Can you believe this is the penultimate edition of the Heisman Watch for 2023? I can’t believe it. Time flies. At this point, I’d say I’ve got it pinned down to three horses left in this race, and all three of them show up in this week’s column: Jayden Daniels, Bo Nix, and Michael Penix Jr.. Outside of those three, we have a few first time features to get to as well.
But, let’s start with Daniels, who had an incredibly prolific night, going 25/30 for 413 yards and six passing touchdowns, with 96 rushing yards and two more scores on the ground. He’s over a thousand yards rushing on the season. His 36 touchdowns lead the FBS, with Nix hot on his heels with 35. Nix became the first Oregon player to throw six touchdowns in the first half of a game in program history on Saturday against Arizona State. He was 24/29 for 404 passing yards and six passing touchdowns as the Ducks routed the Sun Devils 49-13 to get to 10-1. Penix might not have had the prolific stats that Daniels and Nix did, but he easily had the biggest challenge of the Heisman contenders this weekend, going to Oregon State and throwing lasers against a tough defense. He finished the game 13/28 for 168 yards and two touchdowns with a third touchdown on the ground.
Carson Beck deserves a little more love in the Heisman race than he’s getting. Since Georgia has really turned it on in the last month or so, Beck has been an underrated part of the success. He’s now up to 3,320 passing yards on the season, a mark good for 7th in the FBS. He was 24/30 for 298 yards and three touchdowns as the Bulldogs rolled Tennessee 38-10. Elsewhere in the SEC, the Missouri Tigers hung out for a gutsy win against a game Florida Gators squad to stay in the top 10. I couldn’t decide between Brady Cook and Luther Burden III, so I just went with both. Who cares? I make the rules around here on the Heisman Watch. Burden had a critical catch to convert a first down on the final drive of that game. It was one of his nine catches that went for 159 yards. Cook was 20/34 for 331 yards and a touchdown with a rushing touchdown to boot. He’s had an underrated season to this point, throwing for 3,077 yards and posting 25 total touchdowns.
HEISMAN POINTS (WEEK 12)
- Jayden Daniels
- Bo Nix
- Carson Beck
- Michael Penix Jr.
- Luther Burden III/Brady Cook – 1
HEISMAN POINTS (2023 SEASON)
- Jayden Daniels, Bo Nix – 19
- Michael Penix, Jr. – 16
- Marvin Harrison Jr. – 13
- Jordan Travis – 10
- Jalen Milroe, Shedeur Sanders – 8
- Caleb Williams – 7
- Cam Ward – 6
- Quinn Ewers, Dillon Johnson, Drake Maye, Cody Shrader – 5
- Drew Allar, Jermaine Burton, Ray Davis, Trevor Etienne, Jawhar Jordan, J.J. McCarthy, Tyler Van Dyke – 4
- Brock Bowers, Sam Hartman, Travis Hunter, Jase McClellan, Rome Odunze, DJ Uiagalelei – 3
- Keon Coleman, Ollie Gordon II, Taulia Tagovailoa – 2
- Eric Ayomanor, Luther Burden III, Brady Cook, Malachi Corley, Quinshon Judkins – 1
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Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network, and a Dogs Playing Poker on velvet connoisseur. He is a strong supporter of Team GSD, #BeBetter, and ‘Minds right, asses tight.’ “Big Natural” covers the Tennessee Titans, Nashville, Yankee Candle, and a whole wealth of nonsense. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley.
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