FORT WORTH, TX – SEPTEMBER 2: Travis Hunter #12 of the Colorado Buffaloes dives for a pass against the TCU Horned Frogs during the first half at Amon G. Carter Stadium on September 2, 2023 in Fort Worth, Texas.
Saturday night the 2024 Heisman Trophy will go to... Colorado's Travis Hunter. We think! Or Boise State's Ashton Jeanty. It is complicated. We are pretty certain it will not go to one of the two quarterback finalists, Oregon's Dillon Gabriel or Miami's Cam Ward. Let's start with those two.
We've been giving out a big huge trophy to the most outstanding college football player every year since the 1930's. And Oregon quarterback Dillon Gabriel has been outstanding! After all, he just led the Ducks to an undefeated season and a number one ranking. The Ducks beat two top 3 teams and three top 20 teams this season and won the Big Ten championship in their first year in the league. They also earned a first round bye in the college football playoffs. Along the way, Gabriel put up some good stats.
Gabriel threw 28 touchdowns against 6 interceptions and passed for over 3500 yards. Not bad. But compare him to the last two quarterbacks to win the award and he falls short. Last year LSU's Jayden Daniels threw for 40 touchdowns and 4 interceptions and topped 3800 passing yards. The year before USC's Caleb Williams threw 42 touchdown passes with 5 interceptions and passed for 4500 yards.
Which leads us to the other quarterback finalist for the 2024 Heisman Trophy, Miami's Cam Ward. He stepped up and led the country with 36 touchdowns and was second in the country with 4319 passing yards and was third in yards per attempt with 9.5. But his Hurricanes lost a game they should not have to Syracuse. That bumped them out of the ACC championship game and cost the Canes a playoff spot. Because of that we don't think he will win the Heisman.
How about Boise State's Ashton Jeanty? He rushed for 2500 yards and 29 touchdowns. He reached those stats while siting out numerous 4th quarters of games already in hand. Back in my day a running back with these stats would have been an automatic Heisman winner. But today we don't seem to value running backs as much so we are not so sure he will win.
THE 2024 HEISMAN TROPHY WINNER
Then there is Colorado's true-two way player Travis Hunter. As we review his chances for the 2024 Heisman Trophy, He rarely leaves the field. He plays wide receiver and corner. On offense he had 92 caches for 1152 yards and 14 touchdowns. On defense he graded out #1 in pass coverage and hauled in 4 interceptions. Because of his two-way excellence we think voters will name him the most outstanding player in college football and give him the 2024 Heisman Trophy.
For more college football talk and analysis tune in each weekday to Craig Shemon and Company on ESPN Southwest Florida from 2-6pm.
