Travis Hunter reels in several major awards for CU Buffs

Colorado Buffaloes star Travis Hunter is expected to take home the Heisman on Saturday but before he gets crowned with one of the most famous trophies, the do-it-all player was honored with some major awards on Thursday.

Hunter was named the Associated Press College Football Player of the Year, receiving 26 of 43 votes from a panel of AP Top 25 voters. Boise State tailback Ashton Jeanty, who is expected to finish second to Hunter in Heisman voting got 16 votes for this award while Arizona State running back Cam Skattebo also received one vote.

But Hunter was far from done, he was also named the Player of the Year via the Walter Camp Award. Along with that, he picked up the Chuck Bednarik Award as the top defensive player and the Biletnikoff Award for the best wide receiver.

Pause… that’s right, Hunter was named the nation’s top defensive player and its top pass catcher—becoming the first person to do that.

More than 20 different trophies were given out Thursday night at the annual College Football Awards. Don’t feel too bad for Jeanty and his historic season as he closes in on Barry Sanders’ single-season rushing record. The Broncos back was given the Doak Walker Award as the best rusher in the nation and the Maxwell Award as college football’s most outstanding player.

Hunter was the big winner and that’s because of his unprecedented abilities. Hunter finished with a Big 12-best 92 catches for 1,152 yards, which are second and third-best marks in Buffaloes history respectively. Hunter’s 14 receiving touchdowns is also a school record and conference best. He’s also added a rushing touchdown, four interceptions, one forced fumble, a conference-best 11 passes defended and 32 tackles from his defensive position of cornerback. He played 688 defensive and 672 offensive snaps and is the only FBS player with 150-plus snaps on both offense and defense and the only Power 4 conference player with 30-plus snaps on both sides. Hunter’s PFF grades rank him as the best receiver in the country to play 450-plus snaps and the sixth-best cover corner in the nation to play 300 snaps.

Hunter is the first FBS player in the last quarter century with three touchdowns and an interception in a game and he has two of the four instances of multiple touchdowns and an interception since 1996 in FBS. He also was the first and just one of two FBS/NFL players with 50 receiving yards, a rushing touchdown and an interception, joining Champ Bailey who did it in the NFL. Hunter also created the 150 receiving yards and four pass breakups in a game club.

The four trophies scored on Thursday makes it six major awards for Hunter this week, as he was given the the Lott IMPACT Award (defense) on Monday and the Paul Hornung Award (versatility) on Tuesday.

Going back to Walter Camp—the last Buffs player to take that home was Rashaan Salaam in 1994, the year he won the Heisman.