BOULDER — Even the Buffs’ do-everything Superman proved mortal on a frightful Friday the 13th at Folsom Field.
In wideout/cornerback Travis Hunter’s return following a three-game absence due to a lacerated liver, the sophomore was a catalyst on offense but stumbled on defense in the Buffs’ stunning 46-43 double-overtime loss to Stanford.
On the one hand: Hunter racked up a team-leading and career-high 13 catches for 140 yards, with two TDs. Hunter’s first score put CU ahead early as the home team took a 29-0 halftime lead, and his second TD grab in the second half stopped a string of four unanswered Stanford TDs.
On the other: Hunter, along with the rest of the CU secondary, played a central role in the Buffs’ second-half meltdown. He was burned by Stanford wideout Elic Ayomanor twice for TDs in the Cardinal comeback, and Hunter was also flagged for an unnecessary roughness penalty early in the fourth quarter that turned a would-be field goal attempt into an eventual TD.
“There’s some plays he made, there’s some plays he didn’t,” CU head coach Deion Sanders assessed. “It just so happens the plays he didn’t make at the end are magnified. But the plays he made kept us in the game.”
Sanders said the Buffs’ array of penalties (17 for 127 yards in total) that helped fuel Stanford’s rally were a result of “not being smart, and not being disciplined.” On Hunter’s unsportsmanlike penalty in the fourth quarter, his second such flag of the game after an excessive celebration flag on his first TD, he was feuding with Ayomanor after the whistle.
It was Ayomanor who burned Hunter for a 60-yard TD on a deep post pattern in the third quarter, which cut Stanford’s deficit to 10 points. Then in the first overtime, after Hunter and the CU secondary let Stanford back into the game, Ayomanor reached over Hunter’s helmet to secure a 30-yard TD and send the game to the second OT, where the Cardinal won on a field goal.
Those two plays were part of Ayomanor’s career day, as the Stanford wideout surpassed his season total in one night with 13 catches for a Cardinal-record 294 yards and three TDs.
Despite Hunter’s inability to stop Ayomanor’s second-half dominance, he looked the part of a star on offense. He ripped off a fancy spin move and outran the Cardinal for his first TD, and caught his second TD in traffic at the goal line before getting crunched by two defenders.
Sanders said Hunter’s conditioning after not playing in a game since the Rocky Mountain Showdown on Sept. 16 was not a factor in the cornerback getting burned multiple times by Ayomanor in the second half. Hunter, who was not made available following Friday’s loss, played all but a handful of snaps on both sides of the ball plus some special teams snaps.
