Mark Stoops calls Travis Hunter truly remarkable for playing both ways

Mark Stoops was blown away by Travis Hunter’s Week 1 performance for Colorado playing both sides of the ball. The Kentucky head coach called it “remarkable.”

Unless there’s a bowl matchup down the line this season, Stoops won’t have to have his team deal with Hunter on the field. So for now, he can sit back and admire the impressive player.

Stoops dealt with his fair share of players that wanted to play offense and defense, but it takes a special talent to do so.

“Yes, I’ve had some that wanted to do that,” Stoops said. “You have to be able to handle it. What he did is truly remarkable. Give him a lot of credit. First of all, you have to be an exceptional athlete to be in that type of shape and condition and that type of heat in Texas to go play over 100 snaps in both ways. Remarkable, you know, so give him a lot of credit.”

Hunter finished the win over TCU last weekend with 11 catches for 119 yards and grabbed an impressive interception on defense that suddenly put him at the top of early Heisman ballots.

“And, you know, I do think that special players, and I’ve said this before in different ways, but when you have first future first round draft picks and those types of players they can play ball, a lot of them can play ball, and we’ve had our fair share of it here,” Stoops said. “I don’t think anybody could play it to that level on both sides of the ball. But that’s never say never, you know, we’ll see.”

Mark Stoops came away impressed with Travis Hunter

If Colorado’s performance woke up anyone else beside Stoops, not that he was a doubter, Hunter made sure to let everyone know.

“We kept receipts,’ Hunter said, echoing head coach Deion Sanders. “Nobody believed in us. The only people that believed in us were the people in the facility. Everybody that broadcast, even some of y’all guys, telling us we’re not going to be a good team this year or doubting my coach.”

Following a season-opening win, Colorado has multiple players being talked about in the Heisman Trophy conversation, including Hunter.

“Well I think we have three of them, as in Heisman contention right now,” Sanders said. “Travis, what he’s capable of doing, I’ve been saying it since he got here, since he got to Jackson when I first laid eyes on him, the kid he’s different, as the young folks say now. He’s phenomenal, he loves the game. He gets upset.”