Travis Hunter’s Heisman Trophy challengers: What to know about Dillon Gabriel, Ashton Jeanty and Cam Ward
Fans who stayed up late enough to watch Boise State have witnessed Ashton Jeanty dominating week in and week out.
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Colorado two-way star Travis Hunter will be joined by three other finalists at Saturday’s Heisman Trophy ceremony in New York. Here’s the scoop on each one.
Dillon Gabriel, Oregon QB, senior
Quarterbacking the No. 1 team in college football is, historically, a pretty straightforward path to New York.
Call him Mr. Worldwide: Gabriel, who also played for Central Florida and Oklahoma, hails from Hawaii and is more than a little bit reminiscent of 2014 Heisman winner Marcus Mariota. This season he’s thrown for 3,558 yards, completing 297 of his 406 attempts with just six interceptions. He’s also racked up 28 touchdowns with his arm and seven more with his legs.
Mariota, now a backup QB for the Washington Commanders, put up 3,783 yards and scored 38 touchdowns through the air and ran in four more during his Heisman campaign.
Gabriel and the undefeated Ducks will play either Tennessee or Ohio State in the Rose Bowl on New Year’s Day in pursuit of a College Football Playoff title.
Ashton Jeanty, Boise State RB, junior
Fans who stayed up late enough to watch Boise State — the Broncos played only one game in the regular season that started before noon, and five of their games started at 7:45 p.m. MT or later — have witnessed Jeanty dominating week in and week out.
With at least one game left on Boise’s schedule, Jeanty is 141 yards from breaking Barry Sanders’ record for most rushing yards in a season (2,628), set in 1988. Sanders’ record for most rushing touchdowns in a season (37) is likely to stand, though a Boise State run to the CFP championship game would put Jeanty (29) within reach.
The 21-year-old is the first player to win both the Maxwell Award (for player of the year) and Doak Walker Award (for outstanding running back) since Derrick Henry in 2015. Jeanty and the Broncos (12-1) will take on either Penn State or SMU in the Fiesta Bowl on New Year’s Eve.
Cam Ward, Miami QB, senior
This native of tiny West Columbia, Texas (population: 3,616) threw for 4,123 yards and 36 touchdowns this season (and ran in four more) for a Miami team that narrowly — and controversially — missed the College Football Playoff.
He and the rest of the Hurricanes will instead play Iowa State in the Pop-Tart Bowl on Dec. 28. Like Gabriel, Ward is a two-time transfer, a relatively common trait in the portal era. And like all of this year’s Heisman finalists, he began his college career at a non-Power 4 school. Ward played two seasons for FCS school Incarnate Word, then two seasons for Washington State before landing in Coral Gables.
He is the winner of the 2024 Davey O’Brien Award, given to the nation’s best college quarterback each year.
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