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Jayden Daniels’ Heisman Trophy gives SEC record number of winners
By Paul Harvey
Published:
Jayden Daniels is the winner of the 2023 Heisman Trophy, bringing another Heisman back to LSU as the most outstanding player in all of college football.
Overall, Daniels is the third LSU player to take home the Heisman. He’s also the second Tiger in the past 5 seasons to capture the honor, joining Joe Burrow and his 2019 Heisman for LSU.
Daniels’ win was far from a landslide in the final voting numbers. It proved to be the closest vote since 2018 with Daniels capturing the award over Washington’s Michael Penix Jr.
The win by Daniels also carries historical significance for the SEC. According to SEC Network analyst Cole Cubelic, Daniels is the 16th winner of the Heisman Trophy from the SEC. That breaks a tie with the Big Ten which has produced 15 winners overall.
Jayden Daniels is the 16th @HeismanTrophy winner from the @SEC
That breaks a tie with the Big Ten for most by a conference.
— Cole Cubelic (@colecubelic) December 10, 2023
Daniels adds to a dominant stretch of Heisman winners for the SEC. Going back to 2019, the SEC has taken home 4 of the last 5 Heismans with Joe Burrow (2019) and Alabama’s DeVonta Smith (2020) and Bryce Young (2021) also winning the Heisman in that span.
Since the 2006 season, the SEC has produced a total of 9 Heisman Trophy winners. In that same time span, the Big Ten has produced just one Heisman winner with Ohio State QB Troy Smith winning the award in 2006.
Paul Harvey lives in Atlanta and covers SEC football.