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Colorado's football program is probably the most polarizing in the entire country, and two-way star Travis Hunter's goals for the 2024 season likely aren't going to stop that.
Led by Hall of Famer Deion Sanders, a.k.a. ‘Coach Prime,' Colorado garnered great attention early in the 2023 season amid a 3-0 start. After wins against then-No. 17 TCU, Nebraska, and rival Colorado State, the Buffaloes, who went 1-11 the previous season before Sanders' arrival, could not keep up their winning ways.
Their first loss was a 42-6 blowout vs. Oregon, and although the team stayed close with most of their opponents, the critics grew louder and louder as Colorado finished the season with a 4-8 overall record and a 1-8 mark in conference play.
Colorado star Travis Hunter's jaw-dropping junior goals
While Colorado and Deion Sanders' most ardent critics would have liked for the 2023 season to humble the Buffaloes, it's fair to say that that isn't happening.
Travis Hunter, who committed to Sanders when he was still at Jackson State, has been an interesting player to watch over the past two years. Despite often being projected to be a future NFL cornerback, Hunter has played both ways in college, taking snaps at cornerback as well as wide receiver.
As a sophomore and in his first year with Colorado, Hunter caught 57 passes for 721 yards and 5 touchdowns. On the defensive side of the ball, Hunter intercepted three passes and recorded 30 tackles, a marked improvement from his freshman season at Jackson State.
And while another jump in production is expected of Hunter, a 2024 preseason All-American, his goals are sky-high.
“Heisman Trophy,” Hunter told ESPN, “and win a bowl game or get to the national championship.”
Of those, winning a bowl game would seem, by far, the most likely. Colorado was just a couple of bounces — the Buffs lost five games by a touchdown or less — from bowl eligibility last season. Improving by at least three wins would seem likely for Colorado and Sanders' large incoming transfer portal class.
The Heisman, while unlikely, isn't as implausible as a national title game appearance, though. Hunter drew comparisons to Hall of Fame cornerback Charles Woodson when Hunter was in high school, and Woodson, who also got snaps on offense and special teams, famously became the first (and only, so far) primary defensive player to win the Heisman Trophy when he beat out Peyton Manning and Ryan Leaf.
The catch is that Woodson was the best player on a national championship Michigan team, and without a similar kind of season for Colorado, it will be hard for Hunter to join Woodson in that exclusive club.
Projected 2024 win totals for Colorado are hovering around six, meaning projections currently have the Buffaloes, who are back in the Big 12, barely squeaking into bowl season, a far cry from becoming one of the 12 teams to qualify for the College Football Playoff.
Colorado opens up the season against perennial FCS national title contender North Dakota State tomorrow, which will serve as the first of several likely tough tests this year. The Buffs will then visit Nebraska and Colorado State before playing Baylor at home in their first Big 12 game since 2010.
