Travis Hunter’s historic season has fittingly ended with the Heisman Trophy.
Colorado’s star defensive back and wide receiver was named the 2024 Heisman winner on Saturday night ahead of Boise State RB Ashton Jeanty, Oregon QB Dillon Gabriel and Miami QB Cam Ward.
Hunter received 552 of 901 first-place votes, followed by Jeanty with 309, Gabriel with 24 and Ward with six. The total voting was much closer than expected, with Hunter edging out Jeanty in total points 2,231 to 2,017.
That’s the narrowest margin for the award since 2009, when Mark Ingram edged out Toby Gerhart in another race where quarterbacks weren’t in the top two.
In his acceptance speech, Hunter effusively thanked God, his parents, his girlfriend, his teammates, his coaches, his teachers and, of course, Colorado supporter Lil Wayne.
What Hunter did in 2024 was unprecedented in modern college football history. He was a constant presence for Colorado on offense and defense, and he was excellent on both sides.
Hunter grabbed 92 catches for 1,152 yards and 14 TDs while also rushing for another score on offense. On defense, Hunter had four interceptions, 11 passes defensed and made over 30 tackles. His stats could have been better, as well, but he missed significant parts of two games with a shoulder injury.
The junior is the first player since Alabama WR DeVonta Smith in 2020 to win the Heisman while not playing quarterback and just the fifth non-quarterback since the turn of the century to lift the award. The other previous non-QB winners in the 2000s are Smith, Alabama RB Derrick Henry (2015), Alabama RB Mark Ingram (2009) and USC RB Reggie Bush (2005).
Hunter the human highlight reel
Since arriving at Colorado in 2023, Hunter has made myriad ridiculous plays for the Buffaloes. In September, he made a game-saving play in overtime against Baylor. After Colorado miraculously sent the game to OT with a Hail Mary, Hunter forced a fumble at the goal line to give Colorado the win.
A week later, he made a fantastic break on the ball for a diving interception against UCF.
In November, Hunter made this absurd fourth-down catch between two defenders against Utah to set up a touchdown by Will Sheppard on the next play.
Hunter had at least nine catches in six of Colorado’s 12 games this season and scored a TD in eight of them. As Jeanty made a late-season charge for the single-season rushing record, Hunter scored five touchdowns over Colorado’s last two games.
He had eight catches for 125 yards and two scores in a loss to Kansas and followed it up with 10 catches for 116 yards and three scores in a blowout win over Oklahoma State to end the season. In case there was any doubt on who the Heisman would be on Black Friday, Hunter erased it with a touchdown and an interception in the first quarter of the game.
How Hunter’s season compares to previous two-way players
Hunter is not the first player in modern college football to play both cornerback and wide receiver. But he’s the one who has done it the best.
Along with 1997 Heisman winner Charles Woodson, Georgia’s Champ Bailey and Ohio State’s Chris Gamble played both positions for their power conference schools. And only Bailey has come close to putting up the stats that Hunter did. Bailey had 47 catches for 744 yards and five touchdowns along with 16 carries for 84 yards in 1998. He did that while also returning kicks for the Bulldogs and being a shutdown corner. Bailey had three interceptions that season and finished seventh in the Heisman voting behind winner Ricky Williams and five quarterbacks.
A few years later, Gamble made his mark as an offensive and defensive threat. As Ohio State won the national title at the end of the 2022 season, Gamble had 31 catches for 499 yards while grabbing four interceptions on defense. He added 46 kickoff and punt returns too, though he scored just two total touchdowns.
Woodson won the Heisman 27 years ago starring mostly on the defensive side of the ball. He had 11 catches for 231 yards and two scores during his Heisman-winning season.
Hunter’s unique path
Hunter’s recruitment was the most unique of the 2022 recruiting cycle. The Georgia native was a unanimous five-star and the No. 1 recruit in the country, according to Rivals. He was listed as an athlete because of his ability to play both receiver and cornerback at a high level and had scholarship offers from blue-blood programs all over the country.
Instead, Hunter chose to play at college football’s second level in the FCS. Hunter signed with Jackson State and coach Deion Sanders as the Pro Football Hall of Famer was entering his third season with the school and the Tigers had gone 11-2 in 2021.
Jackson State went undefeated during the regular season in 2022 with both Hunter and Shedeur Sanders playing starring roles. At the end of the regular season, the elder Sanders was named the coach at Colorado and both Hunter and Shedeur (along with safety Shilo Sanders) followed him to Boulder.
Hunter would have had a fascinating Heisman case in 2023 had he played in all of Colorado’s games. Hunter missed three games after suffering a lacerated liver on a hit by a Colorado State player. Over nine games in 2023, Hunter had 57 catches for 721 yards and had 30 tackles and three interceptions. However, Colorado went 4-8 and lost all but one of its games in conference play after a 3-0 start to the season.
This year, the Buffs made significant strides on both sides of the ball. Colorado rebounded from a Week 2 loss to Nebraska to win three straight games before an October loss to Kansas State. The Buffaloes then won five of their last six games to tie for first-place in the Big 12, but they lost out on a four-way tiebreaker thanks to their Week 13 loss to Kansas.
Hunter has made it clear that he’s heading to the NFL after the season and is a likely top-five draft pick even if he’ll end up exclusively playing one position professionally. However, fans will likely get one more chance to see him play collegiately. Colorado plays BYU in the Alamo Bowl on Dec. 28 and Deion Sanders has said that both Hunter and Shedeur will participate in the game.