Travis Hunter Wins Lott IMPACT Trophy

LAS VEGAS — Colorado's Travis Hunter was named the winner of the 2024 Lott IMPACT Trophy presented by Allied Universal, given to college football's defensive IMPACT player of the year, the Pacific Club IMPACT Foundation announced Monday.

The award is named in honor of Ronnie Lott, a two time All-American for USC and a College Football Hall of Fame inductee who went on to win four Super Bowl rings with the San Francisco 49ers and earn a spot in the Pro Football's Hall of Fame. The award is given annually to the nation's top defensive player, who also exhibits the characteristics of Lott by making an impact on and off the field.

IMPACT is an acronym for Integrity, Maturity, Performance, Academics, Community and Tenacity. Past winners of the award include Michigan's Aidan Hutchinson, Auburn's Derrick Brown, Iowa's Josey Jewell and Wisconsin's JJ Watt.

Hunter embodies all phases of the award as a first-team Academic All-American last year with a 4.0 semester and above a 3.7 overall grade point average. When he was injured due to a late hit his junior season, he embraced the player the following week on his social media channels, curbing threats the player was receiving.

The first true two-way star in a generation, Hunter has played 1,360 snaps on offense and defense this season and leads the Power 4 in receiving touchdowns (14), is second in receptions (92) and yards (1,152). On defense, he has been targeted 39 times, third fewest in the P4 and has given up an FBS leading six first downs (for players with 300 or more snaps). He also has 15 passes defended (four interceptions, 11 pass breakups), tied for third in the P4 despite only having 39 targets, and his four interceptions is tied for fifth among P4 players.

He has caught 92 passes and allowed just 22 receptions, caught 14 touchdowns and allowed just one and has 53 first downs on offense and given up just six.

More specific to defense on the field, he had the sixth-best PFF grade for coverage, the seventh best as a cornerback for overall defense and the third best cornerback for run defense, fueled by a walk-off forced fumble in overtime against Baylor.

He is also a finalist for several other awards, including the Walter Camp and Maxwell overall player of the year awards, the Bednarik defensive player of the year award, the Hornung most versatile player of the year and the Biletnikoff award given to the nation's best receiver regardless of position.

Players Mentioned

Travis Hunter

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