Tag: Colorado Football

Travis Hunter gave a delightful shout-out to Lil Wayne in his fantastic Heisman speech

Travis Hunter’s Heisman Trophy acceptance speech was incredible.

Colorado two-way phenomenon Travis Hunter emerged victorious on Saturday night in New York City with this year’s Heisman Trophy.

Hunter is the first defender to win the award since Michigan legend Charles Woodson in 1997. His victory speech is already an all-timer for the ceremony.

During his emotional acceptance speech, Hunter gave a delightful shout-out to rap legend Lil Wayne (who sat with Hunter at the ceremony) and thanked those who helped him get to where he is now.

As far as Heisman speeches go, Hunter might as well be given another trophy. He knocked this one out of the park and then some.

Feature image courtesy of ESPN.Ā 

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1372]

Travis Hunter embraced Deion Sanders after Heisman Trophy win in really sweet moment

This is such a cool moment between Travis Hunter and Deion Sanders.

Colorado two-way superstar Travis Hunter won this year’s Heisman Trophy on Saturday night in New York City.

Hunter joins a proud history of non-quarterbacks to win college football’s top honor and an even more exclusive club as the first defender to take home the trophy since 1997.

Right after his name was called as this year’s Heisman Trophy victor, Hunter shared a really sweet moment with his Colorado coach, Deion Sanders.

The two gave each other a big hug, with Sanders clearly proud of the wide receiver/cornerback sensation he coached at Jackson State and Colorado.

This is a really cool moment between player and coach, as you can tell how much this historic victory means to these two college football legends.

Feature image courtesy of ESPN.Ā 

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1372]

2024 Heisman Trophy voting results: Travis Hunter is first defender awarded since 1997

Travis Hunter is the first college football defender to win the Heisman Trophy since Charles Woodson.

The 2024 Heisman Trophy has been awarded to a defensive player for the first time since 1997.

Two-way Colorado superstar Travis Hunter took home college football’s top prize on Saturday night in New York City, edging out the second-place finisher in Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty.

Oregon quarterback Dillon Gabriel and Miami quarterback Cam Ward finished third and fourth respectively with the Heisman voters this year.

Arizona State running back Cam Skattebo came in fifth place in the voting.

Hunter is a wide receiver and a cornerback for the Buffaloes, making him the first defender to win the award since legendary Michigan cornerback Charles Woodson in 1997.

While Colorado didn’t make the College Football Playoff this year, its best player is now a Heisman Trophy winner. Hunter is expected to be a top prospect in the 2025 NFL Draft.

Here are the full results from this year’s Heisman Trophy voting tally.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1372]

How the Big 12 could narrowly miss out on the 2024-25 College Football Playoff

This chaos scenario for the Big 12 in the CFP is a long shot but not impossible.

The College Football Playoff format is totally different this year after expanding from four to 12 teams, and the new format features rules like the five highest-ranked conference champions automatically getting playoff berths, followed by the next seven highest-ranked teams.

While the highest-ranked Group of Five conference champion is guaranteed a playoff spot as well, G5 teams aren’t limited to just one playoff team if there are multiple highly ranked squads. Additionally, Power Four conference champs all aren’t automatically handed a berth either.

As a result, depending on how the Week 14 and conference title games shake out, a Power Four conference champion could be left out of the 12-team playoff field. And that could set the Big 12 up to actually get left out of the CFP.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF RANKINGS: Oregon still reigns supreme

No. 16 Arizona State is the Big 12’s highest-ranked team in Week 14

In the College Football Playoff committee’s fourth rankings, the Big 12 has five teams among the top 25. Sounds great at first, until you realize the Sun Devils are the highest-ranked team at No. 16 with a 9-2 record.

The Mountain West’s Boise State at No. 11 with a win Friday over Oregon State moved the Broncos to 11-1 going into their conference title game, which they’re favored to win, per BetMGM. Should they win the Mountain West, there’s a strong chance they’ll be the fourth highest-ranked conference champ.

So who would be the fifth highest-ranked conference title winner?

Currently next in the Big 12 is No. 18 Iowa State (9-2), No. 19 BYU (9-2), No. 24 Kansas State (8-3) and No. 25 Colorado, which is now 9-3 after a dominant win Friday.

In conference play, Arizona State, BYU, Iowa State and Colorado entered Week 14 with 6-2 records. If they all win this weekend, there will be a four-way tie at the top of the Big 12 standings at 7-2, and with the conference’s tiebreaker rules, that would put Arizona State and Iowa State in the Big 12 title game.

If the 6-2 Big 12 teams don’t all advance to 7-2 this weekend, things could get complicated for the Big 12 in the playoff race.

The chaos scenario that could keep the Big 12 out of the College Football Playoff

Of the four 6-2 teams in the Big 12 ā€” Arizona State, BYU, Iowa State and Colorado ā€” going into this week’s games, only the Wildcats and Cyclones play each other in Week 14. Colorado beat Oklahoma State on Friday, and the Sun Devils face Arizona on the road Saturday.

