Deion Sanders details why Travis Hunter should be a Heisman candidate

Following a season-opening upset of No. 17 TCU, Colorado has multiple players being talked about in the Heisman Trophy conversation, including two-way star Travis Hunter.

Hunter was elite in the win, recording 11 catches for 119 yards on offense while making three tackles, picking off a pass and breaking up another on defense.

“Well I think we have three of them, as in Heisman contention right now,” coach Deion Sanders said. “Travis, what he’s capable of doing, I’ve been saying it since he got here, since he got to Jackson when I first laid eyes on him, the kid he’s different, as the young folks say now. He’s phenomenal, he loves the game. He gets upset.”

Hunter’s ability wasn’t hard to find. His interception was a thing of beauty, a diving leap after a terrific read on the pass.

Sanders knew what he had when he arrived at Colorado and Hunter opted to transfer there, following him from their previous stop at Jackson State. More than anything, though, Sanders stressed that who Travis Hunter is as a person impressed him.

“This young man loves the game of football,” Sanders said. “And you try to find out the intangibles about his life so you can recruit to that. You try to find out what makes him tick, what makes him him and you recruit to that. You’re not going to find anyone in the country with that talent, but with the thought process of how he goes about life, that’s what you’re trying to identify and go select young men that can accompany him on his journey.”

Colorado sure seems to have some quality companions for him. Among those other Heisman contenders are quarterback Shedeur Sanders and running back Dylan Edwards.

Sanders threw for 510 yards and four touchdowns, while Edwards totaled 159 yards and four touchdowns in the win over the Horned Frogs.

But those players are on one side of the ball. What Hunter’s doing on both sides of the football, particularly when it comes to the sheer number of snaps, is almost unprecedented in modern college football.

“Just having the audacity to get on the offensive side of the ball and be dominant, that gives him the upper hand,” Sanders said. “He’s tremendous. I think I said, I forget what show I was on yesterday, you have so many young men in high school that play both ways and all these coaches promise them that you’re going to be able to do that when you come to this institution. And they’re lying. They’re just doing it to get ’em. I haven’t seen it happen.

“And I told him I’m not hard to find. I know how to do it, I know how to monitor it, I know how to make sure that you’re where you need to be. But the rule I have that you must be dominant on one side of the ball before I allow you to go to the other side. You must be dominant. And I feel as though Travis had proved his dominance on either side of the ball. And he’s in incredible shape, as well.”

Travis Hunter didn’t simply look dominant on one side of the ball. He looked dominant on both.

Whether he’ll be able to sustain the kind of pace and production he posted in the opener remains to be seen. But it’s been an impressive start. Good enough to get him in the early Heisman Trophy race discussions.

“They want action. They want action,” Sanders said of Heisman voters. “They want to see plays made, and it’s hard to make plays when the play is not designed for you to make it. You’ve got to be so aggressive and so dominant, as a Charles Woodson was, to be able to command that type of attention and make those type of plays where you actually win the Heisman.”

So far so good for Hunter.