2023 Heisman Trophy: How to watch and everything you need to know about finalists ahead of winner’s ceremony

CNN
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It is the pinnacle of individual achievement for a college football player and a lot of the all-time greats over the years have won it.

From legendary quarterbacks like Matt Leinart and Roger Staubach to explosive running backs such as Bo Jackson and Barry Sanders, the Heisman Trophy winners list reads like a who’s who of college football.

Following the announcement of the 2023 finalists – Jayden Daniels, Marvin Harrison Jr., Bo Nix and Michael Penix Jr. – here’s everything you need to know about the ceremony.

The winner of the 2023 Heisman Trophy will be announced on Saturday, December 9 at 8 p.m. ET from the Appel Room in the Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City.

Viewers can follow the coverage on ESPN in the US.

A career in football was always a possibility for Marvin Harrison Jr. given who his dad is.

His father is Pro Football Hall of Fame wide receiver Marvin Harrison and the youngster has carried the ‘explosive, dominant wide receiver’ family tag on with aplomb.

The six-foot-four, 21-year-old has enjoyed a fruitful 2023 campaign, finishing with 1,211 receiving yards and 14 receiving touchdowns – he is tied for second across the country for most touchdown receptions.

In his three seasons with the Buckeyes, he has been one of the most productive pass-catching weapons in all of college football, vaulting himself into some lofty company in the program’s history books.

According to Ohio StateHarrison Jr. is sixth all-time in receptions (155), sixth in receiving yards (2,613), first in 100-yard games (15) and third in touchdown catches (31) in program history.

On Friday, he won the Fred Biletnikoff Award – given to the best wide receiver in college football – and has already been awarded the Big Ten Conference’s Offensive Player of the Year and Wide Receiver of the Year gongs.

He is the first player to have multiple 1,000-yard receiving seasons for Ohio State. His streak of eight consecutive games with a touchdown reception and eight 100-yard games this season are both school records.

If Harrison Jr. wins on Saturday evening, he would be the eighth Heisman winner in Ohio State history, giving the Buckeyes the most in college football.

Although he reportedly remains undecided about declaring for the 2024 NFL Draft, Harrison Jr. has established himself as the cream of the crop amongst wide receivers in the college game.

Bo Nix peaked right at the last moment.

In his fifth and final season of eligibility as a member of the Oregon Ducks, Nix has enjoyed his best season yet, leading his program to a No. 8 ranking with an 11-2 record and a spot in the Fiesta Bowl against the Liberty Flames.

In his second year with Oregon, the 23-year-old quarterback leads the country with his 77.2% completion percentage, meaning he is within touching distance of Mac Jones’ NCAA single-season record of 77.4% he set in 2020 with one final game remaining.

Nix ranks second nationally in most passing statistics in college football – including passing yards per game, passing yards, passer rating and total touchdowns – as he completes “one of the greatest seasons in program history,” according to the Oregon website.

Nix’s Heisman nomination is the culmination of an experienced college football career after previously transferring from Auburn to Oregon.

Although Nix – the most experienced starting quarterback in NCAA history with 60 career starts – has only played two seasons with Oregon, he ranks third in program history in career passing touchdowns (69), third in rushing touchdowns by a quarterback (20), fifth in completions (630), fifth in passing yards (7,738) and the Heisman finalist is tied for seventh in wins (21).

He is looking to become the second member of the Ducks to win the award after Marcus Mariota did so in 2014.

Jayden Daniels – another transfer student having arrived from Arizona State in 2022 – has arguably been the most in-form player in college football this season and he is being rewarded for it.

The 22-year-old has already been named the SEC Offensive Player of the Year by the conference’s coaches, as well as being given the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award as the top quarterback in college football who most exemplifies achievement both on and off the field.

He is in lofty company at LSU, joining 2019 Heisman Trophy winner and former LSU star Joe Burrow as the program’s SEC Offensive Player of the Year Award recipients.

Daniels enjoyed a stellar personal 2023 season for the Tigers, leading the nation in most statistics for a quarterback.

He led the country in total offense with 412.2 yards per game, as well as passing touchdowns (40), total touchdowns (50) and rushing yards by a quarterback (1,134). He finished with an astounding 4,946 total yards of offense this season.

According to LSUDaniels’ 412.2 total yards per game are more than 85 Division I teams and his 50 total touchdowns are more than 91 teams scored this year and he has the highest pass efficiency rating (208.01) in Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) – the highest tier of college football – history.

Yet another transfer student – arriving from Indiana in late December 2021 – Michael Penix Jr. has helped lead the Washington Huskies on a remarkable charge.

The Huskies finished with a 13-0 record, the Pac-12 Championship to their name and a spot in the College Football Playoff, where they face off against the Texas Longhorns on January 1 in the Sugar Bowl.

All the while, Penix Jr. has led from the front, masterminding the team’s offense with his big arm, finishing as the nation’s leader in passing yards. Penix Jr. finished with 4,218 passing yards and 33 passing touchdowns in 2023.

He boasts a 24-2 record in his two seasons as the team’s starter as he looks to give Washington its third ever claimed National Championship.

Penix Jr. is also hoping to become the first Heisman Trophy winner in Washington’s history. He joins Steve Emtman – who finished fourth in 1991 voting – as the only Huskies to be named a finalist.