Colorado University Athletics
Photo by: © Sam Weaver
Travis Hunter Wins AP College Football Player of the Year
December 12, 2024 | Football
NEW YORK – Travis Hunter added a third trophy to his ever-growing collection for the season as he was named the 2024 AP College Football Player of the Year, the Associated Press announced Thursday.
For Hunter, this marks the third major award of the week after being presented with the Lott IMPACT Trophy, given to the top defensive player, in Las Vegas on Monday. He followed that up on Wednesday with the announcement of the first two-time winner of the Paul Hornung Award, given to the nation's most versatile player.
A finalist for the Biletnikoff Award, given to the top receiver, Hunter has proved to be the best on the offensive side of the ball. He finished first in the Big 12 and fifth in the NCAA in receptions (92), second in the Big 12 and fifth in the country in receiving yards (1,152), led the conference and is second in the NCAA in receiving touchdowns (14), as well as leading the entire country in explosive receiving plays over 20 yards (21).
When you look closer, he continues to stand out from the rest of the country. Per PFF, Hunter finished with 53 first-down receptions, he forced 23 missed tackles after the catch, and after being targeted 122 times he only had three drops good for third in the country. His overall completion percentage of 80.0 is the third-best in the Power 4 and fifth-best in the FBS and he had double the receptions of three of the other four players. When targeted Hunter has a quarterback rating of 140.7 which was the top mark in the NCAA.
On defense, he earned a cover grade of 91.1 on PFF, the top mark in the FBS. In 378 cover snaps, he was in press coverage 185 snaps and targeted just 38 times, or 10.1 percent of the time, the fourth lowest mark in the FBS and he had the highest grade of the three with a lower percentage. He allowed 22 catches for 205 yards and 1 touchdown, giving up an FBS-low six first downs. He had four interceptions and 11 pass breakups.
On defense he played 688 total snaps, including 658-of-708, or 92.9%, taking out the two games he was injured. On offense, he was on the field for 672 snaps, including 610-of-649, or 94.0%, taking out the two games.
In the 27 years of the award, Hunter marks only the second player to play defensive snaps, the first being Ndamukong Suh in 2009. During the 27-year history of the award, only five times has the winner not won the Heisman Trophy, and only twice in the last 20 seasons.
Hunter is headed to New York as a finalist for the Heisman Trophy, with its ceremony set for Saturday. He is also a finalist for the Maxwell, Bednarik, Biletnikoff, and Walter Camp Awards, which will be announced in tonight's The Home Depot College Football Awards Show on ESPN at 7:00 p.m. MT.
Along with National Player of the Year, the Associated Press put out their All-Big 12 teams, which included Defensive Player of the Year for Hunter as well as Offensive Player of the Year for Shedeur Sanders.
Sanders ranked first in the country in completions percentage at 74.2%, second in completions with 367, third in passing yards, and second in the NCAA with 35 passing touchdowns. He finished the regular season going 338-of-454, 74.4%, for 3,936 yards, 35 TDs, 8 INTs, and QBR 169.2. Sanders is atop the record book in season passing yards, passing touchdowns, touchdowns responsible, completions, completion percentage, and QB rating.
Hunter earned First-Team All-Big 12 at both cornerback and wide receiver to join Sanders as the First-Team quarterback. They were joined on the First Team by BJ Green II at defensive end.
Green in his first season at Colorado finished the regular season with 30 tackles, 19 unassisted tackles, 12 tackles for loss, seven-and-a-half sacks, two forced fumbles, and one fumble recovery.
He finished the regular season second in the Big 12 and 29th in the country. After not recording a sack in the first four games of the season, he finished seven of the last eight games with at least half a sack. In addition to his sacks, he ended the season ranked third in the Big 12 with 12 tackles for loss.
The defense earned two spots on the Second Team with Nikhai Hill-Green at linebacker and Cam'Ron Silmon-Craig at Safety.
Hill-Green finished the regular season with 82 tackles, 53 unassisted tackles, 11.5 tackles for loss, four pass breakups, two interceptions, and two sacks. He ranked 13th in the conference in tackles, 5th in solo tackles, and fourth in tackles for loss.
Silmon-Craig ended the regular season as the team's leading tackler with 88, 64 unassisted tackles, eight-and-a-half tackles for loss, six quarterback hurries, three pass breakups, two sacks, and two fumble recoveries including his 95-yard fumble recovery for a touchdown against UCF which is tied for the second-longest fumble return in CU history.
