Caleb Williams brought sizzle, excitement and star power back to Southern California football.
And now the Heisman Trophy, too.
Williams, the dynamic quarterback who was the catalyst for the Trojans’ turnaround season, won the Heisman on Saturday night to make USC the first school to take home college football’s most prestigious player of the year award eight times.
Williams received 544 first-place votes and 2,031 points to easily outpoint TCU quarterback Max Duggan (1,420).
Williams, who played last season at Oklahoma, is the fourth transfer to win the Heisman in the last six years, joining Baker Mayfield (2017) and Kyler Murray (2018) of Oklahoma and Joe Burrow (2019) of LSU.
Ohio State’s C.J. Stroud was third in the voting after coming in fourth last season. Georgia quarterback Stetson Bennett finished fourth. The top-ranked Bulldogs will face Stroud and the fourth-ranked Buckeyes in the College Football Playoff on Dec. 31.
Duggan and the third-ranked Horned Frogs will play No. 2 Michigan in the other CFP semifinal on New Year’s Eve.
“I may be standing up here today, but y’all get to the College Football Playoffs. Guess you can’t win ’em all,” Williams said as he started his acceptance speech by thanking the other finalists.
Williams and No. 8 USC may have fallen short of the Pac-12 championship and a spot in the playoff, but it was still a rebirth for a college football blue blood that has had only short spurts of success over the last decade.
The last time USC had a Heisman winner was 2005, when running back Reggie Bush was the second of consecutive Trojans players to win the award. Matt Leinart won the Heisman in 2004 on the way to a national championship.
Bush’s Heisman win, the Trojans’ seventh, was later vacated for NCAA violations that began the descent of USC.
Notre Dame, Ohio State and Oklahoma each have seven Heisman victories.
TOP MOMENTS FROM THE NIGHT
How the voting played out
Here is a look at the final order of the 2022 Heisman Trophy voting.
Caleb Williams is your 2022 Heisman Trophy winner.
The 20-year-old USC QB is the recipient of the 2022 Heisman Trophy.
Stetson walks the red carpet
Bennett poses for some photos ahead of Saturday’s Heisman Trophy announcement.
Ohio State greatness
Stroud is Ohio State’s first two-time Heisman Trophy finalist since the Heisman Trust began inviting multiple finalists in 1982. So it only made sense for him to pose with the only player in college football history to win the prestigious award two times: Buckeye legend Archie Griffin.
Look good, feel good, play good!
Williams is dressed head-to-toe in Gucci for Saturday night’s Heisman ceremony.
The finalists have arrived
Bennett, Duggan, Stroud and Williams posed with the Heisman Trophy ahead of the ceremony.
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The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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