On Dec. 14, Travis Hunter was announced as the winner of the 2024 College Football Heisman trophy. The Heisman trophy is equivalent to the MVP. This angered many people who thought he was undeserving. Every year, four Heisman finalists are announced based on how many votes they got. This year, the finalists were Quarterback Cam Ward (UMiami), Quarterback Dillon Gabriel (Oregon), Running back Aston Jeanty (Boise State) and Wide Receiver/Cornerback Hunter (Colorado). Though there were four finalists, this year it was a two horse race between Jeanty and Hunter.
Jeanty led unranked Boise State to the nine seed at the end of the season, a Mountain West Championship, and the three seed for the college football playoffs, earning his team a first round bye. He also had the most rushing yards in college football by 890 yards, rushing for 2601 yards. Additionally, he was just 131 yards away from breaking NFL hall of famer Barry Sanders’ NCAA single season rushing record. In week two, Jeanty had 192 yards and three touchdowns against the best team in the country, Oregon. In his conference championship game vs 20 UNLV, he rushed for 209 yards and a touchdown. He also had a 75 yard run. Over the season, he averaged seven yards per carry over 374 carries, which is unheard of in college football. He had a total of 29 touchdowns, which was the most by a running back this season. He averaged just over two touchdowns per game, which is higher than the majority. For all of those reasons, the majority of fans strongly believed he should win the Heisman.
His competitor, Hunter, also had an outstanding season. He finished fourth in receiving yards with 1,258. He also had the second most receiving touchdowns, with 15, averaging just over one per game. What makes him really special is that he plays cornerback too. He is one of the only players in college football to do so, and basically the only one who does it impactfully. He had an impressive four interceptions, which is tied for 21st in the country. Against 17th ranked BYU, Hunter had an impressive 106 receiving yards and a touchdown.
Many Jeanty fans said he should have won the Heisman because he led the league in most stats and had more rushing touchdowns than most teams. Also, many people said Jeanty’s ability to perform consistently and the fact he led Boise State to a first round bye in the playoffs should have been enough for him to win. On the official Heisman Trophy Instagram account, many people were saying how the award had “lost its credibility” and how it was turning into a “popularity contest”. Hunter fans argued he should have won because he is elite on both offence and defense and led a Colorado team with four wins last season to nine wins this season.
