Gabriel, Hunter, Jeanty and Ward were named Heisman Trophy finalists

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

Since 1935, the Heisman has been awarded to the nation’s most outstanding college football player. This year’s winner will be announced on Saturday in New York. The top four voters, identified by more than 900 voters, will be 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 undefeated and top-ranked Oregon to the Big Ten championship and a No. 1 seed in the College Football Playoff in his first season in the conference.

Gabriel is averaging 274 yards per game and has thrown 28 touchdown passes with six interceptions. Its graduation rate of 73.2% ranks second in the nation. He ranks seventh nationally with 35 total touchdowns, 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 in history. His accomplishments are similar to those of Charles Woodson, the Michigan cornerback who became the first Heisman winner in 1997, playing primarily defense.

Woodson also spent time as a receiver, but Hunter’s offensive production dwarfs his. Hunter was selected first-team All-Big 12 receiver and received honorable mention as 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 for 20 yards lead the nation.

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

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

Jeanty has rushed for over 200 yards in his last two games and six total times this season. He is averaging 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 named the Associated Press Atlantic Coast Conference Offensive Player of the Year and Newcomer of the Year 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.

Ward leads the nation’s highest scoring offense (44.2 PPG). He was the first Miami quarterback to have seven straight 300-yard games, and he has ten games with more than 300 yards and three or more touchdown passes.