Colorado two-way star Travis Hunter wins 2024 Heisman Trophy

NEW YORK — Travis Hunter, a dynamic two-way player who helped Colorado win five more games in 2024 than the previous year while playing nearly 1,400 snaps on offense and defense, won the Heisman Memorial Trophy as college football’s most outstanding player on Saturday night.

Hunter is Colorado’s second Heisman winner, following running back Rashaan Salaam, who won it in 1994.

Hunter’s win temporarily broke a quarterback stranglehold on the award, as 20 of the 23 previous winners this century played QB. Along with Hunter, Alabama running backs Mark Ingram (2009), Derrick Henry (2015), and Crimson Tide wide receiver DeVonta Smith (2020) are the only non-quarterback winners since 2000.

Hunter received 552 first-place votes and 2,231 total points. Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty was second in the voting (309, 2,017), Oregon quarterback Dillon Gabriel came in third (24, 516) and Miami quarterback Cam Ward was fourth (6, 229). Hunter was on 93.32% of the total ballots and won five of the six voting regions.

Arizona State running back Cam Skattebo was fifth in the balloting, followed by Army quarterback Bryson Daily, Penn State tight end Tyler Warren, and Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders. Indiana quarterback Kurtis Rourke and Syracuse quarterback Kyle McCord rounded out the top 10.

The 2024 season caps an impressive campaign for Hunter, who already won the Biletnikoff Award (best receiver), Bednarik Award (best defensive player), Hornung Award (most versatile player, which he won for the second straight season), Walter Camp Award (most outstanding player), and was named the Associated Press Player of the Year. He was not a finalist for the Jim Thorpe Award, given to the best defensive back, drawing the ire of his head coach, Deion Sanders.

A true throwback to when athletes played both sides of the ball, the 21-year-old Hunter excelled wherever he lined up. He caught 92 passes for 1,152 yards and 14 touchdowns on offense. On defense as a cornerback, he recorded 32 total tackles and four interceptions, with seven pass breakups while giving up only one touchdown pass this season in coverage.

When Hunter landed on the radar of the top schools, it seemed he was destined for stardom. A five-star playmaker from Collins Hill High School in Suwanee, Georgia, he verbally committed to Florida State in March 2020, solidifying his status as the nation’s top high school recruit.

However, on signing day in 2021, Hunter stunned the college football world and committed to Jackson State of the FCS and Sanders, a Pro Football Hall of Famer that many consider the best cornerback in history. Hunter said at the time he wanted to be part of the legacy of great players who played for HBCUs (Historically Black Colleges and Universities).

A quiet person by nature (he admitted to watching only fishing videos the night before the Heisman ceremony) who was a basketball player before he became a household name playing football, Hunter let his play on the field do his talking.

During his freshman season, Hunter played sparingly on offense, catching 18 passes and four touchdowns. He made his most significant impact on defense, with two interceptions and eight passes defended, helping Jackson State to a 12-1 record, a SWAC championship, and earning conference Freshman of the Year honors.

After the season, Hunter, Shedeur Sanders, and others from Jackson State followed ‘Coach Prime’ to Colorado to help restore the tradition that had long since passed; the Buffaloes went just 1-11 the season before their arrival.

‘I don’t know where I would be. I try to figure that out,’ Hunter said recently on ‘The Pivot’ podcast. ‘I try not to think too much about it because we have one more game, and it’s going to be our last together. It gets you kinda emotional because it changed my life forever … I don’t know where I would’ve been if I went to Florida State.’

Even as Colorado sputtered to a 4-8 record during his sophomore season, Hunter’s spectacular play didn’t go unnoticed. He was named a first-team All-American by the Associated Press as an all-purpose player, despite missing almost four games because of injuries.

Hunter played a big part in the Buffaloes’ 9-3 turnaround in the 2024 season. He played 1,380 snaps (670 on offense, 686 on defense, 24 on special teams) and perhaps solidified the award with his performance in their regular-season finale against Oklahoma State. He had three touchdown grabs, with a few ridiculous acrobatic catches for good measure, and recorded an interception on defense in a 52-0 rout.

The 21-year-old Jeanty, winner of the Doak Walker and Maxwell awards, led the nation in rushing yards (2,497), attempts (344), and touchdowns (29) in 13 games this season, helping the Broncos win the Mountain West Conference and earn a spot in the College Football Playoff. He rushed for 200 yards or more in six games and is 132 yards from breaking the single-season rushing record set by Barry Sanders in 1988. Sanders accomplished his feat in 11 games, and his 222 yards in a bowl victory are not counted in his final statistics.

Jeanty was the main cog in an offense that ranked in the top 10 nationally in points, yards per game, yards per play, yards per rush and rushing offense.