Michael Penix Jr. misses out on the Heisman Trophy, teammates sound off
Michael Penix Jr. finished second in Heisman Trophy voting in what was the closest result since 2018.
Washington’s star quarterback ultimately lost the award to LSU’s Jayden Daniels, who was on a remarkable 90.5% of Heisman ballots.
Penix received 292 first-place votes. He and Daniels were the only two players to receive significant consideration for first place. Oregon’s Bo Nix came in third with 51 first-place votes, Ohio State’s Marvin Harrison Jr. fourth with 20.
Penix had 341 second-place votes and 143 third-place votes.
Daniels won the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, South, and Southwest regions. Penix won the vote in the Midwest and Far West regions. He was also the winner of the Heisman Fan Vote.
Penix led the country in passing with 4,218 yards and 33 touchdowns. He led UW to a Pac-12 championship and a College Football Playoff berth. At the Heisman ceremony on Saturday night, he was the only finalist who was able to claim a conference championship and the only finalist on a team with a shot still at the national championship.
Daniels’ 4,496 total yards of offense and 50 total touchdowns led the FBS this season. His numbers weren’t matched. But Washington had hoped that Penix’s impact on winning — UW was 4-8 before his arrival and has gone 13-0 this season to set a program record for wins while LSU finished 9-3 — would level the field.
After Daniels was named the winner, Penix’s teammates (and several others) took to social media to express their disapproval:
Winning is a stat. Goodnight. #PenixMyHeisman
— ZTF (@ztupufet) December 10, 2023
January 1st let’s show the World why you should’ve won Brudda…
— Dillon Johnson (@Dill_7k) December 10, 2023
the man lead us to a 13-0 season… cmon now
— Troy Fautanu ™ (@tFautanu) December 10, 2023
Bro what
— J MAC (@jalenmcmillan20) December 10, 2023
Ridiculous
— Maurice Heims (@Maurice_hms) December 10, 2023
Played us outta the Biletnikoff & the Heisman? Most Disrespected team out💯 Bet.
— RG 🏹 (@ralengoforth) December 10, 2023
Forever our Heisman. pic.twitter.com/XJLObBGGmi
— Washington Football (@UW_Football) December 10, 2023
“Who we are, is why we win.” Has never resonated more than now. 🏹
— Heather Tarr 🦄 🇺🇸 (@CoachTarr) December 10, 2023
That’s some SEC bias… y’all got it wrong
— Will Dissly (@Will_Diss) December 10, 2023
Getting the sense more than a few @UW_Football players are taking this personal for Mike… #Heisman
— Chris Fetters (@Chris_Fetters) December 10, 2023
Here is how I voted for the 2023 Heisman Trophy
1) Michael Penix Jr.
2) Jayden Daniels
3) Bo NixBeen a great season so far…Hopefully the best is yet to come!
— Joel Klatt (@joelklatt) December 10, 2023
My Heisman ballot:
1. Michael Penix Jr.
2. Jayden Daniels
3. Bo NixWhen I thought of the biggest games, the biggest moments, the biggest plays of this season, I kept coming back to Penix.
— Chris Vannini (@ChrisVannini) December 10, 2023