B/R's College Football Awards for the 2023 Season
Jayden Daniels will soon learn if he's the 2023 Heisman Trophy winner, but it doesn't get much better than being named Bleacher Report's Offensive Player of the Year.
Right?
Miserable joke aside, Daniels headlines the list of 11 season-focused awards with a pair of honors.
As with our All-American team, B/R's college football crew—David Kenyon, Adam Kramer, Morgan Moriarty, Joel Reuter and Brad Shepard—had a chance to submit a ballot with picks for award winners.
The results are based on plurality voting.
Coach of the Year
1 of 11
The Pick: Kalen DeBoer, Washington
You could almost consider this a two-year accomplishment.
Last season, Kalen DeBoer had a stellar debut and helped Washington rise from a 4-8 record in 2021 to a remarkable 11-2 record. The ascent continued in 2023, when the Huskies rattled off a 13-0 campaign, won a Pac-12 title and made the College Football Playoff.
The biggest key to Washington's sudden success is his reunion with quarterback Michael Penix Jr., who DeBoer coached as Indiana's offensive coordinator in 2019.
And now, behind that prolific offense, DeBoer and the Dawgs are two victories away from a national championship.
Assistant of the Year
2 of 11
The Pick: Sherrone Moore, Michigan Offensive Coordinator
Earlier in the season, Jim Harbaugh served a three-game suspension. Four assistants rotated into his spot as the acting head coach, but Michigan's low competition level helped ease Harbaugh's absence.
Sherrone Moore didn't have that luxury in November.
As the product of a sign-stealing scandal, Harbaugh sat another three games. Moore took his place on the headset and oversaw the Wolverines' most important wins of the season against Penn State and Ohio State. Those victories sealed a place in the Big Ten Championship Game, where U-M rolled Iowa to make a third straight CFP trip.
Other coordinators led prolific units—Georgia OC Mike Bobo, Iowa DC Phil Parker and Michigan DC Jesse Minter among them—but Moore's impact on the 2023 season is unmistakable.
Offensive Player of the Year
3 of 11
The Pick: Jayden Daniels, QB, LSU
Bo Nix and Michael Penix Jr. demand serious consideration, but Jayden Daniels is our unanimous pick.
Truly, the lone argument against him is LSU's 9-3 record when compared to Oregon's 11-2 or Washington's 13-0. Otherwise, no player can touch Daniels in statistical comparisons—both team and individually.
LSU enters the postseason ranked first nationally in yards per play (8.5), yards per game (547.8) and points per game (46.4). Daniels paced the country in total offense (4,946) and touchdowns (50). He rushed for more yards (1,134) than any other quarterback.
Daniels fully deserves any postseason honors coming his way.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
Defensive Player of the Year
4 of 11
The Pick: Laiatu Latu, DE, UCLA
While at Washington three seasons ago, Laiatu Latu medically retired because a neck injury. Fast-forward to 2023, and he's a standout edge-rusher at UCLA who's now B/R's Defensive Player of the Year.
Latu collected an FBS-high 21.5 tackles for loss—contributing to one TFL in 11 of the Bruins' 12 games—with 13 sacks.
Along with his 49 total stops and constant disruption, Latu snagged two interceptions and forced two fumbles. He generated more than 60 pressures, according to Pro Football Focus.
Latu, who is the official Pac-12 DPOY, also recently added the Lombardi Award to his resume.
Freshman of the Year
5 of 11
The Pick: Caleb Downs, S, Alabama
As if Alabama didn't already have enough talent in the secondary with cornerbacks Kool-Aid McKinstry and Terrion Arnold, a 5-star freshman bolstered the group at safety.
Caleb Downs, the No. 6 prospect in the 2023 class, has already become as a fixture of Bama's defense.
The first tackle Downs makes against Michigan in the College Football Playoff semifinal will be his 100th of the season. He's also recorded 3.5 stops for loss, three pass breakups, two interceptions and one forced fumble while typically being a reliable piece in coverage.
Downs, a first-team All-SEC selection with McKinstry and Arnold, even returned a punt for a touchdown.
Senior of the Year
6 of 11
The Pick: Michael Penix Jr., QB, Washington
One valuable housekeeping note, perhaps, is that an Offensive or Defensive Player of the Year is not eligible here. It allows us to place another star performer in the spotlight.
And so, Michael Penix Jr. lands a well-earned honor.
