Deion Sanders addresses performance of Travis Hunter vs. Elic Ayomanor, Stanford

It was supposed to be a magnificent night for Colorado on Friday, as they welcomed Stanford to town, and two-way star Travis Hunter returned to the lineup.

Deion Sanders‘ bunch came out swinging, leading the Cardinal 29-0 at halftime. However, the shine wore off the rose in tremendous fashion over the second half.

Stanford rallied back with 25 unanswered points to erase the deficit and ultimately forced overtime on a field goal in the final seconds of regulation to make it a 36-36 ballgame. The two teams traded blows again in overtime before Stanford came out on top 46-43 — finally ending the game at approx. 2:10 a.m. ET Saturday morning.

While Hunter balled out at times against Stanford, he was also part of the unit who some believe were responsible for the Cardinal comeback, as the Buffaloes secondary allowed 364 passing yards in the second half alone.

Afterwards, Sanders spoke to that point, explaining what went wrong for the Colorado pass defense against Stanford.

“We didn’t play well, not just Travis,” explained Sanders, regarding Hunter’s performance on defense. “I think it all started when we gave up the 97-yard touchdown. Which was flat-out ridiculous. That’s when it all started. That’s when all the foolishness, all the complacency, all the mess started.

“I mean, how in the world we give up — Jesus. Our secondary did not play their best game, especially at the cornerback position.”

For the majority of the second half, Hunter was matched up against Stanford pass catcher Elic Ayomanor. While the Cardinal lost their leading receiver in Ben Yurosek to injury, Ayomanor emerged with a breakout game, to the tune of 13 total receptions for 294 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Cardinal offense.

There were no excuses for Hunter from Sanders, as he explained that his conditioning was fine, even through an overtime battle against Stanford.

“His condition is great,” responded Sanders. “There was some plays he made, some plays he didn’t. It just so happened the plays that he didn’t make at the end are magnified. The plays he made kept us in the game.”

The Buffaloes leader makes a solid point, as Hunter certainly made his fair share of highlight reel plays. When you blow a lead like Colorado did, a bevy of players are to blame, and most of it won’t fall on the young star’s shoulders.

Nevertheless, you take the praise when you win, and the blame for losses when you’re as big of a star as Travis Hunter. Now it’s up to Colorado to change the tune of their season over the next couple of weeks, following their epic collapse on Friday.