GOOD NEWS: Best football player I have ever seen’: BYU coaches and players in awe of Colorado’s Heisman Trophy winner
BYU football players and coaches have kept an eye on Colorado the last half of the Big 12 season with the thought that they might see the Buffaloes in the conference championship game.
Obviously, that didn’t happen, as BYU, CU, Iowa State and Arizona State all finished with 7-2 league records and the Cyclones and Sun Devils got to play in Arlington, Texas, due to a complicated tiebreaker system.
However, the close watch on Colorado is paying dividends now, as the Cougars will face coach Deion Sanders’ No. 23-ranked squad in the Alamo Bowl (5:30 p.m. MST, ABC) on Dec. 28 at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas.
Monday, BYU offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick said Hunter is “probably the best football player I have ever seen” and that it will be an honor to coach against the “NFL-style” Colorado defense.
“He is an unbelievable player,” Roderick said of Hunter, who plays receiver and cornerback. “To play 100-and-something snaps every game, and be that good on offense, and then cover people the way he does in the fourth quarter of games, after he has played 100 plays, I have never seen anything like it. Lots of respect for him.”
Roderick noted that CU defensive coordinator Robert Livingston coached in the NFL for 12 seasons (with the Cincinnati Bengals) and that Sanders has established his aggressive, attacking style in Boulder on both sides of the ball.
“They are very skilled, play lots of man coverage,” Roderick said. “And their pass rush is real. Those defensive ends want to get to the quarterback. They are a very good defense. I have a lot of respect for these guys. They are good.”
BYU’s Keelan Marion, who on Tuesday made yet another All-America team (FWAA first team) for his work as a kick returner, said he has known Hunter since they were high school rivals in the Atlanta area and used the same trainer in the offseason.
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Marion prepped at Grayson High in Loganville, Georgia, before starting his collegiate career at UConn, while Hunter prepped at Collins Hill High in Suwanee, Georgia, and began his career at Jackson State before following Coach Prime to Colorado.
“He has always been that kid before everybody knew who he was,” Marion said. “He has always been the same guy he is today. So, shoutout to Trav. I am very excited. … He puts in the work and it shows why he won the Heisman.”
On the other side of the ball, BYU safety Tanner Wall is also looking forward to defending Hunter, who also won the Biletnikoff Award as the top receiver in the country.
“We are just excited, you know? I mean, the competitor in all of us, we want to play against the best, so seeing Travis winning the Heisman on Saturday, I think we were all excited knowing that we get to go out and play against the Heisman winner (in addition to) all the other awards that he won,” Wall said. “He’s a very respected player. So we are excited for that challenge.”
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