Heisman straw poll: Ashton Jeanty has one more chance to change his mind while Travis Hunter sits

Colorado receiver/cornerback/flawed Heisman poser/presumptive Heisman winner Travis Hunter has achieved perfection in The Athletics‘s Heisman Trophy Straw Poll.

Of the 27 writers and editors who voted this week, all 27 voted for Hunter first, giving him the maximum possible 81 points. Two first-place votes for Ashton Jeanty and one for Cam Ward in the previous poll passed this week to Hunter, who finished his Colorado season with three touchdown catches, an interception and two pass breakups in a 52- 0 loss to Oklahoma State.

Hunter “got the Heisman,” coach Deion Sanders said afterward, and while that may not be officially true, Hunter couldn’t have gone out with a stronger final statement — other than the fact that his Heisman pose still needs work to improve the style to match. trophy itself. In all seriousness, it would have helped him with naysayers focused on team success for the Buffaloes to get the help needed to make it to the Big 12 title game. They didn’t.

And the fact that Jeanty gets to play for No. 11 Boise State (11-1) against No. 22 UNLV (10-2) in the Mountain West title game in front of a national Fox audience on Friday at least gives him the final say. It’ll have to be the running back performance equivalent of “supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.” For example, how about 341 yards to reach 2,629 yards on the season and break Barry Sanders’ NCAA single-season record? Would that be enough?

Maybe? Jeanty lost ground in the straw poll this week after rushing for 226 yards and a touchdown in a win over Oregon State, so… the bar is high. The road to changing hearts and minds is narrow. The nation’s leading rusher received 25 second-place votes and two third-place votes for a total of 50 points.

The Athletics follows the same voting protocol as the Heisman: three points for a first-place vote, two points for a second-place vote, one point for a third-place vote.

In any case, Jeanty knows he is going to New York and that he should come in second by a safe margin. There is no clear third place this year, which will make the voting and number of candidates invited to New York interesting.

Miami quarterback Cam Ward dropped from 15 points to six in the poll after Saturday’s loss at Syracuse, dropping him to fifth behind Penn State tight end Tyler Warren (eight points) and Oregon quarterback Dillon Gabriel (seven points).

That also means no ACC title game platform for Ward, while Warren and Gabriel will face each other for the Big Ten championship in Indianapolis, thanks to Ohio State’s shocking loss to Michigan that allowed the Nittany Lions to sneak in through the back door.

The poll’s rising No. 6 vote-getter, Arizona State’s Cam Skattebo (five points), will also get a chance to make his case when the surprising Sun Devils take on Iowa State for the Big 12 title.

Kaleb Johnson of Iowa (two points) is the third running back among the eight vote-getters. That’s the same as the number of quarterbacks — and there’s a new quarterback, South Carolina’s LaNorris Sellers, who ranks third.

Vendors will not be coming to New York this year. But that’s a preview of what’s to come in 2025, when he should be high on the list of preseason contenders for the award.

(Photo by Ashton Jeanty: Brian Losness / Imagn Images)