Travis Hunter, Tyler Warren headline controversial college football awards

Travis Hunter and Tyler Warren won the Chuck Bednarik and John Mackey Awards, respectively, Friday night, being recognized as the best players at their positions.

Hunter beat out San Jose State wide receiver Nick Nash and Warren beat out Bowling Green tight end Harold Fannin Jr.

Some fans disagree with the vote as Hunter has his fair share of critics, especially since he plays for Deion Sanders — who most people either love or hate with no gray area.

Nash and Fannin were top-two in the country in receiving yards with Nash leading the nation as a whole in catches, yards and receiving touchdowns. Fannin led all tight ends in each category.

Defending Warren winning instead of Fannin comes down to Warren receiving handoffs and throwing passes this season as he'll likely enter NFL Draft boards as TE1. However, it's hard to argue against Fannin, who won the triple crown at his position.

Then there's Nash, who won the outright triple crown. Hunter is exceptional, probably the best prospect in the NFL Draft and has one true competitor for this season's Heisman Trophy. However, what Hunter does defensively should not have been a factor when voting for the Bednarik.

While there is no confirmation of whether that impacted voters, there is confirmation of why one Bednarik voter decided against Nash.

Mike Renner, a former football film analyst for the defunct publication known as The Messenger, voted against Nash because he claims 25% of his yards came against FBS programs. However, the Spartans played just one FCS team this season.

Nash had 170 yards against Sacramento State in SJSU's season opener, which was just 12.3% of his total yardage. When called out by another account on X for his false statement, Renner's defense was that he still considers Kennesaw State to be an FCS program because they are still in the transition phase of their FBS membership.

if you just got promoted this year because a conference needs to meet payroll you're an FCS team to me
— Mike Renner (@mikerenner_) December 13, 2024

The Messenger — which focused on aggregation and had little original reporting on its sports desk outside of college basketball writers Seth Davis and Jeff Goodman — closed its doors in January, eight months after it launched its sports desk.

Hunter may have won the Bednarik, but the Heisman is far from a done deal. Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty won the Maxwell Award on Friday. Of the last 10 Maxwell Award winners, eight have gone on to win the Heisman. The two that didn't win the Heisman? Left-handed quarterbacks Tua Tagovailoa and Michael Penix Jr.

There will always be a dissenting opinion with sports awards, but this year's FBS awards will go down as one of the more memorable snub-worthy cycles in recent memory.

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