I can’t really make sense of what is happening with Travis Hunter’s Heisman odds.

In a game against Utah where Hunter gets beat several times in coverage, has a pedestrian day catching the ball, and scores a rushing touchdown in garbage time, Hunter takes over as the overwhelming favorite to win the Heisman.

Then, following a Week 13 loss to Kansas that puts Colorado in jeopardy of missing the Big 12 title game entirely, Hunter’s odds to win the Heisman improve at FanDuel from -330 to -750 week over week.

Colorado lost 37-21 to Kansas. Sure, Hunter topped 100 yards as a receiver and didn’t give up a reception as a corner, but Colorado got handled. And Hunter’s 25 snaps in coverage were the fewest he has played in a full game all year. (He left the Kansas State game with an injury and played only 10 snaps a week later. I’m excluding those games for obvious reasons.)

Kansas only threw 21 times. It ran the ball 55 times for 333 yards and 3 scores. Jayhawk running back Devin Neal had 287 yards of total offense, almost outgaining the Buffs (309) by himself.

The loss was supremely significant. If Colorado misses out on the Big 12 title game, Hunter’s “really good, though not elite, at 2 positions” argument has to stand entirely on its own. Part of Hunter’s campaign was that Colorado was ascending.

And yet Hunter has tightened his grip around the trophy, according to sportsbooks.

Hunter clearly has the media machine working in his favor. He deserves to be in this conversation; make no mistake. But the last 2 weeks have, in my eyes, made this race tighter while sportsbooks are telling us it’s getting close to being over.

Boise State’s Ashton Jeanty ran for 169 yards and a score in his team’s 17-13 win over Wyoming. Jeanty scored on a 61-yard run in the first quarter. He had runs of 15, 20, and 15 yards on the Broncos’ game-winning touchdown drive in the fourth quarter.

Jeanty scored his FBS-leading 27th touchdown of the year. He leads all players in all-purpose yardage. His 168 total points this season lead the FBS. He has more yards after contact than any other FBS player has total rushing yards all season. His 111 missed tackles forced are already the most any FBS running back has had in a season since Pro Football Focus began tracking college football in 2014. His 10 runs of 50 yards or more are the most any FBS player has had since 2018.

With Hunter doing what Hunter has been doing and Jeanty playing for a team outside the power conferences, I have written throughout the year that it would take Jeanty getting close to breaking or actually breaking the rushing records Barry Sanders set in 1988.

Jeanty has 1 regular-season game remaining as well as the Mountain West Championship Game. He’ll also have at least one more game after that.

Jeanty currently sits 566 yards shy of Sanders’ single-season yardage record and 10 touchdowns shy of the single-season touchdown record.

His current pace of 187.5 rushing yards per game would put him around 2,437 rushing yards entering either the Broncos’ bowl game or their first-round College Football Playoff game. Unless he explodes over the next 2 weeks, he won’t have Sanders’ records until after the Heisman ceremony.

But Boise State is already locked into the MWC title game. The Broncos will host it on Dec. 6 against either UNLV or Colorado State. If Colorado isn’t participating in the Big 12 Championship Game, Jeanty will have a chance to impress while Hunter sits at home.

(The same is true for Miami’s Cam Ward. Don’t forget about him in all this. Miami isn’t locked into the ACC title game yet, but it is close.)

The markets think this race is over. FanDuel had 6 players on the board at the time of publication. (Two of them play for Colorado.)

I disagree. Jeanty still has a run in him. And he tops my board this week.

You’ll also see a peculiar name at the bottom of my board. I dropped Jaxson Dart off the board entirely. Kurtis Rourke and Jalen Milroe clung to their spots at the bottom. All 3 quarterbacks were awful in ugly Week 13 losses.

Rourke did absolutely nothing against Ohio State, producing the worst possible outcome for an Indiana offense that looked unstoppable until it played a legitimate defense. But IU still has 10 wins and Rourke is a major reason why. For his part, he deserves recognition.

And that’s the justification I’m using to include Florida quarterback DJ Lagway this week.

This is a completely hypothetical exercise after all. It’s not a legitimate ballot. And Lagway needs a shoutout. The Gators will play in a bowl game and have a good chance to hit 7 regular-season wins. Even the most optimistic Gator supporters thought that would be a challenge in the preseason.

Florida smashed Kentucky behind 18.5 yards per pass from Lagway. Florida had a lead on Georgia when Lagway left that game in Jacksonville. Since Lagway has returned, Florida has ranked wins over LSU and Ole Miss.

He is special. Anyone who watched Saturday’s performance saw that. He had a large hand in saving the Gators’ season.

Anyway, here’s the updated Heisman Trophy race after Week 13.

