NEW YORK — Travis Hunter turned each play into prime time — on each side of the ball — and finally took house the Heisman Trophy.
Now he’s acquired a leg up on his superstar coach at Colorado.
The 2-way star gained faculty soccer’s most prestigious award Saturday night time at Jazz at Lincoln Middle in Manhattan, punctuating a tireless efficiency all season by a dynamic participant with a singular mixture of expertise.
“I by no means thought I might be on this place,” mentioned a tearful Hunter, who grabbed the trophy arduous with two palms and let free a contented roar. “It’s loopy.”
An enormous-play large receiver and lockdown cornerback, Hunter dominated on each side of the ball for coach Deion Sanders and the Buffaloes, becoming a member of former Bears working again Rashaan Salaam in 1994 as the one Heisman winners in class historical past.
Hunter acquired 552 first-place votes and a pair of,231 factors in a cushty victory. Boise State working again Ashton Jeanty was the runner-up with 309 first-place votes and a pair of,017 factors, the closest margin since 2009.
Hunter garnered 80.14% of potential factors, the Eleventh-highest in Heisman Trophy historical past, and joined Michigan cornerback Charles Woodson (1997) as the one full-time defensive gamers to assert the prize. Woodson additionally made large performs on offense however didn’t play practically as a lot as Hunter on that aspect of the ball.
Oregon quarterback Dillon Gabriel got here in third and Miami quarterback Cam Ward completed fourth in balloting for the ninetieth Heisman Trophy, introduced yearly since 1935 to the nation’s most excellent participant.
It marked solely the fifth time this century a quarterback didn’t win. The final time no signal-caller positioned within the prime two was 2015, when working backs Derrick Henry of Alabama and Christian McCaffrey ran 1-2 in voting.
Hunter additionally gained the Related Press participant of the yr award this week. He helped spark a formidable turnaround at Colorado, from 4-8 in 2023 when he missed 3½ video games due to accidents to 9-3 this yr in Sanders’ second season. The Twentieth-ranked Buffaloes acquired their first bowl bid in 4 years and can face No. 17 BYU (10-2) within the Alamo Bowl on Dec. 28.
Hunter has pledged to play, moderately than skip the sport to arrange for the NFL Draft and forestall any potential damage as many prime prospects do. The 6-1, 185-pound junior from Suwanee, Georgia, plans to go up his senior season and is anticipated to be a top-five decide by the professionals — maybe even No. 1 general.
“He needs to be nice at all the things,” Sanders mentioned. “He needs to have a dedication to excellence in all the things he does — together with fishing.”
Showcasing his blazing velocity and explosive playmaking, Hunter not often got here off the sector this yr — making him an every-down throwback to generations passed by and the primary full-time, true two-way star in many years.
On offense, he had 92 catches for 1,152 yards and 14 touchdowns, plus a speeding rating. On protection, he made 4 interceptions, 32 tackles, broke up 11 passes and compelled a vital fumble that secured an time beyond regulation victory in opposition to Baylor.
He performed 688 defensive snaps and 672 extra on offense — the one Energy 4 convention participant with 30-plus snaps on each side of the ball, in line with Colorado analysis.
It might appear a very exhausting workload for any participant as of late, each mentally and bodily, however not Hunter.
“I believe I laid the bottom for extra folks to return in and go two methods,” he mentioned Friday. “It begins along with your mindset. For those who consider you are able to do it, then you definately’ll be capable of do it. And in addition, I do quite a lot of therapy. I sustain with my physique. I get quite a lot of restoration.”
