NEW YORK — Quarterback Stetson Bennett finished fourth in voting for the 2022 Heisman Trophy. USC quarterback Caleb Williams won the award. TCU quarterback Max Duggan came in second, with Ohio State quarterback CJ Stroud coming in third.
Williams’ win gives USC seven Heisman Trophy winners, and eight if you count Reggie Bush’s vacated title. Notre Dame, Oklahoma and Ohio State also have seven winners.
Bennett is Georgia’s first Heisman Trophy finalist since 1992, when Garrison Hearst finished third. Herschel Walker is still the last Georgia player to win the award, doing so back in 1982. Frank Sinkwich won Georgia’s other Heisman Trophy back in 1942.
Bennett received 36 first-place votes, 47 second-place votes and 81 third-place votes, good for a total of 349 points. Williams won with 2,031 points.
As Georgia’s quarterback this season, Bennett threw for 20 touchdowns while rushing for seven more. The senior from Blackshear, Ga. was often at his best against elite competition, as 17 of his 27 touchdowns in games against top 25 opponents.
The Bulldogs also went 5-0 in those games, whereas the other three teams all saw their teams lose during the 2022 season. Duggan and Stroud will participate in the College Football Playoff, as Stroud’s Buckeyes play Georgia on Dec. 31 in Atlanta.
“I think we’re excited. And, you know, we’re still hungry,” Bennett said. “I think we see it as, you know, our season’s not over. That’s not what we came into this year trying to accomplish.”
In the last two seasons, Bennett is 27-3 as a starter for the Bulldogs. He won a national championship last season for the Bulldogs and has since elevated his game from there.
Bennett aimed to remain humble throughout the weekend, downplaying many questions when asked if he ever imagined being a Heisman Trophy finalist. The Georgia quarterback was quick to compliment teammates for getting him to this point, whether it be tight ends Brock Bowers and Darnell Washington or wide receiver Ladd McConkey.
As is usually the case, Bennett faced criticism for his selection as a Heisman finalist. A number of national media personalities thought that Tennessee quarterback Hendon Hooker was more deserving of an invite.
Hooker finished fifth in voting, with 226 points. When asked about the controversy surrounding Hooker and Bennett, the Georgia quarterback used his time to praise the Tennessee quarterback who saw his season end when he tore his ACL in a loss to South Carolina.
“He’s a great player. I don’t think it should be spoken of in that light,” Bennett said. “I think he should be getting respect for the year that he had and not what could have been but what was. He almost not singlehandedly but was a main factor in that program changing course, you know? That’s always silly to me.”
“As far as me getting hate for it, it doesn’t bother me really. I didn’t make that call. So.”
Related: Stetson Bennett weighs in on Hendon Hooker Heisman Trophy backlash: ‘I didn’t make that call’
Bennett arrived in New York with his family on Friday and spent most of the weekend shuttling between photo opportunities and various media appearances. He will return to Athens on Sunday, as the Bulldogs begin to ramp up preparation for the game against Ohio State.
The Georgia quarterback joked that he hoped to get a run in while in New York, knowing his teammates were getting a workout back in Athens. The Bulldogs and Buckeyes will meet in Atlanta on Dec. 31.
“I don’t think that anybody can imagine this being an actual story, so it was just day by day,” Bennett said. “It’s getting better day by day, it’s failing day by day, it’s whatever the day throws at you, accomplish it, taking a bunch of baby steps and all the sudden we’re here talking to you beside Momma and Daddy.”
2022 Heisman Trophy voting
1. QB Caleb Williams, USC, 2031 points, 544 first-place votes
2. QB Max Duggan, TCU, 1,420 points, 188 first-place votes
3. QB CJ Stroud, Ohio State, 539 points, 37 first-place votes
4. QB Stetson Bennett, Georgia, 349 points, 36 first-place votes
5. QB Hendon Hooker, Tennessee, 226 points, 17 first-place votes
6. QB Bryce Young, Alabama, 141 points, 17 first-place votes
7. RB Blake Corum, Michigan 125 points, eight first-place votes
8. QB Michael Penix Jr., Washington 114 points, nine first-place votes
9. RB Bijan Robinson, Texas 75 points, four first-place votes
10. QB Drake Maye, North Carolina 42 points, three first-place votes
More Georgia football stories from around DawgNation
- Caleb Williams, CJ Stroud recount their Georgia football recruitments: ‘Georgia was honestly my second school’
- Meet the Georgia football assistant who told Stetson Bennett before the season he could be a Heisman finalist
- Stetson Bennett shares how ‘Stequavious Bennett’ came to life and why he’s probably done getting fades
- Stetson Bennett weighs in on Hendon Hooker Heisman Trophy backlash: ‘I didn’t make that call’
- From the bench to the mountaintop, Stetson Bennett knows he earned his Heisman Trophy invite
- Georgia football Gimme 5: The ‘Dawgs already have an elite RB with Roderick Robinson II in the 2023 class
- Georgia lands nation-high 3 players on FWAA first-team All-American list
