CU Buffs’ Travis Hunter closes Heisman case by shutting out Oklahoma State

BOULDER – Walking the entire Mountain West is like jumping on the kids’ table at Thanksgiving.

Melvin Gordon managed more yards from scrimmage than Ashton Jeanty. Kapri Bibbs ran for more touchdowns.

Before your Heisman Trophy ballot dies on this hill of lies, damned lies and statistics, consider two things:

Since 1981, seven different Football Bowl Subdivision players, including Jeanty, have rushed for 2,200 yards in a season.

Since 1981, do you know how many guys have intercepted four passes while also having 13 touchdown catches and amassing at least 1,100 receiving yards? In the same year? Just one.

You will see Jeanty again.

You’ll never see people like Travis Hunter. Always.

“Special,” Oklahoma State football coach Mike Gundy said of CU’s two-way star, who intercepted a pass and returned 10 balls for 116 yards and three scores in a 52-0 win over his 3-9 counterparts Cowboys caught.

“We threw to (Hunter) six or eight times, 10 times. There’s really no reason to challenge him sometimes. I said this on Monday when I came in, he makes about 135 plays a game, on both sides of the ball, and he’s a special player.”

Hunter was Halley’s Comet in his farewell from Folsom Field on Friday, nearly every white-and-orange jersey swallowing his dust.

With a Thorpe Award Trophy snub on the mind and on the mind of coach Deion Sanders, the No. 12 seed entered the game 1:45 into the game after Cowboys signal-caller Maealiuaki made a desperate three-and-18 throw into triple coverage Smith.

“He’s great,” said Brennan Presley, the Oklahoma State senior wideout to whom this wounded duck was thrown. “He’s really, really smart. Ultimately it is as advertised. He is one of the best players in the country.”

Hunter became the first CU player with 1,000 yards of offense and four interceptions in the same campaign since Byron “Whizzer” White in 1937. In a historical footnote I hope you don’t hear about, Ol’ Whizzer said he was a Heisman runner-up later that year. (And he lost to a halfback, Yale’s Clint Frank.)

“Heisman” moment? As always, you could choose from the buffet. Funnily enough, I’m biased when it comes to a catch the guy didn’t make. With 11:14 to go until halftime, 21-0, Buffs QB Shedeur Sanders threw a ball under duress over the right boundary in Hunter’s general direction. There were two players at No. 12 at the time, but Shedeur relished the opportunity. In a single movement, Hunter leapt about five feet and stretched one arm toward the sky. The ball bounced from his fingertips. Hunter landed with a crash on the ground, then rolled back to his feet and made a “so close” sign with his thumb and forefinger to the crowd and the secondary Pokes. And that was it. Still, anything traveling at altitude and at this speed should be equipped with beverage service and TSA pre-check.

As for acrobatics, Hunter would get his revenge. On first-and-10 at the Cowboys’ 23, about four minutes into the fourth quarter, the Heisman front-runner singled in coverage against OSU’s Kale Smith as the two charged into the back left corner of the end zone. Smith got there first, but Hunter twisted the young man like a pretzel. Recognizing the ball was slightly underfoot, the Buffs wideout stopped on a dime, levered it to an inside position and secured the rock between his numbers. All while falling on his butt at the same time. You could almost hear Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence screaming with joy while he was in Duval County.

Hunter’s final catch of the day, his last at Folsom Field, was a viral strike for six from Shedeur and a 51-0 CU lead. Some Hollywood endings write themselves.

“There’s no argument at this point,” the younger Sanders, who scored five passing points and 438 points through the air, said of his favorite target. “How many touchdowns did he have? Three receiving touchdowns, (one) interception. He went another 100 yards…that’s a lot, and it’s crazy the consistency he has. I think that’s what the award is all about.

“And of course the other competitors there are also showing consistency. But I just hate it when you have to knock other players down for your man to win. I don’t like that because I respect what Ashton Jeanty is doing at Boise State because he’s doing a great job.”

He is. We already know that Jeanty looks stunning in orange and blue. Can you imagine how much fun he would have taking photos of Bo Nix in Dove Valley? Look, 192 rushing yards against No. 1 Oregon is a star turn against a star defense.

But as mediocre as the Big 12 looked, from top to bottom, where parity rules and shutdown corners are rare, the Mountain West is a train wreck.

If stat stacking matters, the relative strength of the schedule should also matter. Jeanty’s battle card includes just two defenses that finished in the top 30 for fewest rush yards allowed over the weekend. Seven Boise opponents give up more than 175 yards per game on the ground.

Give this man the Doak Walker.

Hand Hunter the Heisman.

“It’s just the question: What difference are you going to make when the lights are on?” Shedeur continued. “And Travis has proven week after week, despite injuries and everything, that he is the life of our team.”

If the argument is that Hunter isn’t the best player at his position, your best bet is to find another windmill to tip. Let’s say you have one MVP candidate who just has an insanely high average and another who is threatening to win the Triple Crown. Are you going with Wade Boggs or Mickey Mantle?

“You don’t see guys like that,” Gundy said, “they come around a lot.”

As the man said, there is no argument. One day you will tell your grandchildren how you saw Travis Hunter say goodbye with a pose and a smile, rare joy in the rarest atmosphere imaginable.

Originally published: November 29, 2024 at 7:24 pm MST