On Saturday, ESPN’s College GameDay took place at State College ahead of the Penn State vs. Ohio State game. The Colorado Buffaloes are on a bye week and Travis Hunter made the trip east to visit with the College GameDay crew during Saturday’s broadcast. The Buffaloes are 6-2 on the season and 4-1 in Big 12 play.
Here’s the entire Q&A between the College GameDay crew and Travis Hunter.
What’s the importance to you of finishing up strong and having a chance to win the Heisman Trophy?
“Just having my teammates there means a lot, cause I can’t get the Heisman without my teammates. They need to do their job and I need to do my job. Keep grinding and heading in the right direction.”
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You’re playing 135-140 plays per game. How are you feeling at this moment? And I know you went bass fishing yesterday. How are the fish?
“First the fish, it’s cold now. The fish are in a bind, they don’t know what they want to do. They don’t want to bite anything I throw at them. But later in the day yesterday at sunset, I was able to catch a lot. As for my body, my body is doing well. I’ve been doing nothing but training and recovery, the whole time this year. I’ve been so locked in I’ve had no time to fish, yesterday was my first time in four or five months.”
You got some hot [Jordan’s] on now, did you still those [from Coach Prime].
“Nah, I can’t still those from him. He’s a Nike guy. So I can’t get those Jordans off of him. But when I go to his house I steal whatever I can.”
Explain what [Coach Prime] means to you on and off the field.
“He’s like a father figure to me. I went to his house yesterday. Whatever I wanted, he was able to let me get it. I took it, even if he didn’t want me to take it. We have a father-son bond. I know when I need something I can go and ask him. Pretty sure I will get it 100% of the time.”
How do you prepare every week to play both ways?
“I try to get 10 hours of film, not including what we do at the school. So you’ve got to watch a lot of film, practice when you practice, you’ve got to be full speed, nobody can stop you. Coach Prime tries to stop me every day in practice, but I won’t let him… he does a great job of letting us do 1’s vs. 2’s, so if I’m going with the 1’s on offense, I’m playing against the 2’s on defense, but I’m going 100%. No matter who is in front of me. And I’m not going to get tired. And I just keep going and be focused.”
Which do you like better (Receiver or cornerback)?
“A lot of people try to put me in a box to pick a position, but I’ve been doing this my whole life. I’ve been doing this since I’ve been playing little league football, so it’s what I know to play both ways. It’s not up to me… I feel natural with both. Ever since I started having a trainer, I’ve trained each side of the ball. It’s been simple and easy for me. I think, whatever the NFL needs me, whichever team needs me, I’m just there to play ball.”
What is it like at Colorado right now? Everything is still very much in front of you with the College Football Playoff.
“We just got to go out there and play ball. We know our fans are going to back us up whenever we need them to back us up. But as a team, we know we’ve just got to go out there and finish at a high level, and play good ball down the stretch.”
What’s your favorite music in the locker room?
“I pretty much don’t listen to music a lot. The only time I listen to music is gamedays because when I’m try to work out the fans are always yelling at me.”
