Colorado 2-way star Travis Hunter wins Heisman Trophy as college football's top player

Two-way star Travis Hunter of Colorado won the Heisman Trophy on Saturday night, punctuating a tireless performance all season by a dynamic player with a unique combination of skills.

The wide receiver and lockdown cornerback dominated on both sides of the ball for coach Deion Sanders and the Buffaloes, joining late running back Rashaan Salaam in 1994 as the only players in school history to take home college football's most prestigious individual award.

Hunter received 552 first-place votes and 2,231 points in a comfortable victory. Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty was the runner-up with 309 first-place votes and 2,017 points.

Oregon quarterback Dillon Gabriel came in third and Miami quarterback Cam Ward finished fourth in balloting for the 90th Heisman Trophy, presented annually since 1935 to the nation's most outstanding player. This year's ceremony was held at Jazz at Lincoln Center in Manhattan, where Sanders was in attendance.

It marked only the fifth time this century a quarterback didn't win. The last time no signal-caller placed in the top two was 2015, when running backs Derrick Henry of Alabama and Christian McCaffrey ran 1-2 in voting.

Hunter also won The Associated Press player of the year award this week. He helped spark an impressive turnaround at Colorado, from 4-8 in 2023 when he missed 3 1/2 games because of injuries to 9-3 this year in Sanders' second season. The 20th-ranked Buffaloes got their first bowl bid in four years and will face No. 17 BYU (10-2) in the Alamo Bowl on Dec. 28.

Hunter has pledged to play, rather than skip the game to prepare for the NFL draft and prevent any possible injury as many top prospects do. The 6-foot-1, 185-pound junior from Suwanee, Georgia, plans to pass up his