Sports
Heisman straw poll: Ashton Jeanty can’t seem to gain much ground, but he can make history

Ashton Jeanty won. Travis Hunter lost. These results did impact The Athletic’s Heisman Trophy straw poll — ever so slightly, with Hunter losing two first-place votes to drop to 24, and Jeanty doubling his first-place votes to get to two.
Miami quarterback Cam Ward got the other first-place vote, picking it up after throwing for 280 yards and two touchdowns in a rout of Wake Forest, breaking Bernie Kosar’s single-season records for completions (263) and passing yards (3,774) in the process.
But this remains a two-man race, technically, and a rout in reality.
Hunter is oddsmakers’ overwhelming favorite to take home the award and leads this poll with 78 points to Jeanty’s 52. Ward is third with 15 points, and Penn State tight end Tyler Warren and Oregon quarterback Dillon Gabriel have seven and six points, respectively.
The Athletic follows the same voting protocol as that of the Heisman: three points for a first-place vote, two points for a second-place vote, one point for a third-place vote.
Player | Team | Pos | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Pts |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Travis Hunter |
WR/CB |
24 |
3 |
0 |
78 |
|
Ashton Jeanty |
RB |
2 |
22 |
2 |
52 |
|
Cam Ward |
QB |
1 |
0 |
12 |
15 |
|
Tyler Warren |
TE |
0 |
0 |
7 |
7 |
|
Dillon Gabriel |
QB |
0 |
1 |
4 |
6 |
|
Kaleb Johnson |
RB |
0 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
|
Devin Neal |
RB |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
|
Cam Skattebo |
RB |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
Hunter had another big night offensively for Colorado, catching eight passes for 125 yards and two touchdowns against Kansas. He also had seven tackles and a pass break-up on defense, but the Buffaloes were collectively dominated on that side of the ball in a 37-21 loss. Deion Sanders’ team lost control of its College Football Playoff hopes in the process, but that doesn’t change the prevailing belief that Hunter is the best player in the country.
Jeanty extended his nation-leading totals to 2,062 yards and 27 rushing touchdowns in a 17-13 win over Wyoming, in which he suffered a leg injury, missed time, returned and finished with 169 yards — 60 of them on three critical runs in Boise State’s winning touchdown drive. That’s compelling stuff, but not compelling enough.
Jeanty has a regular-season finale against Oregon State and the Mountain West title game to give himself a jolt. If he could break Barry Sanders’ single-season NCAA rushing record, he’d be hard to beat. That’s 567 yards away.
Jeanty is a likely lock to make it to the ceremony in New York, though, and that’s no small thing for a player outside a power conference. In the past 40 years, just 10 players at schools that are not currently in a Power 4 league have made it to New York. The last to do it was Northern Illinois quarterback Jordan Lynch in 2013.
That list also consists of Temple running back Paul Palmer in 1986, Holy Cross running back/defensive back Gordie Lockbaum in 1987, Air Force quarterback Dee Dowis in 1989, San Diego State running back Marshall Faulk in 1992, Alcorn State quarterback Steve McNair in 1994, Marshall receiver Randy Moss in 1997, Marshall quarterback Chad Pennington in 1999, Hawaii quarterback Colt Brennan in 2007 and another Boise State Bronco, quarterback Kellen Moore, in 2010.
Two quarterbacks who were receiving votes in the poll — Indiana’s Kurtis Rourke and Ole Miss’ Jaxson Dart — are absent this week after losses to Ohio State and Florida, respectively. There is a new name, courtesy of Colorado’s face plant: Kansas running back Devin Neal, who had 287 yards of offense and four touchdowns against the Buffs.
(Photo: Loren Orr / Getty Images)

Sports
Buccaneers bring back 464-pound defensive lineman Desmond Watson

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The Tampa Bay Buccaneers re-signed defensive tackle Desmond Watson and added him to the practice squad as the team prepares to take on the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 4.
Watson, the 464-pound rookie defensive lineman out of Florida, failed to make the 53-man roster in the preseason. He was forced to the sideline as he failed to meet the conditioning requirements to take the field. He was considered to be the heaviest player in NFL history.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive lineman Desmond Watson (56) warms up during the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Rookie Mini Camp workout on May 9, 2025 at the AdventHealth Training Center in Tampa, Florida. (Cliff Welch/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles said on Monday that Watson had a “good workout” when the team brought him in last week.
The Buccaneers will look to try to find a way to stop the Eagles’ tush push, which has come under the spotlight in the last few weeks as it appeared some players had been jumping before the ball was snapped to Jalen Hurts.
Bowles said Watson wasn’t just being brought in as the answer to the tush push.
“We’ll never bring him in just to stop a tush push. If we’ve got to bring in a guy to stop one play and the tush push never comes up, you’re wasting your time,” Bowles said. “If we bring him in, we think he can play, not just for a Philadelphia thing.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive tackle Desmond Watson watches from the sideline during practice at NFL football training camp, Wednesday, July 23, 2025, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O’Meara)
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“It’s very unlikely he’d be ready to play, once we bring him in, for Philadelphia right now anyway. It’s just a matter of us making room and seeing if we have a place for him, and then what we see for him in the future.”
The 6-foot-6 defensive tackle was working with a nutritionist during the summer. The team didn’t say what an ideal weight for him would be.
Watson spoke about his weight gain to reporters earlier this year. He said he would consistently stop off to get food while at Florida.
“Stopping while driving,” Watson said when asked about bad habits he’s tried to shed at his pro day. “My biggest thing is keep going, get to where I need to get. There are stores and a lot of temptations. That’s helped me immensely.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers nose tackle Desmond Watson (56) runs a drill during the NFL football team’s rookie minicamp Friday, May 9, 2025, in Tampa, Florida. (AP Photo/Chris O’Meara)
“Don’t go inside the gas station. Pay at the pump. Because inside it’s snacks and all types of things like that. Don’t pull over. If you’re on the highway, stay on the highway until you get where you’ve got to go.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Sports
Prep talk: Another day, another life saved by high school athletic trainer

