teams in the CFP scrum all season long, who among them do our ESPN panelists believe will be having their photo taken onstage in Manhattan? We asked. They answered. Just as we’ve done every month of this season. Now you can see our final result while we wait for the final final result on Saturday night (8 p.m. ET, ESPN).
Points awarded: 5 for first-place votes, 4 for second, 3 for third, 2 for fourth and 1 for fifth. Odds by ESPN BET.
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Player Stats
passing yards
3,812
235
total tds
50
4
rushing yards
1,134
120
interceptions
4
0
Total votes by Week
- 1st
- 2nd
- 3rd
- 4th
- 5th
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Wk 0: 9 pts (0 first, 2 second, 0 third)
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Wk 6: 4 PTS (0 first, 0 second, 0 third)
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Wk 7: 25 PTS (0 first, 2 second, 0 third)
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Wk 8: 47 PTS (6 first, 2 second, 3 third)
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Wk 9: 51 PTS (4 first, 5 second, 2 third)
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Wk 10: 65 PTS (9 first, 4 second, 1 third)
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Wk 11: 69 PTS (11 first, 2 second, 2 third)
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Wk 12: 70 PTS (11 first, 3 second, 1 third)
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Wk 13: 69 PTS (9 first, 6 second, 0 third)
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Heisman trophy wk: 66 PTS (9 first, 3 second, 3 third)
Heisman-worthy moment
Florida at LSU:
Jayden Daniels throws three touchdowns and runs for two more.
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Player Stats
passing yards
4,218
319
total tds
36
1
Comp. Pct.
65.9%
69.2%
interceptions
9
1
Total votes by Week
- 1st
- 2nd
- 3rd
- 4th
- 5th
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Wk 0: 32 pts (0 first, 2 second, 4 third)
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Wk 1: 40 pts (0 first, 5 second, 3 third)
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Wk 2: 53 pts (2 first, 7 second, 5 third)
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WK 3: 65 PTS (6 first, 8 second, 1 third)
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WK 4: 74 PTS (14 first, 1 second, 0 third)
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Wk 5: 66 PTS (6 first, 9 second, 0 third)
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Wk 6: 70 PTS (10 first, 5 second, 0 third)
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Wk 7: 75 PTS (15 first, 0 second, 0 third)
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Wk 8: 58 PTS (4 first, 8 second, 0 third)
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Wk 9: 61 PTS (7 first, 4 second, 2 third)
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Wk 10: 54 PTS (3 first, 7 second, 2 third)
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Wk 11: 43 PTS (1 first, 4 second, 2 third)
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Wk 12: 39 PTS (0 first, 2 second, 8 third)
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Wk 13: 43 PTS (0 first, 0 second, 13 third)
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Heisman trophy wk: 59 PTS (4 first, 7 second, 3 third)
Heisman-worthy moment
Oregon vs. Washington:
Michael Penix Jr. connects with Jalen McMillan for a 45-yard reception in the Pac-12 title game.
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Player Stats
passing yards
4,145
239
total tds
46
3
comp. pct.
77.2%
61.8%
interceptions
3
1
Total votes by Week
- 1st
- 2nd
- 3rd
- 4th
- 5th
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Wk 0: 2 pts (0 first, 0 second, 0 third)
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Wk 1: 5 pts (0 first, 0 second, 0 third)
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Wk 2: 6 pts (0 first, 0 second, 0 third)
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WK 3: 20 PTS (0 first, 0 second, 2 third)
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WK 4: 37 PTS (0 first, 2 second, 6 third)
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Wk 5: 33 PTS (0 first, 0 second, 8 third)
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Wk 6: 30 PTS (0 first, 1 second, 5 third)
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Wk 7: 25 PTS (0 first, 2 second, 5 third)
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Wk 8: 7 PTS (0 first, 0 second, 1 third)
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Wk 9: 23 PTS (0 first, 3 second, 1 third)
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Wk 10: 21 PTS (0 first, 0 second, 2 third)
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Wk 11: 42 PTS (1 first, 5 second, 2 third)
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Wk 12: 60 PTS (4 first, 7 second, 4 third)
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Wk 13: 66 PTS (6 first, 9 second, 0 third)
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Heisman trophy wk: 52 PTS (2 first, 4 second, 8 third)
Heisman-worthy moment
Oregon State at Oregon:
Bo Nix throws two touchdowns and runs for another in the first half against rival Oregon State.
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Player Stats
passing yards
2,718
192
total tds
35
2
rushing yards
468
29
interceptions
6
0
Total votes by Week
- 1st
- 2nd
- 3rd
- 4th
- 5th
-
Wk 11: 1 PT (0 first, 0 second, 0 third)
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Wk 13: 1 PT (0 first, 0 second, 0 third)
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Heisman trophy wk: 18 PTS (0 first, 0 second, 0 third)
Heisman-worthy moment
Alabama at Auburn:
Jalen Milroe finds Isaiah Bond on fourth-and-31 to save Bama’s season.
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Player Stats
receiving yards
1,211
118
total touchdowns
15
1
receptions
67
5
yards per catch
18.1
23.6
Total votes by Week
- 1st
- 2nd
- 3rd
- 4th
- 5th
-
Wk 0: 27 pts (1 first, 1 second, 2 third)
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Wk 1: 5 pts (0 first, 0 second, 0 third)
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Wk 2: 3 pts (0 first, 0 second, 1 third)
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WK 3: 1 PT (0 first, 0 second, 0 third)
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Wk 7: 2 PTS (0 first, 0 second, 0 third)
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Wk 8: 39 PTS (2 first, 2 second, 4 third)
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Wk 9: 41 PTS (3 first, 1 second, 6 third)
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Wk 10: 41 PTS (3 first, 2 second, 5 third)
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Wk 11: 49 PTS (2 first, 4 second, 7 third)
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Wk 12: 32 PTS (0 first, 3 second, 2 third)
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Wk 13: 13 PTS (0 first, 0 second, 2 third)
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Heisman trophy wk: 16 PTS (0 first, 1 second, 1 third)
Heisman-worthy moment
Michigan State at Ohio State:
Marvin Harrison Jr. scores three touchdowns — two on receptions, another running.
Espn Looking ahead
As Marvin Harrison Jr. mulls over that last request, we now look ahead to the Heisman Trophy race of 2024. Will Jalen Milroe indeed be the favorite to bring Bama its fifth Heisman since 2009 after going 0-for-72? Will Michigan’s J.J. McCarthy, who spent a huge chunk of this season on the Tracker, return to Ann Arbor with an eye on joining Desmond Howard, Charles Woodson and Tom Harmon in the Blue Heisman club? Will Dillon Gabriel make a Heisman run from what is expected to be his third FBS school? Or will someone we haven’t even thought of be making a climb up our fancy digital Heisman Tracker hill one year from now? If 2023 has taught us anything, it’s that we have no idea what might happen. Reports of the bronze footballer’s demise were most definitely exaggerated. Not only is Mr. Heisman not outdated, he would appear to be just getting started.
Best of the Rest: Quinn Ewers, QB, Texas; Carson Beck, QB, Georgia; Rome Odunze, WR, Washington; Jordan Travis, QB, Florida State
