TCU quarterback Max Duggan has been named one of four finalists for the Heisman Trophy, the most prestigious award in college football. He is the Conference's 22nd finalist. The Big 12 has had a finalist in 17 of its 27 seasons with two in five seasons.
The other finalists are Georgia’s Stetson Bennett, Ohio State’s C.J. Stroud and USC’s Caleb Williams.
Duggan has led the Horned Frogs to a 12-1 record, including the Big 12’s first 9-0 conference mark since 2016, No. 3 ranking and their first College Football Playoff appearance. TCU will face No. 2 Michigan in the CFP Semifinal Vrbo Fiesta Bowl on Dec. 31.
The winner of the Heisman Trophy will be announced Saturday night in New York City. Duggan will head to Manhattan straight from Baltimore, where he'll be Wednesday evening to accept 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.
Duggan is TCU's first Heisman Trophy finalist since LaDainian Tomlinson in 2000. Davey O'Brien won TCU's lone Heisman Trophy in 1938.
Duggan is ninth in the nation in passing efficiency with a 165.5 rating. He is tied for second among Power 5 quarterbacks, one off the lead, 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.
A Council Bluffs, Iowa, native, Duggan leads the Big 12 in passing efficiency, touchdown passes (30), passing yards (3,321), yards per attempt (9.0) and yards per completion (13.9). He has thrown just four interceptions. His touchdown passes and 36 touchdowns responsible for (30 passing, 6 rushing) rank third for a season in TCU history, while his 64.9 completion percentage is fourth.
Duggan keyed TCU's furious fourth-quarter comeback against Kansas State in the Big 12 Championship Game, leading a pair of scoring drives to force overtime after an 11-point deficit in the final 7:34. Made possible because of a TCU penalty, he rushed for 95 yards on the game-tying 80-yard drive. He had a 19-yard run on a 4th-and-2 and then a 40-yard gain to set up his 8-yard scoring run on the next snap. He then completed a pass to Jared Wiley for the 2-point conversion.
In a 29-28 win at Baylor, Duggan led fourth-quarter scoring drives on TCU's final two possessions without its leading rusher (Kendre Miller) and top-two receivers (Quentin Johnston, Derius Davis). The game-winning drive also came with TCU not having any timeouts available. He completed 7-of-9 passes for 83 yards while rushing four times for 33 yards on the two drives.
With a 73-yard touchdown pass to Taye Barber and a 67-yard scoring run just 1:18 apart against Oklahoma, Duggan became just the second player nationally in the last 15 years and first since Lamar Jackson in 2016 with a touchdown pass and touchdown run of at least 60 yards in the first quarter of a game.
