Heisman Trophy finalists, from left, Oregon's Dillon Gabriel, Colorado's Travis Hunter, Boise State's Ashton Jeanty and Miami's Cam Ward pose with the trophy during media availability on Friday in New York. (AP photo)

NEW YORK — Same iconic statue, very different race.

With two-way star Travis Hunter of Colorado and Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty leading the field, these certainly aren’t your typical Heisman Trophy contenders.

Sure, veteran quarterbacks Dillon Gabriel from top-ranked Oregon and Cam Ward of No. 15 Miami are finalists for college football’s most prestigious award as well, but the 90th annual ceremony coming up tonight at Lincoln Center in New York City offers a fresh flavor this year.

To start with, none of the four are from the powerhouse Southeastern Conference, which has produced four of the past five Heisman winners — two each from Alabama and LSU.

Jeanty, who played his home games for a Group of Five team on that peculiar blue turf in Idaho more than 2,100 miles from Manhattan, is the first running back even invited to the Heisman party since 2017. After leading the country with 2,497 yards rushing and 29 touchdowns, he joined quarterback Kellen Moore (2010) as the only Boise State players to be named a finalist.

“The running back position has been overlooked for a while now,” said Jeanty, who plans to enter the 2025 NFL draft.

“There’s been a lot of great running backs before me that should have been here in New York, so to kind of carry on the legacy of the running back position I think is great. … I feel as if I’m representing the whole position.”

With the votes already in, all four finalists spent Friday conducting interviews and sightseeing in the Big Apple. They were given custom, commemorative watches to mark their achievement.

“I’m not a watch guy, but I like it,” said Hunter, flashing a smile.

The players also took photos beneath the massive billboards in Times Square and later posed with the famous Heisman Trophy, handed out since 1935 to the nation’s most outstanding performer.

Hunter, the heavy favorite, made sure not to touch it yet.

A dominant player on both offense and defense who rarely comes off the field, the wide receiver/cornerback is a throwback to generations gone by and the first full-time, true two-way star in decades.

On offense, he had 92 catches for 1,152 yards and 14 touchdowns this season to help the 20th-ranked Buffaloes (9-3) earn their first bowl bid in four years. On defense, he made four interceptions, broke up 11 passes and forced a critical fumble that secured an overtime victory against Baylor.

Jeanty carried No. 8 Boise State (12-1) to a Mountain West Conference championship that landed the Broncos the third seed in this year’s College Football Playoff.

The 5-foot-9, 215-pound junior from Jacksonville, Florida, won the Maxwell Award as college football’s top player and the Doak Walker Award for best running back. Jeanty has five touchdown runs of at least 70 yards and has rushed for the fourth-most yards in a season in FBS history — topping the total of 115 teams this year. He needs 132 yards to break the FBS record set by Heisman Trophy winner Barry Sanders at Oklahoma State in 1988.

In a pass-happy era, however, Jeanty is trying to become the first running back to win the Heisman Trophy since Derrick Henry for Alabama nine years ago. In fact, quarterbacks have snagged the prize all but four times this century.

Gabriel, an Oklahoma transfer, led Oregon (13-0) to a Big Ten title in its first season in the league and the No. 1 seed in the College Football Playoff.

The steady senior from Hawaii passed for 3,558 yards and 28 touchdowns with six interceptions. His 73.2% completion rate ranks second in the nation, and he’s attempting to join quarterback Marcus Mariota (2014) as Ducks players to win the Heisman Trophy.

“I think all the memories start to roll back in your mind,” Gabriel said.

Ward threw for 4,123 yards and led the nation with a school-record 36 touchdown passes for the high-scoring Hurricanes (10-2) after transferring from Washington State.

The senior from West Columbia, Texas, won the Davey O’Brien National Quarterback of the Year award and is looking to join QBs Vinny Testaverde (1986) and Gino Torretta (1992) as Miami players to go home with the Heisman.

“I just think there’s a recklessness that you have to play with at the quarterback position,” Ward said.