Travis Hunter and Ashton Jeanty make final arguments for Heisman Trophy as both dominate in final regular season games
By Sam Joseph, CNN
(CNN) — Colorado two-way superstar Travis Hunter and Boise State standout running back Ashton Jeanty made their final cases for the 2024 Heisman Trophy in their final games of the college football regular season on Friday.
Hunter, who has made headlines by playing both wide receiver and cornerback, stuffed the stat sheet on both sides of the ball as the 9-3 Buffaloes routed Oklahoma State 52-0, while Jeanty made yet more history as the No. 11 Broncos defeated Oregon State 34-18 to move to 11-1.
The Heisman Trophy, awarded to the most outstanding player in college football, has been dominated by quarterbacks in recent years, with QBs claiming the trophy in 12 of the last 15 seasons.
The last wide receiver to win the award was Devonta Smith in 2020, and a running back has not won the trophy since former NFL Offensive Player of the Year Derrick Henry took it in 2015. Both players had their Heisman seasons under legendary head coach Nick Saban at Alabama.
Hunter caught three touchdowns against Oklahoma State and totaled 116 yards, his seventh game of the season with at least 100 yards. On defense he had an interception and broke up two passes.
“I think Travis clinched the Heisman with his performance,” said Colorado head coach and former NFL cornerback Deion Sanders, AKA ‘Coach Prime.’
“You’ve never seen it before, He’s the best player in college football. You could find ways to hate, to criticize, to condemn him and you won’t come out of that looking professional because now you’re just searching for something. Travis Hunter proved today, and he’s proved every week, that he’s the best player in college football.”
“It’s no argument at this point,” Sanders’ son and Buffs quarterback Shedeur Sanders added. “That’s crazy, the consistency that he has. I feel like that’s what the award is about.”
Hunter’s dominant performance brought down the curtain on a memorable regular season that is likely to see him picked in the top 10 of the NFL Draft next year. He racked up 92 catches for 1,152 yards and 15 touchdowns over the course of the campaign while also dominating on the defensive end, making 31 tackles, collecting four interceptions and forcing one fumble.
The dynamic Jeanty has emerged as his main competition and the 20-year-old had a commanding display of his own on Friday. He carried the ball a career-high 37 times and rushed for 226 yards and a touchdown in the victory.
This took Jeanty’s all-purpose yard total on the season 2,390, passing the previous record set by Jay Ajayi in 2014 for the most in a single season in Boise State history, per the school. He also tied a program record with his 28th TD of the year, and became the Mountain West conference single-season record holder for rushing yards with 2,288.
Jeanty made sure to credit his team after the game.
“It felt amazing. Not only just for me, but for the team,” Jeanty said during his on-field interview postgame. “The personal success that I’ve had doesn’t just come from me, it comes from team success. Great offensive play and defensive play.”
He has proved to be almost unstoppable this year and has caught national attention as a result. Even Shedeur Sanders found time to talk about Jeanty in his postgame press conference on Friday, saying that the running back was doing an “amazing job.”
The Heisman Trophy winner will be announced in a ceremony on December 14.
The-CNN-Wire
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