Boise State coach Spencer Danielson questions Travis Hunter’s Heisman frontrunner status

‘If you’re one of the best players in the country, you play in a championship game,’ Danielson said

Boise State Broncos running back Ashton Jeanty. / Brian Losness-Imagn Images

Colorado head coach Deion Sanders said Travis Hunter “clinched” the Heisman Trophy during the Buffaloes’ 52-0 shutout of Oklahoma State on Black Friday. 

Hunter had 10 receptions for 116 yards and three touchdowns in the win while intercepting a pass on defense. 

“Travis clinched the Heisman today with his performance,” Sanders said after the game. “He’s the best player in college football. You can find ways to hate, criticize and condemn him and you won’t come out of that looking professional. Travis Hunter proved today, and he’s proved every week, that he is the best player in college football.”

The oddsmakers certainly agree with Coach Prime. 

In the latest FanDuel update, Hunter is a -10000 favorite to win the Heisman Trophy. Boise State junior tailback Ashton Jeanty is a distant second at +2000 while Oregon’s Dillon Gabriel, Indiana’s Kurtis Rourke, Alabama’s Jalen Milroe and Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders are all at +50000. 

Hunter is a worthy Heisman contender with 92 receptions for 1,152 yards and 14 touchdowns with four defensive interceptions. But Coach Prime’s comments were a bit dismissive of Jeanty, who is having a record-breaking season of his own. 

Jeanty is the nation’s leader in rushing yards (2,228) and rushing touchdowns (28). He already ranks fifth on the FBS all-time single-season rushing list, trailing only Oklahoma State’s Barry Sanders (2,628 yards, 1988 season), Wisconsin’s Melvin Gordon (2,587, 2014), UCF’s Kevin Smith (2,567, 2007) and USC’s Marcus Allen (2,342, 1981).

The Broncos have also enjoyed more team success this fall. 

No. 11 Boise State (11-1) will host No. 22 UNLV (10-2) for the Mountain West Football Championship at 6 p.m. Friday while the 25th-ranked Buffaloes (9-3) sit at home. Colorado did not qualify for the Big 12 championship game and has no path to the College Football Playoff, a fact that was not lost on Boise State head coach Spencer Danielson. 

“Ashton Jeanty is the best football player in the country,” Danielson said during Monday’s press conference. “And for me, if you’re one of the best players in the country, you play in a championship game.”

Jeanty will need a big performance against the Rebels to chip away at Hunter’s Heisman lead. 

In the first meeting between the two teams, UNLV held Jeanty to a season-low 3.9 yards per attempt in a 29-24 Broncos victory at Allegiant Stadium. Jeanty suffered an elbow injury midway through the game but still ran for 128 yards and a touchdown on 33 carries. 

“UNLV had a great plan going into that game,” Danielson said. “From pressures to base defense to different personnel looks … and they played us really well in all three phases. It was an absolute heavyweight fight going all the way down to the end. So absolutely they did a great job against our run and pass game. We made our plays, just enough to win the game, but it was a heavyweight fight. We’ve got to find ways to be more explosive offensively.

“Ash did get banged up in that game. He’s a warrior. He’s been getting banged up every single game that we play. He carries the ball 35 times a game. Now it’s game 13 of the season, he’s fighting his tail off to continue to get healthy to play his best.”

Jeanty wore a brace on his left arm for the next four games after UNLV but only required tape for last week’s victory against Oregon State. 

“The elbow is getting better,” Danielson said. “Right now I think we’re just taping it, and he’s healing.”

MORE BOISE STATE NEWS & ANALYSIS

• What UNLV head coach said about Boise State, Ashton Jeanty

• What Boise State coach Spencer Danielson said about UNLV

• Boise State coach Spencer Danielson: Several Broncos ‘are getting illegally recruited to get in the portal’

• Ashton Jeanty among top Black Friday NIL earners

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