Colorado star is Heisman favorite over Ashton Jeanty. Why? Can Boise State RB win?
One of the most hotly debated Heisman Trophy races in recent times will have a winner on Saturday night.
In one corner, you’ve got Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty. The junior leads the nation in rushing yards (2,497) and rushing touchdowns (29), and has led the Broncos to the No. 3 seed and a first-round bye of the College Football Playoff.
On Thursday night, Jeanty was awarded the Doak Walker Award, honoring the nation’s best running back, and the Maxwell Award, given to the “most outstanding” player in college football. The Maxwell Award is similar to the Heisman but has a different voting bloc.
Jeanty, who regularly posted 200-yard rushing games this season, has been chasing Barry Sanders’ record for the most yards in a season. Sanders ran for 2,628 yards for Oklahoma State in 1988 — his bowl game total didn’t count then under NCAA rules — so Jeanty is just 132 yards away, and he’ll likely do that in the Fiesta Bowl on Dec. 31.
In the other corner is Colorado’s two-way star, Travis Hunter, who starts as both a cornerback and wide receiver. Hunter won the Biletnikoff Award on Thursday, honoring the nation’s best wide receiver, and was also named The Associated Press College Football Player of the Year. He got 26 votes to 16 for Jeanty in that voting.
Hunter also won the Walter Camp Award — another award honoring college football’s best player — and somewhat surprisingly won the Chuck Bednarik Award, given to the nation’s best defensive player.
Oregon’s Dillon Gabriel and Miami’s Cam Ward are the other two Heisman Trophy finalists, but neither is expected to contend. Ward on Thursday night won the Davey O’Brien Award, which goes to the nation’s top quarterback.
Heading into the Heisman ceremony, Hunter is a heavy favorite among oddsmakers, sitting at anywhere from -2500 to -2000. Jeanty is at +800 to +1000, and the next closest is Gabriel at +25000.
What makes Travis Hunter the favorite?
Jeanty has put together one of the greatest seasons by a running back since Barry Sanders in 1988, so why is Hunter such a heavy favorite?
“You’ve never seen a player like me,” Hunter said on The Pivot Podcast earlier this week.
The main talking point around Hunter is the number of snaps he has played as a two-way starter, something most football pundits thought left the game decades ago. Though 12 games, Hunter played 1,380 snaps — 670 on offense, 686 on defense and 24 on special teams. That’s 382 more snaps than the next-closest player.
Offensively, Hunter ranks sixth in the nation for receiving yards (1,152), fourth in receptions (92) and second in receiving touchdowns (14).
Hunter won the Biletnikoff Award, but his stats didn’t match up to San Jose State’s Nick Nash, who became the fourth player in college football history to lead the nation in receptions (104), receiving yards (1,382) and touchdowns (16). In the Power 4 conferences, Maryland’s Tai Felton was the only receiver with stats comparable to Hunter’s, catching 96 passes for 1,124 yards.
Defensively, Hunter had 32 tackles, four interceptions, 11 pass breakups and a forced fumble in 2024 — statistics that don’t jump off the page, but he was praised for being good enough that opposing teams had to avoid throwing his direction.
Former two-way college player Champ Bailey — who finished seventh in the 1998 Heisman voting and then played cornerback in the NFL — told ESPN, “(Hunter) is doing things you probably won’t see again.”
“There isn’t enough said about the accountability that comes with what Hunter is doing, too. Playing both ways means putting extra stuff on your plate, and people are counting on you to do it, so it can’t just be something you want to try. That mental pressure will take the biggest toll unless you really love what you’re doing and go all in.”
Fox Sports commentator and former Colorado quarterback Joel Klatt told the Denver Gazette that Hunter is a “unicorn.” Fellow former Colorado quarterback Kordell Stewart, who was a starter for the Steelers in the NFL, told the Gazette that he thinks Hunter is “hands down the Heisman winner.”
“I just think his body of work speaks for itself,” Stewart said. “I love Ashton Jeanty, and the tough part about it is somebody’s got to get knocked off for another guy to get it. I think this may be the tightest race, I would arguably say, in the history of the Heisman.”
Some trends lean in Ashton Jeanty’s favor
But Boise State fans shouldn’t despair just yet. Jeanty’s winning of the Maxwell Award could bode well for him.
Since 1979, 11 running backs have won the Maxwell Award, with nine of them going on to win the Heisman. The last of those was former Alabama star Derrick Henry, who won both awards and is now one of the NFL’s best running backs.
Additionally, eight of the past 10 players to win the Maxwell also claimed the Heisman. Will that happen for Jeanty? He has no regrets about staying at Boise State regardless.
“I wanted to be one of the best running backs in the nation,” he told reporters in a Zoom call from New York on Thursday evening, before winning two awards. “I wanted to win a championship, wanted to go to the college football playoffs, wanted to be a Heisman award finalist. Wanted to leave a legacy that was bigger than just football at wherever I’m at.”
The only two players who won the Maxwell but not the Heisman were Washington quarterback Michael Penix Jr. last year — LSU QB Jayden Daniels won the Heisman — and Alabama QB Tua Tagavailoa in 2018, when Oklahoma QB Kyler Murray was the winner.
One of the other finalists thinks Jeanty should get the trophy. Gabriel said on Dan Patrick’s radio show that he would “get some heat for this one, but I’m going to say Ashton Jeanty.” Gabriel said he understood the challenge of getting to this position being a Group of 5 conference player, since he started his career at UCF.
“Of course, I played against Ashton this year, and he’s a talented individual. His story is unique, and what he’s been able to do has been pretty impressive.”
Oregon handed Boise State its only loss this season, 37-34 on a last-second field goal in the second game of the season.
This story was originally published December 13, 2024 at 4:07 PM.
