Heisman Watch: Travis Hunter is the clear favorite with three weeks to go in the regular season

Travis Hunter is a very deserved Heisman favorite. But his odds may be too high with three weeks left in the 2024 regular season.

The Colorado defensive back has the lowest odds of anyone ahead of the Buffaloes’ game against Utah on Saturday. Hunter is at even money to win the award, and his odds are significantly better than fellow favorites Dillon Gabriel (+350), Ashton Jeanty (+400) and Cam Ward (+850).

As those four players have separated themselves from the rest of the field over the second half of the season, they have taken turns atop the odds board. Jeanty emerged as the favorite in the first half, before power conference players jumped ahead of him. Ward’s odds were significantly lower a week ago before his Miami Hurricanes lost their first game of the season at Georgia Tech in Week 11.

By now you know that Hunter is the only player in college football who plays nearly every snap on both sides of the ball. What he is doing is nearly unprecedented in modern college football. But it’s the wrong time to bet Hunter unless you’re really, really convinced no one else is going to win the Heisman.

Hunter continues to be Colorado’s leading receiver with 69 catches for 856 yards and nine touchdowns. He’s caught over a third of Shedeur Sanders’ TD passes so far this season. He also has seven passes defensed to go along with two interceptions.

His defensive snap counts are back to where they were during the first half of the season too. After playing just 30 defensive snaps against Kansas State and Arizona because of a shoulder injury he suffered in the first half against KSU, Hunter played 62 defensive snaps against Cincinnati and a season-high 85 in the Buffs’ Week 11 win over Texas Tech. As long as Hunter keeps playing nearly every snap and Colorado keeps winning, he’s guaranteed to be in New York as a Heisman finalist.

There’s still some opportunity for others to pass him, however. If Colorado makes it to the Big 12 title game, the Buffaloes have four more games before Heisman voting closes. But Gabriel and Ward are set for three more games, and Jeanty likely has four more himself. That’s nearly a third of the season remaining. And as we’ve seen before, voters can display a recency bias. A strong push from any of the favorites could be enough for the award.

Here are the other players to watch heading into Week 12.

Oregon QB Dillon Gabriel: The Ducks are 10-0 and off this weekend. But Gabriel is on the list since he’s the No. 2 favorite and just set the FBS record for most touchdowns in Oregon’s win over Maryland in Week 11. Yes, Gabriel has played three more games than Case Keenum, the man who previously held the record, but there are some voters that will likely take Gabriel’s status atop the FBS record books into account at the end of the season.

Boise State RB Ashton Jeanty: The junior has “tailed off” in the second half of the season. Notice our use of quotes there. Jeanty rushed 34 times for 209 yards and three scores in Boise State’s 28-21 win over Nevada in Week 11. That’s an average of 6.1 yards a carry. Anytime a running back averages over six yards a carry he’s had a really good game. And yet for Jeanty, his YPC against the Wolf Pack ranks seventh out of his nine games this season. That’s how great he’s been in 2024.

Miami QB Cam Ward: It always felt like Miami was playing with fire needing Ward to bail the team out in the second half so often this season. And sure enough, the Hurricanes got burned. Georgia Tech’s defense did well on third downs and the Miami defense got run over by the Yellow Jackets’ run game. Like Oregon, Miami is off in Week 12 before two games where the Hurricanes will be favored to put up a lot of points.

Alabama QB Jalen Milroe: Don’t totally discount Milroe from the Heisman conversation just yet. His odds are now +1800 and sixth-best in college football after Alabama’s blowout win over LSU. He should add to his lofty stats on Saturday against Mercer before sitting out the second half if the first two quarters go anything like we think they will. A big performance in prime time in Week 13 at Oklahoma could even further boost Milroe’s chances.