Travis Hunter’s self-proclaimed Heisman buzz was spot on

When Travis Hunter’s aimed his arrow on being the nation’s best football player, it was a fun albeit absurd goal… right?

Just 60 minutes of football later and Hunter’s target doesn’t seem off, his odds of winning a Heisman skyrocketed from +30,000 to +5,000 in just a few hours as he led the Colorado Buffaloes to an upset road win over the No. 17 TCU Horned Frogs, who were three-touchdown favorites. Hunter played on both sides of the ball, totaling 119 snaps as he starred as a shutdown corner and moonlighted as the No. 1 wide receiver. Hunter snagged a standout key interception on his own goal line and caught a game-high 11 passes for 119 yards.

“Come on man, there’s only one choice, that’s me. Both sides of the ball, I’m going for it all,” Hunter said earlier this week. “Like I said on Instagram, Heisman loading—that’s my goal and sometimes you need to put your goals out there for everybody.”

Travis Hunter puts Caleb Williams No. 3 in his Heisman rankings 👀

1. Travis Hunter
2. Shedeur Sanders
3. Caleb Williams pic.twitter.com/XSgBhcUv9U

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) August 29, 2023

Hunter’s debut in the black and gold came as his coach, Deion Sanders, coached his first Buffs game with the two each coming from Jackson State. And this first showing caught the world by storm, getting attention from not only Buff Nation’s stars like Derrick White who called him the best player in the country, but others like Jerry Juedy impressed with his game.

“Travis is HIM,” coach Sanders said. “I really think we got a couple of guys who should be talked about for the Heisman right now.”

Sheduer Sanders set a single-game passing record for the Buffs in his debut, throwing for over 500 yards, hitting four different receivers including Hunter for more than 100. So Maybe Hunter was right about not only himself but his quarterback too.

Hunter, a preseason All-American, was the No. 1 prospect in his high school class and stunned the college football world by choosing to play for the Tigers over his pick of the liter. Hunter’s two-way play drew many comparisons to baseball star Shohei Ohtani on Saturday and what he did at that level of the sport is truly that level of incredible. To think they could be the reality for another 10 or so games this fall is hard to wrap one’s head around. But if Hunter holds up, he could take a run at Byron “Whizzer” White for the school’s greatest athlete and join the legendary Rashaan Salaam as the program’s lone Heisman winner.

“We’re going to continue to be questioned because we do things that have never been done,” Sanders said.

So while Coach Prime’s postgame was a giant I told you so, let this be Hunter’s I told you so.

***