For Hunter, this marks the third major award of the week after being presented with the Lott IMPACT Trophy, given to the top defensive player, in Las Vegas on Monday. He followed that up on Wednesday with the announcement of the first two-time winner of the Paul Hornung Award, given to the nation's most versatile player.
A finalist for the Biletnikoff Award, given to the top receiver, Hunter has proved to be the best on the offensive side of the ball. He finished first in the Big 12 and fifth in the NCAA in receptions (92), second in the Big 12 and fifth in the country in receiving yards (1,152), led the conference and is second in the NCAA in receiving touchdowns (14), as well as leading the entire country in explosive receiving plays over 20 yards (21).
When you look closer, he continues to stand out from the rest of the country. Per PFF, Hunter finished with 53 first-down receptions, he forced 23 missed tackles after the catch, and after being targeted 122 times he only had three drops good for third in the country. His overall completion percentage of 80.0 is the third-best in the Power 4 and fifth-best in the FBS and he had double the receptions of three of the other four players. When targeted Hunter has a quarterback rating of 140.7 which was the top mark in the NCAA.
On defense, he earned a cover grade of 91.1 on PFF, the top mark in the FBS. In 378 cover snaps, he was in press coverage 185 snaps and targeted just 38 times, or 10.1 percent of the time, the fourth lowest mark in the FBS and he had the highest grade of the three with a lower percentage. He allowed 22 catches for 205 yards and 1 touchdown, giving up an FBS-low six first downs. He had four interceptions and 11 pass breakups.
On defense he played 688 total snaps, including 658-of-708, or 92.9%, taking out the two games he was injured. On offense, he was on the field for 672 snaps, including 610-of-649, or 94.0%, taking out the two games.
In the 27 years of the award, Hunter marks only the second player to play defensive snaps, the first being Ndamukong Suh in 2009. During the 27-year history of the award, only five times has the winner not won the Heisman Trophy, and only twice in the last 20 seasons.
Hunter is headed to New York as a finalist for the Heisman Trophy, with its ceremony set for Saturday. He is also a finalist for the Maxwell, Bednarik, Biletnikoff, and Walter Camp Awards, which will be announced in tonight's The Home Depot College Football Awards Show on ESPN at 7:00 p.m. MT.
Along with National Player of the Year, the Associated Press put out their All-Big 12 teams, which included Defensive Player of the Year for Hunter as well as Offensive Player of the Year for Shedeur Sanders.
Sanders ranked first in the country in completions percentage at 74.2%, second in completions with 367, third in passing yards, and second in the NCAA with 35 passing touchdowns. He finished the regular season going 338-of-454, 74.4%, for 3,936 yards, 35 TDs, 8 INTs, and QBR 169.2. Sanders is atop the record book in season passing yards, passing touchdowns, touchdowns responsible, completions, completion percentage, and QB rating.
Hunter earned First-Team All-Big 12 at both cornerback and wide receiver to join Sanders as the First-Team quarterback. They were joined on the First Team by BJ Green II at defensive end.
Green in his first season at Colorado finished the regular season with 30 tackles, 19 unassisted tackles, 12 tackles for loss, seven-and-a-half sacks, two forced fumbles, and one fumble recovery.
He finished the regular season second in the Big 12 and 29th in the country. After not recording a sack in the first four games of the season, he finished seven of the last eight games with at least half a sack. In addition to his sacks, he ended the season ranked third in the Big 12 with 12 tackles for loss.
The defense earned two spots on the Second Team with Nikhai Hill-Green at linebacker and Cam'Ron Silmon-Craig at Safety.
Hill-Green finished the regular season with 82 tackles, 53 unassisted tackles, 11.5 tackles for loss, four pass breakups, two interceptions, and two sacks. He ranked 13th in the conference in tackles, 5th in solo tackles, and fourth in tackles for loss.
Silmon-Craig ended the regular season as the team's leading tackler with 88, 64 unassisted tackles, eight-and-a-half tackles for loss, six quarterback hurries, three pass breakups, two sacks, and two fumble recoveries including his 95-yard fumble recovery for a touchdown against UCF which is tied for the second-longest fumble return in CU history.
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