PASADENA, Calif. — Jimmy Smith, Chidobe Awuzie, Ahkello Witherspoon … Travis Hunter.
How does the fourth belong with the other three? Hunter, the Buffs’ two-way breakout star playing his first season of Division I FBS, is on the fast track to join those other names as a high-drafted cornerback out of CU.
Hunter put on another eye-opening defensive performance Saturday in CU’s 28-16 loss to UCLA at the Rose Bowl, with two first-half interceptions that helped give the Buffs an early lead.
The sophomore snuffed out the Bruins’ first drive of the game by intercepting Ethan Garbers to set CU up for a field goal that made it 6-0. On the third-and-5 play, Hunter was in man, press coverage on Kam Brown at the line of scrimmage. But after jamming Brown, Hunter intuitively jumped off him and into space when he recognized Bruins slot receiver Logan Loya was running a short button-hook to the first-down line.
Hunter dove and picked off Garbers’ pass, then popped up and ran to the CU sideline to celebrate.
“You’ve got to give Travis Hunter credit on that,” UCLA coach Chip Kelly said. “That was a tremendous play by him. And it wasn’t a disguise. They did not disguise coverage at all. He’s a special football player and made a tremendous football play, and that is when you just go, ‘That kid’s really good, so letap maybe not throw near him.’”
But No. 12 wasn’t done with the first-half highlights.
In the second quarter, he picked off the Bruins’ other quarterback, Collin Schlee, this time in zone coverage. Schlee tried to thread a pass toward the sideline on an out route by Loya, but Hunter read it perfectly and skied for the interception that left Kelly visibly upset with Schlee after the play.
Hunter’s performance marked the first time a CU sophomore had two interceptions in a game since Ryan Walters did it in 2006 against Texas Tech. It marked the 71st time a Buff recorded two picks in a game. and John Stearns both did it four times. The program record is three, achieved by eight players, most recently Terrence Wheatley at Texas Tech in 2007.
CU head coach Deion Sanders labeled it a “bounce-back” performance after Hunter played a role in the CU defense’s meltdown two weeks ago when the Buffs blew a 29-0 halftime lead in a stunning loss to Stanford at Folsom Field.
In that 46-43 double-OT defeat, Hunter was burned by Stanford wideout Elic Ayomanor twice for TDs, in addition to getting flagged for an unnecessary roughness penalty early in the fourth quarter that resulted in a four-point swing for the Cardinal.
“Travis is Travis,” Sanders explained. “There’s multiple guys I don’t concern myself with their play and their attitude. … He was coming off an injury (in his return against Stanford), and he was taking the offensive side of the ball a lot more seriously than he was taking the defensive side of the ball when he first came back. He just had to reset.
“He didn’t go home over the (bye) break. He stayed (in Boulder), worked out, trained and got his feet up under him. He watched film intently and he studied the little things. So he was prepared and ready today, and gave you all a Travis Hunter performance.”
On the offensive side, Hunter has 32 catches for 360 yards and two touchdowns this year, including three catches for seven yards Saturday. But as his performance against the Bruins proved, it’s on defense where Hunter projects as a bonafide NFL prospect.
Hunter, who now has three interceptions on the season, was not made available to the media following Saturday’s game.