The Big 12 will have at least a two-loss conference champion but it could be a three-loss champ. If Arizona State loses to Arizona, Iowa State loses to Kansas State *and* BYU loses to Houston, there could be a narrow path for a Group of Five conference champion, namely the American Athletic Conference winner, to be the fifth highest-ranked conference champ in the College Football Playoff rankings.

No. 17 Tulane losing to Memphis in Week 14 helps the Big 12…

…but only so much.

The Green Wave entered Week 14 with a 9-2 record but they’re now 9-3 after losing their regular-season closer to unranked Memphis, which is now 10-2. Army (9-1) and Tulane are still set to play for the American Athletic Conference title, meaning the conference will have a one-loss champ or a three-loss champ.

Would that be enough to jump the Big 12’s two- or three-loss conference champ in the College Football Playoff rankings? We’ll just have to wait and see.

If it’s three-loss Tulane, the AAC probably doesn’t pass the Big 12’s champion. But if one-loss Army blows out Tulane, the Black Knights would presumably re-join the College Football Playoff rankings and *could* end up ranked higher than the Big 12 champ.

And if the Mountain West and AAC champs are ranked higher than the Big 12 champ, the Big 12 likely would be on the outside looking in at the CFP this season.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 tag=421393249]

Colorado’s DJ McKinney pulled an Elijah Moore with a peeing dog celebration after a pick-6

This is a moment college football fans will never forget, and clearly DJ McKinney is among them.

The No. 25 Colorado Buffaloes emphatically closed out their regular season with a dominant 52-0 win against Oklahoma State on Friday, and between Travis Hunter, Shedeur Sanders and more than half a dozen touchdowns, there were a lot of highlight moments.

But an unfortunate moment for the Cowboys led to not only a standout play from Colorado cornerback DJ McKinney but also a memorable celebration that seemed like an apparent ode to former Ole Miss receiver Elijah Moore’s years-old controversial Egg Bowl celebration. And the timing of it couldn’t be better.

Friday, early in the fourth quarter, McKinney picked off Oklahoma State quarterback Maealiuaki Smith and returned it for a 13-yard pick-six. And he celebrated it by getting down on all fours and pretending to urinate like a dog, Ć  la Moore’s dog-peeing celebration in the 2019 Egg Bowl.

It was a peak college football moment, and, just like Moore, McKinney was penalized for unsportsmanlike conduct ā€”Ā though the butterfly effect implications are probably far more minimal this time around.

If you need a brief refresher: At the end of the 2019 Egg Bowl between Ole Miss and Mississippi State, Moore scored a touchdown with four seconds left on the clock and celebrated by pretending to pee like a dog. He and Ole Miss were dealt a penalty, missed what would have been the game-tying extra point and Mississippi State won, 21-20. Ole Miss coach Matt Luke was ultimately fired at the end of the 4-8 season, paving the way for the Lane Kiffin era.

This is a moment college football fans will never forget, and clearly McKinney is among them.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 tag=421393249]

Travis Hunter fans are convinced he locked up the Heisman with a monster game vs. Oklahoma State

Fans are convinced Travis Hunter has clinched the Heisman.

Look, the 2024 Heisman Trophy isn’t fully locked up yet. The drumbeat for him — whether it’s the Heisman odds or, you know, what you’ve seen in recent weeks — has gotten very, very loud.

But if you look at Travis Hunter’s stats from Friday’s huge blowout win for Colorado over Oklahoma State, you might have been convinced that he clinched it.

Let’s go over this real quick. Look at these numbers from Friday:

ON OFFENSE:Ā 10 catches, 116 yards, three touchdowns

ON DEFENSE: 1 interception, two deflected passes, one tackle

Sounds like a Heisman Trophy winner to me, and to a lot of other fans:

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=693157918]

Deion Sanders delivered a very blunt message to Colorado after losing to Kansas

Deion Sanders gave a pretty blunt message to his Colorado team after losing to Kansas.

Colorado football’s journey to the 2024 College Football Playoff got that much harder after losing to hosting Kansas on Saturday.

The Buffaloes aren’t completely out of the playoff race, but Saturday’s defeat handed the school its third loss of the season and will be a noticeable blemish on the postseason rĆ©sumĆ©.

In the locker room after the game, Colorado coach Deion Sanders gave his team a pretty blunt assessment as to why he thinks they lost to the Jayhawks.

“The problem is you guys are intoxicated with success,” Sanders told his players after the game. Whew.

The Colorado coach said he ultimately felt this would be a tremendous life lesson for the Buffaloes, and they’ll need to learn it quickly to keep any chance at the playoffs alive.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1372]

Julian Lewis chooses Colorado after decommitting from USC

USC and Colorado are no longer in the same conference, but the two programs will be compared for the next several years because of their quarterbacks.

The Julian Lewis story has finally run its course, at least for now. Lewis, the five-star prospect who recently decommitted from USC, chose Colorado over Indiana and Georgia. He did so on the Pat McAfee Show on Thursday, as College Sports Wire noted:

The decision was largely unsurprising. Lewis had taken multiple visits to Colorado recently as well as a trip to Indiana. After he decommitted from the Trojans, he received several projections to flip to the Buffaloes.

