Hunter, Jeanty among Heisman Trophy finalists

Oregon’s Dillon Gabriel, Colorado’s Travis Hunter, Boise State’s Ashton Jeanty and Miami’s Cam Ward were announced as the Heisman Trophy finalists Monday night.

The Heisman has been awarded to the nation’s most outstanding college football player since 1935. This year’s winner will be announced Saturday in New York. The top four vote-getters determined by more than 900 voters are selected as finalists. The voting panel includes members of the media and former Heisman winners.

Gabriel, a senior quarterback who transferred from Oklahoma in the offseason, led unbeaten and top-ranked Oregon to the Big Ten championship in its first season in the conference and the No. 1 seed in the College Football Playoff.

Gabriel averages 274 yards passing per game and has thrown 28 touchdowns passes with six interceptions. His 73.2% completion rate is second in the nation. His 35 total touchdowns are tied for seventh nationally, and his career total of 187 is the highest in NCAA history.

He set the Football Bowl Subdivision record for career quarterback starts with his 62nd in the Big Ten title game.

Hunter will go down as one of the greatest two-way players. His accomplishments harken those of Charles Woodson, the Michigan cornerback who in 1997 became the first Heisman winner who primarily played defense.

Woodson also spent time at receiver, but Hunter’s offensive production dwarfs his. Hunter was selected All-Big 12 first-team receiver and earned honorable mention for offensive player of the year. He leads the Big 12 with 92 receptions and 14 receiving touchdowns and is second with 1,152 yards. His 21 receiving plays of 20-plus yards lead the nation.

He also is the Big 12 defensive player of the year and a unanimous first-team defensive back after recording 31 tackles, tying for the Big 12 lead with 11 pass breakups and tying for second with four interceptions.

Jeanty, a junior running back, has had one of the most productive seasons in college football history. His 2,497 yards rushing are the fourth-highest single-season total in the FBS, and his 192.1 yards per game lead the nation and are 58 more than the next highest average. Jeanty has rushed for at least 125 yards in 13 straight games.

Jeanty has gone over 200 yards in his past two games and a total of six times this season. He averages 7.26 yards per carry, and his 344 attempts are the most in the FBS in two seasons. He and Army’s Bryson Daily share the national lead with 29 rushing touchdowns.

Ward, a senior quarterback, was selected Associated Press offensive player of the year and newcomer of the year in the Atlantic Coast Conference on Monday. He leads the nation with a school-record 36 passing touchdowns and his 4,123 passing yards, 4,319 total yards, 343.6 passing yards per game and 41 total touchdowns rank second.

Ward leads the nation’s highest-scoring offense (44.2 PPG). He became the first Miami quarterback to post seven straight 300-yard games, and he has 10 games with 300-plus yards and three or more TD passes.