Maybe it was Travis Hunter’s everyman moment on ESPN’s “College GameDay” on Saturday, the Colorado do-everything star and top NFL prospect revealing he’s got a freezer full of ice cream at home.
Maybe it’s just that Ashton Jeanty can’t afford to have very good games against the teams Boise State is playing, even if those teams are selling out to stop him and the Broncos are playing for much more than his Heisman Trophy hopes. Whatever it is, Hunter had the weekend off and still managed to take a leap in The Athletic’s Heisman Trophy straw poll — right past Jeanty, seizing first place for the first time in four weeks.
Hunter got 12 of the 27 first-place votes to finish with 57 points, while Jeanty ended up with 11 first-place votes and 51 points. That’s the closest it’s been between the top scorers since we debuted the poll on Oct. 1. The Athletic follows the same voting protocol as that of the Heisman: three points for a first-place vote, two points for a second-place vote, one point for a third-place vote.
| Player | Team | Pos | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Travis Hunter
|
 Colorado |
WR/DB
|
12
|
8
|
5
|
57
|
|
Ashton Jeanty
|
 Boise State |
RB
|
11
|
6
|
6
|
51
|
|
Cam Ward
|
 Miami |
QB
|
3
|
10
|
12
|
41
|
|
Dillon Gabriel
|
 Oregon |
QB
|
1
|
1
|
3
|
8
|
|
Kurtis Rourke
|
 Indiana |
QB
|
0
|
1
|
1
|
3
|
|
Kaleb Johnson
|
 Iowa |
RB
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
2
|
The previous smallest margin between the top two in the poll came four weeks ago when Hunter led Jeanty by nine points. Jeanty pulled ahead from there, logging prolific performances as Hunter missed time with a shoulder injury. Jeanty’s lead peaked at 28 points on Oct. 22.
He had 33 carries for 128 yards in a huge win for Boise State at UNLV three days later, then went for 149 yards and two touchdowns in a rout of San Diego State. Those are numbers that keep a running back in a Power 4 conference right in a race like this, but they likely ended his chase of Barry Sanders’ single-season rushing record (2,628 yards in 1988) and didn’t measure up to Jeanty’s 208 yards per game in the first six games of the season.
But Boise State is squarely in the College Football Playoff race. The Heisman will be handed out before Jeanty gets a chance to line up against, say, Ohio State or Notre Dame in a 12-seed vs. 5-seed game in the first round. Still, his team will be right in the discussion as long as it keeps winning, so the platform is larger for him than it normally would be.
Hunter’s team, quietly and somewhat stunningly, also has a College Football Playoff opportunity. The Big 12 race has gone sideways and the Buffaloes get the automatic bid if they win it. The remaining schedule of Texas Tech, Utah, Kansas and Oklahoma State isn’t exactly a quartet of must-see, sure-thing classics. But those games are all vital as long as Colorado keeps winning, providing Hunter an opportunity to strengthen his case, which would have been more difficult with Colorado as an afterthought.
Miami quarterback Cam Ward is the third player with traction in the straw poll, collecting three first-place votes and 41 points. He leads the nation with 29 touchdown passes, is second with 3,146 passing yards and fifth in passing efficiency (175.14) for the unbeaten Hurricanes. His highlights are dazzling. His occasional, bizarre mistake gives pause, but probably more to NFL personnel people than Heisman voters.
Can three routs of lesser opponents and an epic performance in the ACC title game … against, probably, SMU … give Ward the necessary bump? What can Dillon Gabriel do to get more love? He can’t play for a lesser team, and Oregon’s overall dominance may count against him a bit. What can Kurtis Rourke do? He can’t play for a team with a more revered helmet and Indiana’s lack of lore before this season may count against him a bit.
Rourke gets a shot at Ohio State this month, and Gabriel might get a chance to double up on the Buckeyes next month. But all quarterback hopefuls probably need the non-quarterbacks to falter a bit if this poll accurately represents the sentiments of the voters.
(Photo: Andrew Wevers / Getty Images)
