Buffs’ Travis Hunter behind just one QB for lead in Heisman race

The Colorado Buffaloes didn’t play last weekend but big help from around the Big 12 conference means Travis Hunter will remain in the national spotlight as his Heisman chances remain strong.

The last time Hunter took the field he had a career day as a pass-catcher, winning Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week. Against Cincinnati, Hunter played 132 snaps on both sides of the ball in Colorado’s 34-23 win. On offense, he set a career-high with 153 yards receiving on nine catches, including two touchdowns. He was one of only three players in FBS to average 17 or more yards per reception with at least eight catches in Week 9. Hunter now ranks in the top 10 nationally in receptions (60) and touchdowns (8) and is in the top 20 in yards (757.) All of that production through eight games is already more than what Hunter did on offense a season ago. Meanwhile, Hunter’s seven passes defended on defense paces the Big 12 while his two interceptions on defense ties him for top ten in the conference for that mark. The All-American from a season ago is making a real push for the Heisman because of his abilities on both sides of the ball and his durability to do it all game long.

Hunter’s Heisman chances took a big hit in October because his production diminished much of the month. The Buffs began on bye, where Hunter’s chances actually raised, but then he was limited in two consecutive games due to injury. Hunter came away from Week 6 as +300 to capture the award and just behind the favorite Ashton Jeanty. Then the shoulder injury struck and Hunter fell to fifth in the race and +2,000 entering Week 9. Hunter rose to a co-favorite last week with Dillon Gabriel of Oregon at +260. His odds have actually increased again during a bye week, up to +230 but he’s no longer atop the board going into Week 11.

Leading the Miami Hurricanes to an undefeated season thus far and in the driver’s seat of the Heisman race is Cam Ward. The fifth-year transfer quarterback from Washington State and Incarnate Word leads the country with 29 passing touchdowns to just six picks while throwing for an ACC-leading 3,149 yards on 67% completions. The ‘Canes schedule has been pretty weak all season and remains so until their conference championship game.

To nobody’s surprise, it’s not Jeanty on top of Hunter or leading, it’s a quarterback. While Jeanty remained the favorite late last month, his odds have fallen quite a bit. Boise State played San Deigo State on national TV for a second straight week. The Broncos routed mainly on a passing game but the star rusher did still go for 128 yards and two touchdowns but it took him 31 carries to get there.

The reigning Moutain West Offensive Player of the Year has 190 carries this season, gaining an NCAA-best 1,525 rushing yards already while also pacing the country with 20 rushing touchdowns  Yet he’s slipped in the race because his yards per carry went down yet again, decreasing by almost two yards a carry in his last two contests.

Jeanty has also slipped because of Hunter’s play and that of  Ward and Oregon gunslinger Dillon Gabriel. The sixth-year player led the No. 1 Ducks past Michigan last weekend. Throwing for a touchdown and 294 yards, Gabriel leads the country with a 74.8 completion percentage, and the Big Ten with 2,665 yards and 19 passing touchdowns.

Post-Week 10 Heisman Odds

Cam Ward, Miami, QB (+200)
Travis Hunter, Colorado, WR/CB (+230)
Dillon Gabriel, Oregon, QB (+290)
Ashton Jeanty, Boise State, RB (+500)
Jaxson Dart, Ole Miss, QB (+1,600)
Kurtis Rourke, Indiana, QB (2,200)
Shedeur Sanders, Colorado, QB (+3,500)
Jalen Milroe, Alabama, QB (+5,000)
Cade Klubnik, Clemson, QB (+6,000)
Quinn Ewers, Texas, QB (+6,000)
Garrett Nussmeier, LSU, QB (+6,000)
Carson Beck, Georgia, QB (+7,500)
Drew Aller, Penn State, QB (+7,500)

For the first time in a long time in this race, a quarterback is now the favorite. Everyone had expected this to happen at some point. Only four players that weren’t QBs have won the award since 2000, meaning it’s still more likely a gunslinger comes away with this trophy than it is Hunter’s historic performance or that the hype for Jeanty carries. At one point, it looked over for all QBs besides Ward but Gabriel leading the top team in the country has climbed him into the picture. On top of that, Dart, Rourike and all of a sudden Shedeur Sanders have made pushes to be a stone’s throw from the leaders as well. But Colorado’s quarterback is throwing his support behind Hunter despite leading the Big 12 in competition percentage (73.1) and touchdowns (21.) There’s a chance both Buffaloes players end up in New York, especially if Colorado finish by winning out in the Big 12. At this point, it seems like a four-horse race for the award between Hunter, Gabriel, Ward and Jeanty with the other quarterbacks just vying for a trip to the Big Apple. Beck’s play and Aller’s loss last weekend have pretty much-eliminated them from the picture. Rourke’s late push for the undefeated Hoosiers is worth watching.

As for Hunter, there hasn’t been somebody who has seriously played both sides of the ball at this high of a level since Champ Bailey in 1998 and even then it wasn’t as full-time as Hunter. But you can go back just one more year to 1997 for something else—the last and only time in modern college football history that a defender won the award, Charles Woodson. Hunter would be the first full-time defender since Woodson to win it—though Woodson did play a limited amount on offense. Should Hunter take the award home, there hasn’t been a true two-way player score the honor since the legendary Ernie Davis in 1961, who was forced to play both sides due to college football’s archaic limited substitution rule at the time.