Colorado's Travis Hunter wins the Heisman Trophy after a historic season on each side of the ball

By doing two jobs – each like all other player within the country – Travis Hunter lived up to teach Deion Sanders' hype and brought the Heisman Trophy to Colorado for the primary time in 30 years.

The Buffaloes' two-way superstar won college football's most prestigious individual player of the yr award Saturday night, edging Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty into CU's second Heisman winner.

Hunter received 552 first-place votes and a couple of,231 points to Jeanty's 309 and a couple of,017. In terms of total points, it was the closest Heisman vote since 2009, as Hunter and Jeanty took all two top votes, leaving the opposite candidates within the lurch.

Oregon quarterback Dillon Gabriel (24 first-place votes, 516 points) was third and Miami quarterback Cam Ward (6,229) was fourth.

When Hunter, wearing a baby blue suit with a white turtleneck underneath, was announced because the winner, he ducked his head for a number of seconds to take it in. He gave his fiancée and mother, Ferrante Edmonds, an enormous hug. Then an extra-long song for Coach Prime before he hypes up his quarterback, Shedeur Sanders from Colorado, and rapper and friend Lil' Wayne.

Hunter belted out, “Let's go!” As he reached the stage, he clapped his hands before gathering himself to present his acceptance speech.

“First I want to say thank God,” Hunter began. “Thank God, man. I never thought I can be on this position. It's crazy. Your faith will take you far. It's really crazy now. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Thank you very much.”

Hunter joins the late Rashaan Salaam, who won the Heisman in 1994 with a 2,000-yard rushing season, as CU's only Heisman winners.

With Hunter and Jeanty at the helm, the 90th Heisman was the first since 2015 that did not feature a quarterback in the top two of voting. Three straight times and seven of the last eight Heisman winners had played quarterback. In 2000, 20 Heisman winners were QBs.

It took two remarkable performances to break the trend.

Hunter was both an unguarded receiver and a lock-down cornerback, validating Sanders' decision to unleash the five-star recruit on both sides of the ball in a way that hasn't matched the junior with a Heisman winner in over a half Century makes comparisons.

One would have to go back to the waning days of one-platoon football in the 1950s and early '60s to find Heisman winners who made major contributions on offense and defense, such as Navy's Joe Bellino (1960) and Ernie Davis of Syracuse (1961). .

Charles Woodson of Michigan is closest to Hunter among recent winners. Woodson was a star cornerback for the national champion Wolverines and also played wide receiver and return man.

Even Woodson, who won the Heisman in 1997, doesn't see himself as a two-way player.

“They threw me out (on offense) when they needed a play. I didn’t attack much,” Woodson said. “Travis actually plays both sides of the ball. You can say he’s a two-way player who played defense, but I’m still the only defensive player who won it.”

Hunter played 688 defensive snaps and 672 on offense as Colorado jumped from four wins to nine in Sanders' second season as coach. And Hunter's performance was top-notch at both positions.

Entering the postseason — and Hunter plans to play in Colorado's bowl game — he is fifth in the country with 92 catches, sixth with 1,152 yards and second with 14 touchdown catches. He also leads the team with four interceptions. Earlier this week, Hunter won the Bednarik Award as the country's top defensive player and the Biletnikoff, which goes to the top receiver.

Sanders, the Football Hall of Famer and two-sport pro during his playing days, never held back when it came to pushing Hunter for the Heisman, even over his talented son Shedeur.

“Travis gets my vote. “Travis is the best player in college football,” Sanders said in November. “Really, Shedeur is that guy. He’s the catalyst, he gets everything going and allows Travis to be Travis, but Travis Hunter does something we’ve never seen before.”

Jeanty only played one position, but few in college football history have ever played it better. His decision to return to Boise State for a third year rather than transfer to a Power 5 school changed the course of the season. Jeanty enters the College Football Playoff needing 132 rushing yards to break Barry Sanders' sacred record of 2,628 set in 1988. Sanders finished his Heisman-winning season with an impressive 2,850, including his bowl performance, doing it all in just 12 games.

Nevertheless, Jeanty has left his modern teammates – and the opposing defense – behind him this season. Jeanty leads the country with 2,497 yards rushing and 30 touchdowns. He has five rushes of at least 70 yards this season. Only five other players have two.

Jeanty is the first player from outside the traditional power conferences to finish second in the Heisman voting since San Diego State University running back Marshall Faulk in 1992.

Jeanty would have been the first running back to win the Heisman since Derrick Henry in 2015, but Hunter's unique season was too good to overcome.

Hunter's route to the stage Saturday night in midtown Manhattan was also unique.

One of the nation's top 2022 high school recruits hailing from Georgia, the Florida native made a verbal commitment to Florida State on signing day to attend Jackson State, the historically Black university in Mississippi, where Sanders began his college coaching career.

No player rated as highly as Hunter had ever signed with an FCS program out of high school.

“Coach Prime, Shedeur, you all changed my life forever,” said Hunter, who grew up in the same area of ​​South Florida as 2016 Heisman winner Lamar Jackson of Louisville and watched Jackson in high school games.

Hunter was limited to nine games as a freshman due to injuries and showed star potential on both ends.

When Sanders left for Colorado, Hunter, who says his coach was like a father, followed him to Boulder to help rebuild a program after an 1-11 season.

Hunter was also limited to nine games in 2023, this time after suffering a late hit against Colorado State that left him with a ruptured liver. The injuries have never stopped Sanders from playing Hunter as often as possible, and this season the results have been undeniable.

Led by Hunter and Shedeur, Colorado fought for the Big 12 title until the final weekend of the regular season.

With the expanded playoffs casting a wider net of games with postseason implications this season, Hunter had a strong final statement: 10 catches for 116 yards and three touchdowns and an interception in a 52-0 win over Oklahoma State.

Hunter said his Heisman moment came in the Baylor game when he forced a game-winning fumble at the goal line in the Buffs' overtime win.

The fifth through 10th Heisman voters were Arizona State running back Cam Skattebo, Army quarterback Bryson Daily, Penn State tight end Tyler Warren, Shedeur Sanders, Indiana quarterback Kurtis Rourke and Syracuse quarterback Kyle McCord.

Hunter has one more game left, in the Alamo Bowl against BYU, before heading to the NFL, where he is expected to be one of the first players taken in April's draft. Many are already wondering what position he will play in the professionals.

Hunter's historic season suggests why not both?

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