Editor’s note: The rank you see next to each player reflects how a vote for the Heisman would look right now 

1. Ashton Jeanty, Boise State RB (LW: 2)

Week 13 results: 17-13 win at Wyoming

Week 13 stats: 19 carries, 169 rushing yards, 1 rushing touchdown, 1 reception, 4 receiving yards

Season stats: 275 carries, 2,062 rushing yards, 7.5 yards per attempt, 27 rushing touchdowns, 18 receptions, 102 receiving yards, 1 receiving touchdown

One big number: Jeanty’s 1,512 rushing yards after contact are more than any other FBS player’s total rushing yards

Current odds: +600 (via FanDuel)

Up next: vs. Oregon State

2. Travis Hunter, Colorado WR/DB (LW: 1)

Week 13 results: 37-21 loss at Kansas

Week 13 stats: 8 receptions, 125 receiving yards, 2 receiving touchdowns, 7 tackles, 1 pass breakup

Season stats: 82 receptions, 1,036 receiving yards, 11 receiving touchdowns, 1 rushing touchdown, 30 tackles, 1 tackle for loss, 9 pass breakups, 3 interceptions, 1 forced fumble

One big number: 1,036 receiving yards are the eighth-most by a CU player in a season in program history

Current odds: -750 (via FanDuel)

Up next: vs. Oklahoma State

3. Cam Ward, Miami QB (LW: 3)

Week 13 results: 42-14 win over Wake Forest

Week 13 stats: 27-for-38, 280 passing yards, 2 passing touchdowns, 1 interception, 3 carries, -5 rushing yards, 1 rushing touchdown

Season stats: 67.2% completion, 3,774 passing yards, 34 passing touchdowns, 7 interceptions, 175 rushing yards, 4 rushing touchdowns, 1 receiving touchdown

One big number: 3,774 passing yards are the most by a Miami player in a single season in program history

Current odds: +1100 (via FanDuel)

Up next: at Syracuse

4. Dillon Gabriel, Oregon QB (LW: 4)

Week 13 results: N/A

Week 13 stats: N/A

Season stats: 73.8% completion, 3,066 passing yards, 22 passing touchdowns, 6 interceptions, 155 rushing yards, 6 rushing touchdowns

One big number: N/A

Current odds: +6000 (via FanDuel)

Up next: vs. Washington

5. Tyler Warren, Penn State TE (LW: 9)

Week 13 results: 26-25 win at Minnesota

Week 13 stats: 8 receptions, 102 receiving yards, 2 carries, 0 rushing yards

Season stats: 75 receptions, 910 receiving yards, 5 receiving touchdowns, 18 carries, 157 rushing yards, 4 rushing touchdowns, 50.0% completion, 26 passing yards, 1 passing touchdown

One big number: 910 receiving yards are the most by a Penn State tight end in a single season in program history

Current odds: not on the board (via FanDuel)

Up next: vs. Maryland

6. Cade Klubnik, Clemson QB (LW: 8)

Week 13 results: 51-14 win over The Citadel

Week 13 stats: 12-for-16, 198 passing yards, 3 passing touchdowns, 4 carries, 34 rushing yards

Season stats: 63.9% completion, 2,761 passing yards, 29 passing touchdowns, 4 interceptions, 375 rushing yards, 5 rushing touchdowns

One big number: 34 touchdowns responsible for are the seventh-most by a Clemson quarterback in a single season in program history

Current odds: not on the board (via FanDuel)

Up next: vs. South Carolina

7. Dylan Sampson, Tennessee RB (LW: 10)

Week 13 results: 56-0 win over UTEP

Week 13 stats: 11 carries, 77 rushing yards, 1 rushing touchdown, 2 receptions, 25 receiving yards

Season stats: 231 carries, 1,307 rushing yards, 5.7 yards per carry, 22 rushing touchdowns, 17 receptions, 135 receiving yards

One big number: 22 touchdowns from scrimmage are the most by a Tennessee player in a single season in program history

Current odds: not on the board (via FanDuel)

Up next: at Vanderbilt

8. Kurtis Rourke, Indiana QB (LW: 7)

Week 13 results: 38-15 loss at Ohio State

Week 13 stats: 8-for-18, 68 passing yards, 7 carries, -33 rushing yards

Season stats: 69.9% completion, 2,478 passing yards, 21 passing touchdowns, 4 interceptions, -16 rushing yards, 2 rushing touchdowns

One big number: 68 passing yards were the fewest by an opponent against Ohio State in a single game since Oct. 18, 2019, when Northwestern had just 42 passing yards

Current odds: not on the board (via FanDuel)

Up next: vs. Purdue

9. Jalen Milroe, Alabama QB (LW: 6)

Week 13 results: 24-3 loss at Oklahoma

Week 13 stats: 11-for-26, 164 passing yards, 3 interceptions, 15 carries, 7 rushing yards

Season stats: 65.0% completion, 2,396 passing yards, 15 passing touchdowns, 9 interceptions, 615 rushing yards, 17 rushing touchdowns

One big number: on pace to be the first Alabama quarterback since 2016-17 to post back-to-back seasons under 3,000 passing yards

Current odds: not on the board (via FanDuel)

Up next: vs. Auburn

10. DJ Lagway, Florida QB (LW: unranked)

Week 13 results: 24-17 win over Ole Miss

Week 13 stats: 10-for-17, 180 passing yards, 2 passing touchdowns, 1 interception, 5 carries, -9 rushing yards

Season stats: 58.5% completion, 1,477 passing yards, 9 passing touchdowns, 6 interceptions, 105 rushing yards

One big number: 11.0% big-time throw rate is the best by an SEC quarterback (min. 100 dropbacks) since PFF began tracking college football in 2014

Current odds: not on the board (via FanDuel)

Up next: at Florida State