After hiring Coach Prime as CU’s head football coach in December, the University of Colorado’ recently relaxed transfer requirements are now fully in play for Tad Boyle and the men’s basketball team. The Buffs already had three players enter the transfer portal and now they have their first transfer in. Former TCU starting center, Eddie Lampkin Jr. committed to the…
Colorado’s season came to a swift end after their second-round NIT loss to Utah Valley and it only took a matter of days before we saw three players enter the transfer portal and two players seek NBA Draft feedback. We are only one week into the off-season and Buffs’ roster is completely in flux. Five-star Cody Williams is coming along…
The Colorado Buffaloes Women’s Basketball team’s incredible 2022-2023 season has come to an end. After the Buffs produced upsets over #8 Utah, #14 Arizona and #8 UCLA it was obvious that this team was special. Colorado nearly knocked off #3 Stanford at the CU Events Center in their penultimate regular season game and put the basketball world on notice as…
Things didn’t go totally according to plan this year with Colorado coming up short of the NCAA tournament’s field of 68. However, an opportunity still presented itself for this young squad in the form of an NIT invite. CU hosted two NIT games the past week, defeating Seton Hall in the first round before falling to Utah Valley in the…
Tad Boyle has had his fair share of projects during his tenure at CU. From Andre Roberson to Spencer Dinwiddie to McKinley Wright IV to Jabari Walker, multiple three-star athletes have walked into Boulder as low-profile prospects, and walked out as NBA-level players; the next one in line is Tristan da Silva. When Jabari Walker and Evan Battey left the…
The Southern California schools traveled to Boulder this past weekend and made their presence felt at the CU Events Center. The USC Trojans stormed out with a 19-point dominant performance over CU, pouring on 84 points in a game many Buff fans wish to forget. Colorado fared better in their second matchup of the weekend, going down to the wire…
Inconsistency has been the Colorado men’s basketball team’s calling card this season. After winning massive early season non-conference games against Tennessee and Texas A&M, the Buffs have disappointed in conference play. With only a couple of weeks left before tournament season, Will Darkey shared his thoughts on the season so far and which players and teams are worth keeping an…
Let’s go back to November 23rd, 2001; a day Buff Nation will never forget. The nation’s top-ranked team, the Nebraska Cornhuskers made the trip to Boulder to take on the 15th-ranked Colorado Buffaloes. The Buffs were in the midst of a 10-year losing streak against the hated Cornhuskers with their last win coming in 1990 when Colorado became National Champions.…
Colorado was in big need of a bounce-back week after two straight losses dropped them to ninth in the Pac-12 standings. A bounce-back week is exactly what they got. The Buffs dominated Cal and Stanford this past weekend, putting on both offensive and defensive clinics for the home crowd. Here are three takeaways from Colorado’s get-right weekend as they attempt…
When Evan Battey finished up his final season last March, not only were the Buffs losing their second-leading scorer on the team; they were losing the heartbeat of the program. Evan Battey – the mayor of Boulder – embodied everything that it meant to be a CU Buff. Embraced not only by every single one of his teammates, but he…
Following KJ Simpson’s game-winner against Washington State, CU looked to capitalize on that big-time moment and start a new win streak in their trip up to Oregon. The Ducks and Beavers had different plans. Colorado finished their latest road trip 0-2, losing both contests in close efforts. As the Buffs continue to slip further down the Pac-12 standings, concern starts…
Another week out west did not spell success for Colorado. The Buffs took on the Los Angeles schools this past week, falling to quality teams in both USC and UCLA in close efforts. Losing close games to quality teams doesn’t move you up the Pac-12 standings though. Here are the three main takeaways from another worrisome road trip that leaves…
2023 is shaping up to be a year to remember for fans of the Colorado Buffaloes. Coach Prime is completely re-shaping and re-doing the football program and Tad Boyle has Buffs basketball on a role when it comes to the recruiting trail. Both programs are in great shape. With that being said, here are 20 predictions ahead of 2023. 1.…...
The Buffs started 2023 with a bang! After a head-scratching loss at Cal, the Buffs traveled back to the CU Events Center to face both Oregon schools. Tad Boyle and company dismantled both the Ducks and the Beavers at home, getting back to .500 in conference play. Here are the three takeaways from an encouraging weekend up in Boulder. Defensive…
Travis Hunter arrives at CU as the headliner that makes up Coach Prime’s “Louis luggage”. Last year, in his true freshman season Hunter proved immediately that his talent is as advertised.
While he will be facing a step-up in competition this season, last year at Jackson State Hunter provided some epic highlights at both cornerback and wide receiver.
