Southern California quarterback Caleb Williams was named the 2022 winner of the Heisman Trophy in New York Saturday night.
The 88th winner in the award’s history earning 544 first-place votes, Williams threw for 4,075 yards with 37 touchdowns for the 11-2 Trojans. He also rushed for 372 yards and 10 touchdowns, throwing just four interceptions as the Trojans went 8-1 in the Pac-12.
Williams and USC will face Tulane in the Cotton Bowl on Jan. 2.
“This is really awesome to be up here,” Williams said. “To now be a part of this historic fraternity is truly an honor and something I will cherish for the rest of my life.”
The four finalists, all named Monday, were all quarterbacks: Georgia’s Stetson Bennett, TCU’s Max Duggan, Ohio State’s C.J. Stroud and Williams.
Williams entered the evening as the runaway favorite for the award, despite being the only finalist to miss the College Football Playoff.
“Guess you can’t win them all,” Williams quipped.
Still, all four finalists led their respective teams to a current top-10 ranking, with Williams emerging as a frontrunner due to his propensity for electric plays.
In his acceptance speech, Williams made a point to thank each of his individual offensive linemen, who were all in attendance at the ceremony.
“It is important to surround yourself with a good team, and good people you can trust,” he said, as he also thanked family and former coaches and teammates.
Williams had 2,031 total points in winning the award. Finishing second in the voting was Duggan, who nabbed 1,420 points.
Duggan, who began the year as a backup, helped lead No. 3 TCU to a perfect regular-season record and a berth in the CFP, throwing for 3,321 yards with 30 touchdowns against four interceptions. He also memorably led the Horned Frogs back against Kansas State fighting through exhaustion in an eventual overtime loss in the Big 12 championship game.
Stroud, who finished third with 539 points, entered the season as the favorite for the award. He helped the No. 4 Buckeyes make the Playoff by throwing for 3,340 yards with 37 touchdowns against just six picks.
Finishing fourth was Bennett (349 points), who leads the top-ranked Georgia Bulldogs (13-0, 8-0 Southeastern Conference). He’ll look to grab a second straight national title after throwing for 3,425 yards and 20 TDs.
Ohio State (11-1, 8-1 Big Ten) will face Georgia in the Peach Bowl Dec. 31 to determine who secures a spot in the CFP title game.
TCU (12-1, 9-0 Big 12) will face No. 2 Michigan on Dec. 31 in the other CFP semifinal.
The rest of the top ten vote-getters included Tennessee quarterback Hendon Hooker, Alabama quarterback Bryce Young, Michigan running back Blake Corum, Washington quarterback Michael Penix Jr., Texas running back Bijan Robinson and North Carolina quarterback Drake Maye.
–Field Level Media