LSU's Joe Burrow and Jayden Daniels make Heisman and MNF history | LSU

Two now legendary former LSU quarterbacks made history on Monday night.

History of the Heisman Trophy.

Jayden Daniels of the Washington Commanders and Joe Burrow of the Cincinnati Bengals met in Cincinnati in a matchup unlike any other. According to SEC Network, they are the first Heisman-winning quarterbacks from the same school to face each other on Monday Night Football.

Daniels, the 2023 Heisman winner, and Burrow, the 2019 winner, faced off in the second game of a rare Monday Night Football doubleheader that began at 7:15 p.m. on ABC. The first game, between Jacksonville and Buffalo, began at 6:30 p.m. on ESPN.

Daniels led Washington (2-1) to a convincing 38-33 victory over Burrow and the Bengals (0-3). Daniels completed 21 of 23 passes for 254 yards and two touchdowns and also ran 12 times for 39 yards and a touchdown. Burrow completed 29 of 38 passes for 324 yards and three touchdowns and had one run for 4 yards.

Until Burrow came along, few LSU players had come close to winning the Heisman Award since Billy Cannon won college football's most important individual award with his triple-double skills as a halfback, defensive back and kick returner in 1959. Jerry Stovall finished second in 1962, Bert Jones finished fourth in 1972, Charles Alexander finished fifth in 1978 and Tyrann Mathieu finished fifth in 2011.

Now, LSU has had two Heisman winners in the last five years, both selected in the first round of the draft. What that success means for the program is not lost on LSU coach Brian Kelly, who recruited Daniels from Arizona State after he entered the transfer portal.

“It gives you an opportunity to say (to a recruit), 'Look, if you want to be the next player, the next potential Heisman Trophy winner, we can develop you here at LSU,'” Kelly said Monday afternoon on the “Paul Finebaum Show” on the SEC Network. “Nothing expresses that better than a face-off on Monday Night Football.”

“For us, this is just a great opportunity to show two great young men what they can do on and off the field.”

Even from a purely LSU perspective, the duel between Daniels and Burrow was a rarity.

According to the school, it will be the first time two former Tiger quarterbacks have faced each other in an NFL regular-season game since Sept. 27, 1981, when David Woodley and the Miami Dolphins beat Jones and the Baltimore Colts 31-28.