In this edition of the Buffs Film Room, we break down Hunter’s best plays from the 2022 season and project which position he will have the greatest impact.
Prime Time Protege
When Hunter committed to JSU, he threw a curveball into the college football landscape and certified Coach Prime as a force to be reckoned with as a recruiter.
Coach Prime’s playing career doesn’t need to be explained, but it made perfect sense that the best two-way player in the class decided he wanted to learn from one of the best two-way players and athletes of all time.
Hunter possesses the speed, length and ball skills to be a lockdown corner and he showed that consistently as a freshman at JSU.
Against Alcorn State, Hunter notched his first career pick-six. Let’s start from the very beginning with how Hunter covers the receiver’s release. He’s smooth and square until the receiver breaks towards the sideline and #12 is able to match him stride for stride and sit on the route just as the receiver does. The receiver is blanketed and the Florida native is able to win the battle for the football and take it back for six.
Now let’s focus on the ball skills. This pass is tipped at the line of scrimmage and Hunter makes an incredibly athletic play to try and scoop up the flailing ball. Hunter would fail to complete the catch on the play, but the athletic display is spectacular.
Later on against Texas Southern, we got a chance to see how Hunter operates in true one-on-one situations on an island. The receiver gains a step on Hunter off the line but like a veteran, Hunter shows no panic and chooses the perfect moment to play the ball and force a pass breakup.
This interception is the result of a poorly thrown football, but Hunter shows great ability to play zone and trail receivers down the field to take advantage of these opportunities. The catch is effortless and then the new Buff's natural talent as a runner takes over.
We will talk about more plays from this game later on, but watch how easy this is for Hunter. He shows his composure, quick feet and technique off the line on the receiver's release, and watch how easy it is for him to work over the pick route and nearly pick off another pass.
It’s only five clips but the talent is undeniable. Hunter shows better and cleaner movement skills, ball skills and technique than some of the players I watched for NFL Draft purposes last spring. It makes sense why he wanted to play under Coach Prime and learn from one of the best to ever do it.
Yes, these clips are against SWAC players but there is nothing to suggest that Hunter would not be able to create plays like that in the Pac-12 and Power 5 level.
There are things that need to be cleaned up and Hunter is by no means a finished product when it comes to development, but he’s not far off. As good of a player as he already is and can be at cornerback, there is a legitimate argument that Hunter is an even better wide receiver.
Travis Hunter is already CU’s best receiver
Two-way players are rare these days. And even the best of the “true” two-way players are only really great at one position. Travis Hunter is great at cornerback and wide receiver.
In a podcast with Shannon Sharpe in December, Coach Prime said, “That’s what he loves. There’s a love and a like. He loves to play receiver. DB is something that he can do, really well and better than a lot of others. But if I had to put my money on him, he loves catching that football a lot more than he loves defending it.”
The tipping point for Hunter and his ability as a receiver occurred in the 2022 Celebration Bowl. The former number one overall recruit became Shedeur Sanders’ go-to receiver in crunch time and was one of the reasons why Jackson State had a great shot at winning that football game.
Colorado’s men’s basketball team stumbled into the new year on a low note. After winning their first conference game of the season at Stanford, CU left Buff Nation shaking their heads after a puzzling loss to the lowly Cal Golden Bears. It was once again another volatile week for this unpredictable Buff team, and with that volatility comes three takeaways…
“I expect to be great. I expect to do what hasn’t been done. I expect to provoke change.”- Deion Sanders It sure has been shinier around here this last week or so, hasn’t it? Especially if you are a CU Buffs fan. The air is almost… sparkly… https://giphy.com/gifs/nflonprime-amazon-prime-video-zgMB1G59nRVuiGt1x9 Maybe there’s why. That incandescent human being is Prime Time, also known…
The Colorado Buffaloes have their quarterback. Sunday, Deion Sanders was introduced as the latest CU head football coach and he also introduced CU’s starting quarterback. Coach Prime’s son, Shedeur Sanders will be the man behind center for Colorado in 2023. He was a four-star recruit in the 2021 recruiting class who earned 26 offers that included Alabama, Michigan, Oregon and…
It doesn’t happen in real life.
When it happens in a movie, people roll their eyes.
Deus ex machina… Deion ex machina.
It’s Prime Time in Boulder! The Colorado Buffaloes have hired Deion Sanders to be their 28th head football coach. Sanders leaves Jackson State University after leading the Tigers to their second straight SWAC conference title. The Tigers beat the Southern Jaguars on Saturday, 43-24. For weeks, rumors have been circulating that CU leadership has been making changes to current restrictions…