Junior athlete Travis Hunter celebrates making a touchdown during the Rocky Mountain Showdown at Canvas Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024. (Clementine Miller/CU Independent)
Travis Hunter has put together one of the greatest single seasons in college football history. He is the deserved favorite to win the 2024 Heisman Award amid a race that has been once in a generation.
There are fresh positions, exciting candidates and football programs that have never won the honor in contention. But none of that matters because there is only one option.
Travis Hunter is a top-three player at both wide receiver and cornerback. This season he was in nearly every single play of every single game. While doing so he’s yet to show any signs of fatigue or discomfort.
Hunter’s only real competition is Boise State University’s animal of a running back, Ashton Jeanty. Jeanty has had an incredible season on the ground, finishing the regular season with 28 touchdowns and 2,288 rushing yards. Those numbers are eerily similar to the last running back to win the Heisman, Derrick Henry in 2015. Henry also had 28 touchdowns but fell just short of Jeanty on yards.
Although Jeanty’s season was a masterclass, it’s safe to say he’d win it any other year if he hadn’t run into 2024 Travis Hunter. Las Vegas odds have seemingly given the award to Hunter, who currently sits at -5882 while Jeanty sits on the other end in the positives at +1600.
In simpler terms, if you were to bet $10 on Ashton Jeanty winning the Heisman with his current odds, you would win $160. If you bet 10 on Hunter, you’d cash out on 17 cents.
But, those odds are justified. What Hunter has done all season is remarkable. Just on the offensive side, he finished with the second-most touchdowns and the fifth-most yards in all of the FBS. Even being out a game from injury, Hunter posted 14 scores and 1,152 receiving yards off 92 catches.
Junior athlete Travis Hunter makes a touchdown during the game against the University of Cincinnati at Folsom Field on Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024. (Clementine Miller/CU Independent)
That alone warrants Heisman talks and NFL Draft buzz, but that’s only half of what he’s great at. At cornerback, which is the position he’ll likely play in the NFL, he snagged four interceptions, broke up 11 passes and forced a fumble in overtime to seal a win for the Buffs. This season was truly once-in-a-lifetime by Hunter. We may never see a player work both sides of the ball like he did.
It is confirmed that we will see him take the field one final time for Colorado’s upcoming bowl game. Once that is over, it will be time for him to flip the page and begin the next chapter of his career in the NFL where he is widely expected to be a top-two pick in the upcoming draft.
What he has done for the Buffaloes program and football as a whole is truly implausible. For that reason, when it comes to the Heisman, look no further than Travis Hunter.
Contact CU Independent football writer Baylan Wysuph at Baylan.Wysuph@Colorado.edu
