Buffs Star Travis Hunter Makes Heisman Pitch On National Broadcasts
November 02, 2024 | Football, Neill Woelk
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — Colorado star Travis Hunter struck the Heisman Trophy pose for the nation Saturday morning.
The Buffaloes' two-way star, currently the Heisman favorite, took advantage of CU's bye week to make an appearance on ESPN's College GameDay and Fox's Big Noon Kickoff. Both shows were on the Penn State campus for Saturday's Penn State-Ohio State game.
Asked by the Big Noon team to make his case for winning college football's most prestigious award, Hunter's response was to the point.
"Nobody has ever done what I've been doing," he said. "So it's pretty much that simple for me. I steal the game on defense. I steal the game on offense. Nobody has ever done that before, and it's just pretty much easy for me. You see the game, it speaks for itself. For me, I just go out there and play and work hard every day."
Indeed, no one in the modern era of college football has done what Hunter is doing on a weekly basis.
Despite playing in just one half of two of CU's eight games, Hunter is still averaging more than 110 snaps per game, playing almost every snap on both sides of the ball while putting up outstanding numbers.
Offensively, he's had five 100-yard receiving games already this season for Deion "Coach Prime" Sanders' 6-2 Buffs, with 60 catches for 757 yards and eight touchdowns.
Defensively, he's been in on 21 tackles with seven pass breakups, two interceptions and a forced fumble.
Overall, he arguably has a bigger impact on every game he plays than any other player in the nation and is being projected as a top-five NFL draft pick by most analysts.
Hunter obviously had the admiration and support of the analysts from both shows.
Alabama coaching legend Nick Saban, now with ESPN, asked how he prepared in practice to play two positions. Fox's Matt Leinart — the former USC star and 2004 Heisman winner — wanted to know how he kept his body in shape to meet the rigors of playing both ways.
"My alarm goes off at about 4:50 in the morning," Hunter said. "I'm at school by at least 5:15 to go get treatment and training, and I do that all the way into our first meeting, which is at 7:15. Then I watch film from about 7:15 to 8:50. Then after that, we go on the field. Wednesday is a practice for me and Friday is a practice for me. But other than that, I'm doing treatment, watching film. I watch 10 hours by myself. But other than that, it's treatment, recovery, watching film and practice."
Maybe the biggest question surrounding Hunter today is what position he will play in the NFL. When ESPN posed the query, Hunter said he had no preference.
"A lot of people try to put me in a box, like I've got to pick a position," he said. "But I've been doing this my whole life, since playing Little League football. All I know is I'm going to play both ways … I train on each side of the ball. It's been pretty simple and easy for me. I think whatever the NFL needs me to do, or whatever the team I go to, whatever they need, I'll play."
As a high school star in Georgia, Hunter was one of the nation's most highly recruited players. But instead of taking one of the many Power 5 offers on his plate, he elected instead to join Coach Prime at Jackson State, a move that shocked the recruiting world.
When Coach Prime left JSU to take the Colorado job in December 2023, Hunter and quarterback Shedeur Sanders followed Coach Prime to Boulder.
There, the two have vaulted into the national spotlight. Shedeur, also a Heisman candidate, has been vocal in his support of Hunter for the trophy, calling him "the best player in college football."
Coach Prime — who also starred on both sides of the ball both as a collegian and in his Hall of Fame NFL career — has given Hunter every opportunity to play both ways. The two have also developed a relationship that reaches far beyond the playing field.
"It's an unbreakable son and father bond," Hunter said. "It's like we've known each other for years, even though we just met three years ago. I can't explain it enough … I love him so much and I know he loves me so much."
Hunter and his teammates will be back in action next Saturday when they travel to Texas Tech. The goal, Hunter said, is to simply add another win to the Buffs' total and stay in the hunt for a Big 12 championship game berth.
"Just helping my teammates means a lot because I can't get the Heisman without my teammates," Hunter said. "They have to do their job and I have to do my job. We've got to just keep heading in the right direction."
