Travis Hunter showed the college football world that he is the best player in the country and that it is not particularly close.
In Colorado's 48-21 win over UCF, Hunter showed just how versatile he was as a wide receiver and cornerback . On offense, the 21-year-old caught nine receptions for 89 yards to go along with one touchdown while on defense, he was the recipient of one of two UCF interceptions doing the Heisman Trophy pose as he celebrated.
Five games into the Buffaloes season, it appears as if the Heisman Trophy is Hunter's to lose, especially considering no other player has the ability that he does . "There ain't nobody out there doing 130 snaps a game," Hunter said before the Buffaloes took on the Knights . "My main goal right now is to stay focused on my team and the individual awards will come."
And while Hunter's play has been impressive to everyone around the program and those who have watched Colorado play, head coach Deion Sanders has a theory Hunter will not win the Heisman because of him. Speaking to CBS before Colorado's game against Colorado State, Sanders expanded on his comment, stating: "The only way he doesn't is because I'm his coach."
More often than not, quarterbacks tend to win the Heisman as evidenced by how frequently a non-quarterback wins the award. The last time a non-quarterback won the Heisman was in 2020 when Devonta Smith, a wide receiver, was given the trophy.
Before Smith, it was Derrick Henry, who won the award in 2015 as a member of Alabama. Considering the voter's penchant for choosing a quarterback, it appears as if Hunter has an outside chance of winning the award.
Still, it wasn't just Sanders who was impressed with how Hunter has played this season. As the two-way superstar made his presence known on both ends of the ball, many pundits and former football players shared their amazement at what Hunter was doing against the Knights.
"Travis Hunter, INCREDIBLE BREAK ON BALL FOR INTERCEPTION ... THEN HEISMAN-POSED!!!" former FOX Sports star Skip Bayless posted on X. "He and Shedeur are the two best players in college football." Meanwhile, ESPN personality and former NFL star Pat McAfee had a simple, four-word summary of Hunter's skills: "Travis Hunter is generational."
Additionally, former Super Bowl champion Bucky Brooks had high praise for the 21-year-old star. On X, Brooks wrote of how Hunter will be a sought-after commodity when the 2025 NFL Draft comes around.
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"Travis Hunter is one of the best football players I've ever watched," Brooks claimed. "No hype or click bait. This has instincts and skills that you simply can't teach.. Someone is gonna get a really good two-way player #NFLDraft."
After the game, Sanders spoke to FOX Sports about Hunter doing the pose after his interception. "We're really upset because they just told me he needed 10 more yards to consistently have his 100-yard streak and we were going to try to get it to him but we didn't want to be outlandish or do anything crazy to provoke ignorance," he said.
"But Travis is OK with it. He's not playing for that - he's just playing. They want to be one of the best players in college football and I think he is."
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