Prime has a clear message for Heisman voters about Travis Hunter

BOULDER—Not many players in high-level football can come away with a rushing touchdown, interception and a win, but that’s the hat trick Travis Hunter tallied in Colorado’s overwhelming 49-24 victory over Utah on Saturday.

Buffaloes head coach Deion Sanders isn’t campaigning for Hunter, he doesn’t feel he needs to because the work speaks for itself. Even on a “subpar” day like Saturday, the workhorse impacted every area of the Rumble in the Rockies.

The leader of the Heisman race coming into the week didn’t have his typical day and yet he still was able to flash the famous pose of the nation’s trophy for the most outstanding football player twice. The two-way star’s first touch of the ball actually came on defense, when he snagged an interception off of a Preston Hodge pass breakup. Taking it back another 21 yards where he posed and threw the football high into the air in celebration—it got a flag but nobody cared.

DEFLECTED TO TRAVIS HUNTER @CUBuffsFootball with another big defense play 🔒🦬 pic.twitter.com/zAsNDKPLYA

— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) November 16, 2024

TRAVIS HUNTER HITS THE HEISMAN 🏆👀@CUBuffsFootball pic.twitter.com/6tMg6K2evx

— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) November 16, 2024

Hunter’s game-changing plays more or less bookended the game, with the interception making it clear who would win on Saturday. Then his score was the last time the Buffaloes touched the ball, a reverse carry that should’ve been a pass to quarterback Shedeur Sanders got turned around and then Hunter shot upfield. His whole offense dropped the Heisman pose in the end zone.

 

TRAVIS HUNTER IS JUST A CHEAT CODE 😱@CUBuffsFootball pic.twitter.com/SUCHVonSOq

— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) November 16, 2024

Somehow neither of those plays were Hunter’s best of the day. He made an absolutely absurd helicopter catch on a fourth and eight that led to a CU touchdown just one play later.

TRAVIS HUNTER IS UNREAL 🤯

He makes an absurd catch for @CUBuffsFootball on 4th & 8 🔥 pic.twitter.com/OuIIY8e4vD

— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) November 16, 2024

As a wideout, Hunter made five catches for 60 all-purpose yards and a rushing touchdown. As a defensive back, he made three tackles, recorded one pass deflection and made that one interception.

“I ain’t need to give a message to no Heisman voters that is undecided. If they can’t see, they can’t see. It is what it is. I mean, Travis is who he is. It’s supposed to go to the best college football player. I think that’s been a wrap since what Week 2,” Sanders said after the game in his news conference. “So we ain’t petitioning for nobody. We ain’t doing that. We got a wonderful display of cameras here, and I think we are on national television every week. They can’t see it something is a problem. Don’t allow their hatred for me to interfere with our kids success, they gotta stop that. Y’all gotta stop some of y’all like that. Y’all gotta stop that. Man, give the kids what they deserve. Man, I had my turn. I played for 14 years. Yeah, they had 14 years to hate me. Now, let it go.”

To Prime’s point, every game has been in the spotlight. Aside from being the literal cover athlete of the much-anticipated return of the College Football video game, Hunter is on commercials and in famous’ people’s streams. Hunter isn’t just everywhere on the field, he’s almost everywhere off it too. But hey, like coach, like player—you can’t go a minute of watching sports in 2024 without hearing about Sanders. Coach Prime’s ubiquitous ways coupled with the amount of people he beat as a world-renowned athlete in multiple sports, and there is some real hate for Sanders. It’s hard to say if that really translates over to Hunter, who seems to be widely adored. But there can only be one greatest college football player in the country, and it’s an honor not even Sanders captured.

His all-around efforts on the field didn’t really start until the NFL. It means he was just one of the best defensive backs in the world when he was back at Florida State. Hunter is that at Colorado plus a top-tier wide receiver. The last player to be that? Well, before last fall, the last player in the FBS to have at least 40 catches and three interceptions in a season was Georgia’s Champ Bailey in 1998. Hunter has now accomplished the feat in consecutive years.