Injuries marred his Indiana career, but DeBoer brought his former pupil out to Washington in 2022. In two seasons, all Penix has done is put himself on the brink of leading the Football Bowl Subdivision in passing yards per game. He enters the CFP with a 324.5-yard average.
For the season, Penix has posted a 65.9 completion rate with 4,218 yards and 33 touchdowns. Most importantly, he's helped the Dawgs navigate a nerve-wracking run to 13-0 and a Pac-12 crown.
Comeback Player of the Year
7 of 11
The Pick: Mike Hollins, RB, Virginia
Mike Hollins suffered critical injuries in a tragic shooting that killed three Virginia football players in November 2022.
"It's literally a miracle that I'm here today," he said in March.
"I think I got hit in the small intestine, kidney, and they were trying to see if it damaged my bladder. By the grace of God, it missed my spine by like, two centimeters or something like that," Hollins said.
Football pales in comparison to his reality. That he returned from the injuries, however, is a positive end to a harrowing story.
This season, Hollins rushed for seven touchdowns and caught an eighth. He played a key part in Virginia shocking then-undefeated North Carolina in October, running for 66 yards and three scores in the upset.
Group of 5 Player of the Year
8 of 11
The Pick: Jason Henderson, LB, Old Dominion
Tackles, tackles and more tackles: The Jason Henderson Story.
After registering an FBS-high 186 stops in 2022, the Old Dominion linebacker was at it again. Henderson heads into the postseason with a nation-best 170 tackles, including 19.5 for loss.
"His tackle numbers are incredible, and he plays the game with a lot of passion, a lot of heart," now-former James Madison coach Curt Cignetti said, per Mike Barber of the Richmond Times-Dispatch. "He's got great instincts, can really run. He diagnoses things quickly, and he's always in the right spot."
Henderson will be adding to those totals against Western Kentucky in the Famous Toastery Bowl.
Best Single-Game Performance
9 of 11The Pick: Jayden Daniels vs. Florida
Sure, it's only sensible that the Offensive Player of the Year had a prolific game. This one is on a whole 'nother level, though.
After LSU lost to Alabama in early November, it seemed Daniels would slip off the Heisman Trophy radar. The next Saturday, however, he put a historic hurting on a floundering Florida defense.
Daniels threw for 372 yards and three touchdowns, rushed for 234 yards and two scores and propelled LSU to a 52-35 victory. He accounted for 606 yards, becoming the first player in FBS history to surpass 350 passing and 200 rushing yards in a single game.
Between this dazzling night in Baton Rouge and his eight-touchdown explosion against Georgia State one week later, Daniels made himself a top Heisman candidate.
Play of the Year
10 of 11The Pick: Alabama's Last-Minute Touchdown at Auburn
Especially in hindsight, Alabama's miracle touchdown in the Iron Bowl is the undisputed choice.
It's simple, really: Without this stunning score, the Crimson Tide (theoretically) would not be in the College Football Playoff. Somehow, a disastrous situation turned into the iconic play of Bama's season.
Facing a 24-20 deficit with 43 seconds to play in the Iron Bowl, the Tide needed to somehow gain 31 yards on 4th-and-goal. Otherwise, a few successful kneeldowns would seal a shocking upset for Auburn and eliminate Alabama from CFP contention.
Alabama called "Grave Digger" for its desperation throw, and Jalen Milroe managed to hit Isaiah Bond in the left corner of the end zone for the Tide's incomprehensible, game-winning touchdown.
And so, the "Nightmare at Jordan-Hare" was born.
Game of the Year
11 of 11The Pick: Washington Clips Oregon, Part I
During a mid-October battle for early Pac-12 supremacy, Washington picked up a statement win over Oregon.
The dramatic game featured six lead changes, including two in the final quarter. Oregon took a 33-29 edge on Jordan James' 10-yard touchdown run, and the Ducks had a chance to seal the game after forcing a turnover on downs. However, the UW defense stopped a 4th-and-3 near midfield with two minutes to play.
Penix, who apparently was freestyling about a comeback while on the bench, made his rap a reality.
And he only needed two plays.
Penix opened the drive with a 35-yard completion to Ja'Lynn Polk, then Rome Odunze snagged an 18-yard touchdown to push Washington in front 36-33.
Bo Nix drove the Ducks into field-goal position, but Camden Lewis missed a 43-yard kick as time expired.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
