NEW YORK — Travis Hunter won the Heisman Trophy on Saturday night, capping a season in which he was a dominant force on both sides of the ball for Colorado.
The star cornerback/receiver became the second Buffaloes player to win college football’s most prestigious award, following late running back Rashaan Salaam in 1994.
Hunter garnered 552 first-place votes for 2,231 total points. Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty was second with 309 first-place votes and 2,017 points. It marked the closest margin of victory since 2009, when Mark Ingram edged Toby Gerhart.
It marked only the fifth time this century a quarterback didn’t win. The last time no signal-caller placed in the top two was 2015, when running backs Derrick Henry of Alabama and Christian McCaffrey ran 1-2 in voting.
A dominant player on both offense and defense who rarely comes off the field, Hunter is a throwback to generations gone by and the first full-time, true two-way star in decades.
On offense, he had 92 catches for 1,152 yards and 14 touchdowns this season to help the Buffaloes (9-3) earn their first bowl bid in four years. On defense, he made four interceptions, broke up 11 passes and forced a critical fumble that secured an overtime victory against Baylor.
The junior from Suwanee, Georgia, followed flashy coach Deion Sanders from Jackson State, a historically Black university that plays in the lower-level FCS, to the Rocky Mountains and has already racked up a staggering combination of accolades this week, including: AP Player of the Year, the Walter Camp Award as national player of the year, the Chuck Bednarik Award as the top defensive player and the Biletnikoff Award for best wide receiver.
He’s projected to go No. 1 overall in next year’s NFL draft, according to ESPN analyst Mel Kiper Jr.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
TORONTO — The Blue Jays put slugger Anthony Santander on the 10-day injured list Friday because of left shoulder inflammation and recalled outfielder Alan Roden from Triple-A Buffalo.
Santander is batting .179 with six home runs and 18 RBI in 50 games. The veteran switch hitter has missed a handful of games because of left hip and left shoulder soreness over the past three weeks.
Santander signed a $92.5 million, five-year contract with Toronto in January after eight seasons with Baltimore. He hit a career-best 44 home runs for the Orioles last season.
The outfielder had an MRI after Thursday’s 12-0 win over the Athletics, when he was 0 for 2 with two strikeouts and two walks, Blue Jays manager John Schneider said. The team was still determining whether the next steps would include a cortisone injection or rehabilitation, the manager said.
“I think it just got to the point to where it was bothering him,” Schneider said before Friday’s game against the Athletics. “You can’t really put the work that you want to put in volume-wise, and we just think it’s best for him right now.”
Roden rejoins the Blue Jays after batting .178 with one home run and five RBI in 28 games for Toronto earlier this season, his first in the majors. Roden hit .361 with three homers and 12 RBI in 18 games at Buffalo after being sent down May 7.
SEATTLE — The Minnesota Twins reinstated center fielder Byron Buxton from the seven-day concussion injured list Friday before beginning a three-game series in Seattle, two weeks after he collided with shortstop Carlos Correa in pursuit of a shallow fly ball.
Buxton missed 11 games after the collision, which also sent Correa into the concussion protocol. Correa needed only the minimum seven-day stay on the injured list and missed five games.
To make room for Buxton, outfielder Carson McCusker was sent back to Triple-A St. Paul. Buxton was batting .261 with an .834 OPS and 18 extra-base hits, including 10 homers, before he was hurt. He also had 33 runs, 27 RBIs and 8 steals in his first 41 games.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Detroit Tigers placed pitcher Jackson Jobe on the 15-day injured list Friday because of a right elbow injury.
Jobe, a rookie right-hander, mentioned discomfort after leaving his last start, against San Francisco on Wednesday. The injury was described as a Grade 1 right flexor strain, and the move was retroactive to Thursday.
“He reported that he had a little bit of soreness,” Detroit manager AJ Hinch said before the MLB-leading Tigers opened a three-game series in Kansas City. “So we took him immediately to get evaluated. When the test came back and the doctors read it, they discovered this flexor strain.
“I try not to rush to any judgment until we see how his rest goes, and see how his rehab goes. We’ll listen to the doctors and the pitching coaches on that.”
The 22-year-old Jobe is 4-1 with a 4.22 ERA in 10 starts this season. He has 39 strikeouts and 27 walks in 49 innings.
Right-handed pitcher Dylan Smith was selected from Triple-A Toledo and will make his major league debut with the Tigers. To make room for Smith on the 40-man roster, right-hander Alex Cobb has been transferred to the 60-day injured list.
