TCU quarterback Max Duggan named Heisman Trophy finalist
TCU quarterback Max Duggan is a finalist for the Heisman Trophy.
Duggan was announced as a finalist Monday night on ESPN. Not only was Duggan one of the best players in the country, he was one of the best stories in all sports this year.
He began the year as TCU’s backup quarterback after losing the fall camp competition to Chandler Morris. An injury to Morris in the season opener against Colorado opened the door for Duggan to resume his place as the Horned Frogs’ starting quarterback.
Duggan’s biggest competition for the Heisman is USC quarterback Caleb Williams who is a finalist along with Ohio State quarterback C.J. Stroud and Georgia’s Stetson Bennett. Williams is Duggan’s big competition after he led USC to the Pac-12 championship game.
Duggan seized the moment and led TCU to a 12-0 regular season and came up just short of a Big 12 championship in an overtime loss to Kansas State. Duggan is one of the many reasons TCU became the first team from Texas to make the College Football Playoffs.
The senior quarterback completed 65% of his passes and threw for 3,321 yards and 30 touchdowns against just four interceptions. His quarterback rating of 80.2 was top-15 in the country and he was a special dual-threat talent.
Duggan rushed for more than 400 yards and added six touchdowns on the ground. Duggan is ninth in the nation in passing efficiency with a 165.5 rating. He is tied for second among Power 5 quarterbacks with 16 touchdown passes of at least 20 yards and has accounted for three or more touchdowns in eight of his 12 starts this season.
In terms of Heisman moments, Duggan had two in the Horned Frogs’ final three games of the season. Without his top three offensive weapons (Quentin Johnston, Kendre Miller, Derius Davis) Duggan led fourth-quarter scoring drives on TCU’s final two possessions.
He completed 7-of-9 passes for 83 yards while rushing four times for 33 yards on the two drives and set up the game-winning ‘bazooka’ field goal as time expired. TCU had no timeouts on the final drive.
Even in defeat against Kansas State, Duggan helped TCU force overtime and overcome a 11-point deficit with just 7:34 remaining. He rushed for 95 yards on the game-tying drive and found a wide open Jared Wiley for a two-point conversion to send it to overtime.
Due to his special season, he’s already won the Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year and the 2022 Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award.
He’s also a finalist for the Davey O’Brien Award, annually given to the best quarterback in the country.
Duggan will head to New York later this week after stopping in Baltimore, where he’ll be Wednesday to receive the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award. The Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year and unanimous First-Team All-Big 12 selection is also a finalist for the Davey O’Brien National Quarterback Award, Manning Award and Walter Camp Player of the Year.
He is TCU’s first Heisman Trophy finalist since LaDainian Tomlinson in 2000. Davey O’Brien won TCU’s lone Heisman Trophy in 1938.
This is a breaking story and will be updated.
This story was originally published December 5, 2022 at 5:48 PM.
