Heisman voter who left Travis Hunter off his ballot revealed, roasted
Prior to Saturday night’s big announcement, Travis Hunter was the overwhelming odds-on favorite to win the 2024 Heisman Trophy for most of the last two months.
And the final vote tally reinforced that perception, as Colorado‘s two-way superstar received 2,231 total points, including 552 first place votes, to edge out Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty (2,017 total points) as the latest addition to college football’s most illustrious fraternity.
Except, as it turns out, not everyone was quite as sold on Hunter.
Following Saturday’s ceremony, Seattle-based radio host Ian Furness revealed his Heisman Trophy ballot didn’t even include Hunter in his Top 3, instead listing Jeanty at No. 1, followed by Miami quarterback Cam Ward and Arizona State running back Cam Skattebo.
And, as his own vote tally would indicate, Jeanty was more than deserving of Furness’ first-place vote, and the Boise running back received 309 first-place votes behind only Hunter. But it was Furness’ complete omission of Hunter that sent college football fans and social media warriors off the deep end.
Former NFL receiver Torrey Smith even suggested “someone needs to remove (Furness’) voter privileges.”
Of course, Furness wasn’t the only one to exclude Hunter from their ballots.
Based on the Heisman Trust’s own figures released after the winner was announced, Hunter appeared on 866 total ballots, representing 93.3-percent of the 928 possible voters. Meanwhile, Jeanty appeared on 882 total ballots, with 517 second-place votes, representing a 95-percent voter share for the Broncos star.
Hunter also received the most points in five of the six regions, only taking second to Jeanty in the Far West region by three total points (357 for Jeanty and 354 for Hunter).
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Oregon quarterback Dillon Gabriel and Ward finished a distant third and fourth with 516 and 229 total points, respectively. Skattebo rounded out the Top 5 with 170 total points after racking up an impressive 1,568 rushing yards and 19 touchdowns — well behind Jeanty’s record-shattering pace (2,497 yards and 29 TDs). Army QB Bryson Daily, Penn State TE Tyler Warren, Colorado QB Shedeur Sanders, Indiana QB Kurtis Rourke and Syracuse QB Kyle McCord filled out the rest of the Top 10 in Heisman voting.
Reaction to Heisman voter excluding Travis Hunter
The tale of the tape between Travis Hunter, Ashton Jeanty
As the voting shows, the 2024 Heisman Trophy voting was always a two-horse race. While Hunter dazzled with his two-way play, helping guide Colorado to 9-3 in Year 2 under Deion Sanders, Jeanty openly welcomed Barry Sanders comparisons in leading Boise State to the College Football Playoff.
Hunter caught 92 passes for 1,152 yards and 14 touchdowns to win the Biletnikoff Award as the top receiver in all of college football. Defensively, Hunter added 32 tackles, 11 deflections, four interceptions, and a forced fumble at corner.
Jeanty proved to be a worthy foil, though, as the Broncos rolled to 11-1 while Jeanty came within shouting distance of Sanders’ 1988 rushing total, albeit in more games. He ran for 2,497 yards and 29 touchdowns on 344 carries, good for 192.1 per game and 7.3 a touch, as the nation’s leading rusher by over 800 yards. He’s just 131 yards shy of the single-season record held by Sanders.
Andrew Graham contributed to this report.