Refs try to keep Travis Hunter down after Colorado star’s Heisman pose, celebration

While the race for the College Football Playoff is heating up, the race for the Heisman Trophy isn't too far behind. Four frontrunners have stood out from the pack so far: Cam Ward has been everything at QB for Miami, Dillon Gabriel has Oregon on cruise control, Boise State's Ashton Jeanty is putting up video-game numbers during the Broncos playoff push and Travis Hunter is doing everything on both sides of the ball for Deion Sanders and the Colorado Buffaloes. With just a few weeks remaining in the regular season, every standout performance could be the one that puts any one of these four over the line.

Hunter, for his part, took full advantage of the Big Noon spotlight on Saturday against Utah. True to form, he did it on both offense and defense. And true to form, he made sure to celebrate in style.

Travis Hunter hits the Heisman pose, draws penalty flag after interception vs. Utah

First up: defense. We won't spent too much time on the interception, itself, which wasn't vintage Hunter interception (it was more a matter of being in the right place at the right time and having the ball flutter to him after a deflection). Instead, we're more interested in how Hunter chose to celebrate. First, he hit a picture-perfect Heisman pose. Then, he proceeded to yeet the ball into the stands, drawing an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for his efforts.

A 15-yard penalty in a game your team is already winning by two scores? A minor setback, at most. Giving someone a souvenir they'll remember for the rest of their lives? Priceless.

Travis Hunter adds another circus catch to the highlight reel

But Hunter's day was far, far from done. In case you forgot that he's equally dangerous on the offensive end, he proceeded to make one of the catches of the year late in the second quarter, rescuing a Shedeur Sanders hospital ball by going up in the air and somehow hanging on despite being hit by not one but two Utah defensive backs.

The length, the athleticism, the ball skills, the swag — it's the entire Hunter package on display for the whole country to see.

Of course, this Heisman race is far from over. Ward, Gabriel and Jeanty will all have big stages on which to make statements of their own, and it remains to be seen just how much the voters will value Hunter's two-way brilliance against the more traditional statistical profiles of his competitors. But don't let Heisman horse-racing take away from the fact that Hunter remains cool as hell. He's doing something we haven't seen in this sport in decades, and he's doing it all in style. If you could say the same, wouldn't you hit the Heisman pose?