For the second year in a row and the fifth time in the past seven years, a transfer quarterback has won the Heisman Trophy.
LSU‘s Jayden Daniels, who began his college career at Arizona State before transferring to Baton Rouge in 2022, won the sport’s most prestigious award Saturday night after accounting for 4,946 yards of offense (3,812 passing yards, 1,134 rushing yards) and 50 total touchdowns this season.
Daniels received 503 first-place votes and 2,029 total points to edge out two fellow transfer quarterbacks in Washington‘s Michael Penix Jr. (292 first-place, 1,701 total) and Oregon ‘s Bo Nix (51 first-place, 885 total), as well as Ohio State wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. (20 first-place, 352 total) in a ceremony held at Lincoln Center in New York City. Florida State‘s Jordan Travis placed fifth after receiving eight first-place votes for 85 total points.
Daniels’ 328-point margin of victory over Penix marked the closest Heisman voting since 2018, when Oklahoma’s Kyler Murray won with 2,167 points over Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa’s 1,871.
Daniels said winning the Heisman was “a dream come true.”
“I want to thank all my teammates, from Arizona State to LSU,” Daniels said. “You’re my brothers. You work so hard every day, inspiring me to be my best.”
Daniels, a 22-year-old from San Bernardino, California, is the first player since 2016 to win the Heisman as part of a team that did not play for a conference title. The No. 13 Tigers will play Wisconsin in the ReliaQuest Bowl on Jan. 1, though Daniels has not yet decided if he will play.
“I really wish I could have brought you back another championship,” Daniels said as he thanked the LSU fans.
Daniels led all FBS players in QBR (95.7), yards per attempt (11.7, an FBS record) and passing touchdowns (40), as well as completions of 20 yards or more (70). His 72.2 completion percentage was seventh in the nation, while his total offensive yards per game (412.2) were first, 74 yards better than the next best player.
As a runner, Daniels was topped by only 25 running backs in yards per game, and his 8.4 rushing yards per attempt was good enough for fourth in FBS among all running backs. In every season since he first entered college, Daniels has improved upon his output as a runner, more than tripling his 2019 rushing yards total in 2023.
A four-star recruit out of Cajon High School in San Bernardino, Daniels first committed to ASU in 2018 before winning the starting quarterback job heading into the Sun Devils’ 2019 season. He was the first true freshman to be a starting quarterback in the history of the program.
Daniels’ time in Tempe featured some highs — a freshman campaign that featured 2,943 yards and 17 touchdowns — as well as some lows, including a 10-interception season in 2021. Before that season began, the NCAA announced Arizona State was under investigation for several potential recruiting violations.
Following the 2021 season at ASU, Daniels announced he would be transferring to LSU, who had just hired Brian Kelly as its head coach. During his first season as a Tiger, Daniels led LSU to nine wins and the SEC Championship game while throwing for 2,774 yards and running for 818 more.
But even with Daniels at the helm after making a substantial leap in his fifth year, LSU couldn’t improve upon its 2022 season, once again winning nine regular-season games. This year, that was not good enough to make it to the conference championship.
Yet when it came to the Heisman, Daniels’ statistics were far too impressive to ignore. Daniels is the second player in FBS history with 40 pass TDs, 10 rush TDs and 1,000 rushing yards in a season — the other being Heisman Trophy winner Kyler Murray in 2018. Though the Heisman only encapsulates this season, Daniels’ honor is also somewhat a career achievement award. He is the first player in FBS history to reach 12,000 career passing yards and 3,000 career rushing yards.
Daniels is the third LSU player to ever win the Heisman (Billy Cannon in 1959 and Joe Burrow in 2019) as well as the third straight quarterback to win the award and the seventh in the last eight years.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
The days leading up to the 2025 NHL trade deadline were a furious final sprint as contenders looked to stock up for a postseason run while rebuilding clubs added prospects and draft capital.
After the overnight Brock Nelson blockbuster Thursday, Friday lived up to expectations, with Mikko Rantanen, Brad Marchand and other high-profile players finishing the day on different teams than they started with. All told, NHL teams made 24 trades on deadline day involving 47 players.
Which teams and players won the day? Who might not feel as well about the situation after trade season? Reporters Ryan S. Clark, Kristen Shilton and Greg Wyshynski identify the biggest winners and losers of the 2025 NHL trade deadline:
There are some who saw what the Carolina Hurricanes did at the trade deadline — or perhaps failed to do after they traded Mikko Rantanen — and believe they’re cooked when it comes to the Stanley Cup playoffs. However, based on the projections from Stathletes, the Canes remain the team with the highest chances of winning the Cup, at 16.7%.
Standing before them on Sunday are the Winnipeg Jets (5 p.m. ET, ESPN+). The Jets had a relatively quiet deadline, adding Luke Schenn and Brandon Tanev, though sometimes these additions are the types of small tweaks that can push a contender over the edge. As it stands, the Jets enter their showdown against the Canes with the sixth-highest Cup chances, at 8.7%.
Carolina has made two trips to the Cup Final: a loss to the Detroit Red Wings in 2002 and a win over the Edmonton Oilers in 2006. The Canes have reached the conference finals three times since (2009, 2019, 2023). Winnipeg has yet to make the Cup Final, and was defeated 4-1 in the 2018 Western Conference finals by the Vegas Golden Knights in the club’s lone trip to the penultimate stage.
Both clubs are due. Will this be their year?
There is a lot of runway left until the final day of the season on April 17, and we’ll help you keep track of it all here on the NHL playoff watch. As we traverse the final stretch, we’ll provide detail on all the playoff races — along with the teams jockeying for position in the 2025 NHL draft lottery.
Points: 43 Regulation wins: 12 Playoff position: N/A Games left: 17 Points pace: 54.3 Next game: vs. NSH (Tuesday) Playoff chances: ~0% Tragic number: 8
Race for the No. 1 pick
The NHL uses a draft lottery to determine the order of the first round, so the team that finishes in last place is not guaranteed the No. 1 selection. As of 2021, a team can move up a maximum of 10 spots if it wins the lottery, so only 11 teams are eligible for the draw for the No. 1 pick. Full details on the process can be found here. Sitting No. 1 on the draft board for this summer is Matthew Schaefer, a defenseman for the OHL’s Erie Otters.
Hintz extended his stick toward Henrique, whose wrist shot sent the puck under Hintz’s visor during his club’s 5-4 loss to the Oilers. He was on the ice, with his face in a towel, as the team’s medical staff assessed him and helped him skate toward the dressing room.
After the loss, Dallas coach Peter DeBoer said Hintz was at a local hospital, receiving tests. The coach added that the initial report was fairly optimistic for Hintz, 28, who has 25 goals and 52 points.
“Everyone’s optimistic that it’s not ‘serious, serious,'” DeBoer said. “But we won’t know until we get testing.”
The short-handed Stars rallied from a 5-1 deficit before eventually losing. Trade deadline acquisition Mikko Rantanen had a goal and an assist in his debut for Dallas, which had its four-game winning streak stopped. Wyatt Johnston, Jamie Benn and Matt Dumba also scored for the Stars.