Colorado star Travis Hunter cemented his legacy as the best two-way player in recent decades by becoming the first in college football history to win both the annual Chuck Bednarik Award as top defensive player and the Fred Biletnikoff Award as best wide receiver on Thursday night.
College Football Awards show presenters called Hunter’s name again as the Walter Camp Award for player of the year.
The honors may serve as a prelude to the Saturday night Heisman Trophy presentation, as Hunter is favored to capture the sport’s biggest individual award.
Earlier Thursday, the wide receiver/cornerback was named the Associated Press college football player of the year.
Hunter helped the No. 20 Buffaloes (9-3) earn a berth in the Dec. 28 Alamo Bowl against No. 17 BYU (10-2), playing 688 snaps on defense and 672 on offense. He has 92 receptions for 1,152 yards and 14 touchdowns to go along with 32 tackles, four interceptions and 11 passes defensed in 12 games.
He already won his second straight Paul Hornung Award as the nation’s most versatile player.
Another most outstanding player honor, the Maxwell Award, went Thursday night to Boise State’s Ashton Jeanty, also a Heisman finalist.
Jeanty also received the Doak Walker Award as best running back. He has rushed for an FBS-leading 2,497 yards and is tied for first with 29 rushing touchdowns in 13 games.
Another Heisman finalist, Miami’s Cam Ward, collected the Davey O’Brien Award as college football’s best quarterback. He beat out Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders and Oregon’s Dillon Gabriel, the latter also one of four Heisman finalists.
Ward joined Gino Torretta and Vinny Testaverde as Davey O’Brien winners from the Hurricanes.
Ward, the Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Year, leads the FBS with 36 touchdown passes (against only seven interceptions) and is second with 4,123 passing yards and 343.6 yards per game.
Hunter did not receive the Jim Thorpe Award as best defensive back. That went to Texas’ Jahdae Barron.
Other winners of individual awards included Ohio State center Seth McLaughlin (Rimmington Award), Louisiana kicker Kenneth Almendares (Lou Groza Award), Georgia linebacker Jalon Walker (Butkus Award), Penn State tight end Tyler Warren (John Mackey Award), Texas offensive lineman Kelvin Banks Jr. (Outland Trophy for best interior lineman), Southern California punter Eddie Czaplicki (Ray Guy Award), South Carolina defensive end Kyle Kennard (Bronko Nagurski Trophy for defensive player of the year), Oregon linebacker Bryce Boettcher (Burlsworth Trophy for top former walk-on), Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe (William V. Campbell Trophy/Academic Heisman), and Penn State offensive lineman Nick Dawkins (Wuerffel Trophy for community service).
Curt Cignetti, in his first season at Indiana, received the Home Depot Award as coach of the year. The No. 10 Hoosiers (11-1, 8-1 Big Ten Conference) face No. 7 Notre Dame in the first round of the College Football Playoff on Dec. 20.
Indiana went 3-9 in 2023.
–Field Level Media
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