For those high schools in California that still don’t have an athletic trainer, what happened last week at San Clemente High was another reason why they are so valuable for the safety reasons. And also proven was the requirement that coaches be certified in CPR every two years.
As a soccer class was ending last Thursday, an assistant coach fell to the ground. Head coach Chris Murray thought he tripped. Then he looked into his eyes, which appeared dilated, and saw that his face was purple. While a football coach nearby was calling 911, Murray began chest compressions.
Athletic trainer Amber Anaya received a text in her office that said, “Emergency.” She got into her golf cart that contained her automated external defibrilator (AED) machine and raced to the field within two minutes. She determined the coach was in cardiac arrest.
While Anaya hooked up her AED machine to the coach, Murray continued chest compressions. The AED machine evaluated the patient and recommended one shock. This went on for some seven minutes until paramedics arrived. Another shock was given after the paramedics took over.
The coach was transported to a hospital and survived. He would receive a pacemaker. It was a happy ending thanks to people who knew what to do in case of an emergency.
Last school year, the Culver City athletic trainer helped save a track athlete who went into cardiac arrest.
Murray said what he did was based on instincts and adrenaline. As soon as the ambulance left, he said he collapsed to his knee exhausted.
“His ribs are sore but not broken,” Murray said, “so I guess I did good.”
All the preparation in case of an emergency was put to good use by the coach trained in CPR and the athletic trainer who knew how to use an AED machine.
This is a daily look at the positive happenings in high school sports. To submit any news, please email eric.sondheimer@latimes.com.
Sports
Police investigating USA Cycling incident as footage of organizers' interaction with activist goes viral

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Police in Livermore, California, are investigating an incident that occurred at a USA Cycling event on Sunday, when organizers were seen berating a women’s sports activist who was inquiring about sex tests.
“At the moment, we are looking into the matter and are in the process of reviewing our report and video footage,” a Livermore Police Department spokesperson told Fox News Digital.
Footage of the interaction at USA Cycling’s Oakland Grand Prix has gone viral in recent days.
Beth Bourne, a California activist known to oppose biological male athletes in women’s and girls’ sports, was seen in the footage asking organizers if the women’s competitors at the event had been sex-tested to prove they were not male. One organizer was then seen approaching Bourne and covering her camera, saying, “We have policies in place. You can stop filming me.”
Bourne was then heard saying, “Give me my phone!”
The footage then showed Bourne walking away from that organizer in a panic before another organizer came up behind her to shout, “Hey! Get the f— out of here!”
Bourne told Fox News Digital that the incident was “emotional.”
“It was so unexpected. I have an idea that we’re going to have people maybe calling us names, or maybe calling us TERFs, which we’ve had, maybe even grabbing our signs. But to have somebody come up from behind me, before I even, I hadn’t even gotten a sign out, I had just asked two or three questions, so that shocked me, I was scared,” Bourne said.
“I was actually terrified, I was terrified that this person might really, really hurt me.”
Additional footage of the incident showed the same organizer who yelled in Bourne’s face later putting a pizza box in front of her face, covering the view of Bourne’s camera, then picking up her protest signs and throwing them in the garbage.
Bourne alleged that the organizer told her, “Your God isn’t going to protect you.”
“‘You’re just a hateful, awful person’” he told Bourne, she alleged. “And then he grabs all my signs and takes them and puts them in the trash can next to the start and finish area. And like that’s insane to me, that someone would grab someone’s property and throw it in the trash can, and it would be the race organizer himself.”
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Fox News Digital has reached out to USA Cycling for comment, but has not received a response.
The same event also drew scrutiny for another viral video of transgender cyclist Chelsea Wolfe telling protesters, “Go suck a sawed-off shotgun,” “You’re a Nazi piece of s—,” and “We kill Nazis.”
Chelsea Wolfe of Team USA competes in the women’s final during the BMX Freestyle World Cup on Dec. 11, 2022, in Gold Coast, Australia. (Matt Roberts/Getty Images)
Wolfe, a former Team USA alternate in women’s BMX who previously said the athlete wanted to win an Olympic medal to “burn the American flag,” took to social media to share multiple posts celebrating Charlie Kirk’s assassination last week.
“We did it!” Wolfe wrote in an Instagram Story sharing a report on the assassination last Wednesday.

Police in Livermore, California are investigating an incident at a USA Cycling event where a ‘protect women’s sports’ protester was berated by organizers. (Getty Images, Courtesy of Beth Bourne)
USA Cycling provided a statement to Fox News Digital addressing Wolfe’s posts.
“The views of current and former national team athletes are their own and do not reflect those of USA Cycling. Chelsea Wolfe has not been a member of the USA Cycling National Team or a member of USA Cycling since 2023,” the statement read.
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