This was by far the most difficult Heisman voting I’ve ever had, with two generational players in a single year. Travis Hunter did things we haven’t seen since football became the game we know today: He was the best receiver in the country and one of the better defensive backs. He is absolutely a deserving winner. No problems with that.

But I consider my voice to be representative of the story of the season. And when I think about this season, I think of new teams, new faces, unexpected runs and the new playoffs. Jeanty took his team not only to the CFP but also to the No. 3 seed, including rushing for 192 yards and three touchdowns in a last-second loss to No. 1 Oregon. His 2,497 rushing yards are 131 shy of Barry Sanders’ official single-season rushing record, with the same number of runs Barry had, 344 (although yes, Barry played fewer games and the unofficial real record is closer to Barry’s bowl game).

But there was no stat padding. Jeanty had to miss two early wins in the second half. Had he not done that, he would probably already have the official rushing record and be able to challenge the unofficial record, numbers we never thought we would see again.

Jeanty averaged 7.2 yards per carry against defenses that were solely focused on stopping him. He had 226 runs into a defensive box with more than seven defenders, averaging 6.9 yards per run into such defenses. His 1,889 yards after contact alone are the most rushing yards by an FBS running back since 2019. His 143 forced missed tackles are a new record. Simply unreal.

Jeanty didn’t win, but in any other year without the stunning Hunter, he probably would have won.