Johnny Manziel calls Heisman race 'Ashton Jeanty's to lose' over Travis Hunter

Johnny Manziel favored Boise State RB Ashton Jeanty over Travis Hunter if the Heisman Trophy race had to be decided today.

Now, there’s a lot of buzz about the battle between the two players, including from Hunter himself. The two-way star was knocked out of the game against Kansas State, a Colorado loss. Jeanty’s been putting up absurd numbers through the first half of the season.

Manziel said Jeanty’s numbers are the difference right now and if Hunter wants to win the trophy, he’ll have to up the game a little bit.

“I think at the end of the day right now, it’s Ashton Jeanty’s race to lose,” Manziel said, via Action Network. “I don’t know what it’s going to take to knock [Jeanty] down. It’s really up to everybody else having to come up and chase him down.”

Hunter does have the advantage of impressing on both sides of the football (at wide receiver and cornerback). Charles Woodson was the last player to play both ways and win the award, although he was much more of a standout at cornerback.

Hunter is expected to return this weekend for Colorado after a shoulder injury versus Kansas State. But if he can stay healthy, he’ll have a shot.

Last season, Hunter only played in nine of 12 games.

“The one thing [Hunter] needed to do was stay healthy,” Manziel said. “Missing a game is obviously going to put [Hunter] back a little bit, but it also would probably be a good time to buy. He’s going to have to continue to play well to keep this Heisman run going.”

So far this season, Hunter has 49 catches for 587 yards, six touchdowns and 12 yards per catch. On the defensive end, he has 18 total tackles, one tackle for loss, two interceptions and three pass deflections.

Jeanty is a torrid pace. He has 126 carries for 1,248 yards, 17 touchdowns, 9.9 yards per carry, nine catches, 39 receiving yards and one touchdown reception. That’s just in six games!

“I know I can win it, but I don’t know who’s there,” Hunter told Robert Griffin III and his wife Grete. “I mean y’all see Ashton Jeanty, it’s not like we haven’t seen a running back that’s good. We haven’t seen a player that plays both ways and I’m gonna keep saying that.”Griffin told Hunter that he doesn’t want him or others not to speak winning the Heisman Trophy into existence, an award that Griffin took home as the quarterback at Baylor in 2011.