Travis Hunter is certainly one of the most talented players in college football. No argument there, he also really did not have much of an argument when it came to winning The Heisman Trophy tonight.
Seemingly the one that most can come up with is that he played wide receiver and cornerback, playing plenty of snaps in the process. Hunter did not lead the NCAA in receptions, touchdowns, or yards per reception. He arguably was not even the best receiver in his conference.
On defense, he was not considered for Jim Thorpe Award which goes to the best defensive back. Hunter was also not even the best corner in his conference.
Overall Hunter caught 92 passes for 1,152 yards and 14 touchdowns. He did have one rushing touchdown. Defensively, he recorded 32 tackles with one for a loss, had four interceptions, 11 passes defended, and one forced fumble.
Hunter only went over 150 yards receiving once, his second-best game yardage wise came against North Dakota State. He did have five games with 100 yards or less though one was 99 yards, the other four were: 17, 26, 55, and 89.
The Colorado Buffaloes also lost three games this season and are not in the College Football Playoffs.
Hunter’s 26-yard performance came against the only ranked team Colorado faced this season, Kansas State. It was also one of the losses. Also, in that game he recorded two tackles.
So the question becomes what was the best win for the Buffaloes this season? Colorado State finished 8-4 and allowed 24.3 points per game, Baylor 8-4 and 25.2 points per game, and Texas Tech 8-4 and 34.5 points per game.
So how does he win The Heisman Award with three losses and having their best win of the season coming against Colorado State?
As mentioned earlier Hunter is not the best wide receiver in the country. San Jose State wide receiver Nick Nash won the triple crown leading college football in receptions (104), yards (1,382), and touchdowns (16).
Even though it was a down season for the University of Arizona, Tetairoa McMillan is also the better receiver. His height, alone makes it a guarantee he will get taken quickly in the first round. He finished the season with 84 receptions, 1,319 yards, and eight touchdowns.
Cornerback though is where there is plenty of talent. Will Johnson had two interceptions and returned both for touchdowns before missing the final six games of this season due to injury. He also recorded 14 tackles, 3 passes defended, and a tackle for loss.
Another corner who missed time due to injury this season was Benjamin Morrison out of Notre Dame. Yet he combined for 9 interceptions and one returned for a touchdown during his freshman and sophomore years, 64 tackles including five for loss, and 14 passes defended.
Jahdae Barron of the Texas Longhorns won the Jim Thorpe Award, he had five interceptions, 47 tackles including two for loss, a sack, nine passes defended, and a fumble recovery.
Colorado fans also were questioning how Dillon Gabriel was invited to New York for The Heisman presentation. As Shedeur Sanders threw for more yards and more touchdowns. At wide receiver Hunter benefitted from having a couple of wide receiver transfers such as LaJohntay Wester who caught 108 passes in 2023 while playing for Florida Atlantic and 6’3″ Will Sheppard who had 684 yards receiving in 2023 while playing at Vanderbilt and in 2022 776 yards and nine touchdowns.
Simply put the Buffaloes would still have been a three loss team with or without Hunter.
Really though there should not have been a discussion regarding who was going to win The Heisman. Boise State Ashton Jeanty dominated from the start of the season to the end and his team is in the College Football Playoffs.
Jeanty’s and Boise State’s only loss came to then ranked No.7 Oregon. Unlike, Hunter he did no disappearing in that game and nearly led his team to the upset. He ran for 192 yards on 25 carries, scored three touchdowns, and caught two passes for eight yards.
In total, he had 27 touches for 200 yards. He also helped the Broncos to score 34 points against one of the better scoring defenses in the country.
Against ranked teams Boise State went 1-1. That was in the conference championship game and he ran the ball 34 times for 209 yards and a touchdown. Also, caught two passes for 14 yards. Six times Jeanty went over 200 yards rushing, and 6 times he had three or more touchdowns on the ground. For the season he ran the ball 344 times for 2,497 yards, 29 touchdowns and caught 20 passes for 116 yards and a touchdown.
Overall he had 364 touches for 2,613 yards and 30 touchdowns. That production clearly shows why Jeanty is the most outstanding player in all of college football and most valuable. It is abundantly clear he was The Heisman and it should have been a unanimous decision.