The Carrolton, Georgia, prospect ranks as the No. 35 player nationally and No. 6 quarterback in the 2025 cycle. He was previously a five-star prospect but now sits just outside of that group, and in the quarterback rankings, heā€™s one spot behind Husan Longstreet, who flipped fromĀ Texas A&MĀ to USC the same day Lewis decommitted from the Trojans.

USC was able to rebound from Lewis’s decommitment with the Longstreet flip, as College Sports Wire pointed out. Let the Lewis-versus-Longstreet comparisons begin in Boulder and Los Angeles.

Visit our friends at Fighting Irish Wire, Buffaloes Wire, Ducks Wire, UW Huskies Wire and UCLA Wire.

5-star QB Julian Lewis makes commitment

Five-star quarterback recruit Julian Lewis decides among Georgia, Colorado and Indiana

Five-star quarterback Julian Lewis has committed to the Colorado Buffaloes over the Indiana Hoosiers and Georgia Bulldogs. Lewis, who was previously a USC Trojans commitment, is one of the most talented passers in the class of 2025.

Lewis elected to decommit from USC shortly after visiting the Georgia Bulldogs for the Tennessee game.

Lewis plays football for Carrollton High School in Carrollton, Georgia. Lewis is the No. 5 quarterback and the No. 31 recruit in the country, per the 247Sports composite. The 6-foot-1, 185-pound quarterback is the sixth-ranked recruit in Georgia.

Lewis’ commitment is a massive addition for Colorado head coach Deion Sanders, who now has a quarterback plan for the 2025 season with Shedeur Sanders expected to enter the 2025 NFL draft.

Georgia head coach Kirby Smart has been aggressively pursuing a quarterback recruit in recent weeks with Georgia examining its future quarterback plan. Senior Carson Beck is expected to enter the 2025 NFL draft.

Deion Sanders is done campaigning for Travis Hunter’s Heisman, and heā€™s right

There’s a clear reason why Travis Hunter is the Heisman Trophy favorite in Week 12.

Selecting the most outstanding college football player each season isn’t always easy, and there isn’t always a clear-cut favorite.

The 2024 Heisman Trophy race has been fascinating to watch all season with preseason favorite Dillon Gabriel, Ashton Jeanty and Cam Ward making some truly standout plays and quintessential Heisman moments on the field.

But, as talented as they are, no one really compares with two-way player Travis Hunter, who entered Week 12 as the consensus Heisman favorite. And Saturday in Colorado’s 49-24 win over Utah, the Buffaloes wide receiver/defensive back reminded everyone why.

Against Utah, Hunter finished with 60 total offensive yards, which is actually a bit low for him. He earned his first rushing touchdown of the season, and on defense, he returned an interception for 21 yards and added three solo tackles and a pass breakup. On the season, he has 10 total touchdowns, 911 receiving yards, three interceptions, eight passes defended and one forced fumble, as Fox Sports noted.

Hunter’s talent and skills are undeniable. Not only does he play almost every snap on both sides of the ball when he’s healthy, but he also often makes standout play after standout play, like this one:

And this one:

With less than a month to go before Heisman voters make their selections, Colorado head coach Deion Sanders and the Buffs have been stumping hard for Hunter’s Heisman campaign. They’re right to support their player, of course, but they’re also right about no college player in the country being comparable to Hunter, a coveted future NFL Draft pick.

Buffs quarterback Shedeur Sanders praised Hunter after the game, calling him the best player in the country:

“He’s the best player in the country, hands down, no doubt. There’s not a lot of guys that can do what he do on offense and defense, so it’s really tough to compare him to anybody else because I feel like if he was at a different program ā€” they don’t like us so much. They hate on us too. So it’s real hard, and it makes me sad that they don’t give a guy like him his credit because that’s generational. It ain’t gonna happen again for a long time.”

After the Buffs’ win against Utah, Deion was asked what his message to undecided Heisman voters would be. He echoed his quarterback son’s sentiments but implied he’s done stumping and said:

“I ain’t gonna sit up here and give no message to no Heisman voters who is undecided. If they can’t see, they can’t see. It is what it is. Travis is who he is. It’s supposed to go to the best college football player; I think that’s been a wrap since, what? Week 2?

“So, we ain’t petitioning for nobody. We ain’t doing that. We’ve got a wonderful display of cameras here, and I think we’re on national television every week. If they can’t see it, something is a problem. Don’t allow their hatred for me to interfere with our kids’ success. … Give the kids what they deserve.”

Sanders may claim he’s not arguing for Hunter’s Heisman campaign, but he’s still making an argument that the two-way player is the best in college football this season. And he’s right, but at this point, the Sanders family and the rest of Colorado shouldn’t have to be convincing anyone of Hunter’s exceptionalism.

For Oregon, Gabriel makes his dominance look easy. With Miami, Ward is so poised making big plays it’s almost worrisome. And Boise State has the best running back in the country with Jeanty.

But Hunter is an extraordinary two-way player who’s on the field for the majority of games and is having an incredible season. Barring a catastrophic game for him or a couple truly elevated performances from his fellow contenders, the Heisman should be his come December.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 tag=421393249]