For the third time this season, Travis Hunter of Colorado has been named the player of the week by the Colorado Chapter of the National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame.
Hunter, honored on September 14 and September 21 as the chapter’s top player, captured the voting over Kobe Johnson of Colorado State and Braeden Hogan of Western Colorado.
Hunter is the 12th player to win three or more NFFCC honors and the second to win a trio of citations in one season. Colorado State’s Kapri Bibbs accomplished the feat in 2013 (October 21, November 11, and November 18). Hunter is the 32nd Buff to receive the honor. The Buffs now have 47 recipients of the Colorado Chapter POW award since the start of the program in 2003.
Considered a top Heisman Trophy candidate, Hunter was also honored this week by the Big XII Conference and the Paul Hornung Award Honor Roll.
Previous winners this season of the NFF CC POW honors were quarterback Devin Larsen (games played August 29 & 31) and wide receiver Reggie Retzlaff (September 5 & 7) of Colorado State Pueblo, Colorado Mines wide receiver Schiele (September 28), Colorado Mesa linebacker Colin Stuhr (October 8), Colorado State quarterback Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi (October 15) and Colorado Mines quarterback Evan Foster (October 22).
Hunter and Robert Felberg of Colorado Mesa are the only two “slash” players to win the honor. Felberg was a quarterback/wide receiver recipient for the Mavericks in a 2010 game against Western Colorado. Hunter is the first to play on both offense and defense.
The POW program for the Colorado Chapter of the NFF & CHOF was started in 2003. Following the player facts and figures, there is information on the NFFCC POWs by school, division, and position.
Colorado (W, 34-23 vs. Cincinnati)
Travis Hunter, Colorado, junior wide receiver/cornerback, 6-1, 185, Suwanee, Ga. (Collins Hill High/Jackson State)
INDIVIDUAL STATS: 153 yards on nine receptions. Two tackles and four pass breakups were targeted six times by Cincy, and they gave up two receptions for nine yards. Plated 129-of-132 snaps, played all 61 defensive snaps, and played 97.7 percent of snaps.
INDIVIDUAL NOTES: Travis Hunter set career highs for receiving yards (153) and pass breakups (4). He played in 132 snaps, 68-of-71 on offense and all 61 on defense, with three on special teams. His 129-of-132 snaps from scrimmage is 97.7 percent of snaps. He finished with nine receptions on nine targets for 153 yards and two touchdowns. Defensively, he had four pass breakups and two tackles. He was the primary target six times by Cincinnati, and he gave up two receptions for 9 yards while having four pass breakups and had an NFL passer rating allowed of 42.4. He now has 60 receptions for 757 yards and eight touchdowns this season, ranking in the top 10 nationally for receptions, yards, and touchdowns. He is the fourth-ranked receiver on PFF with an 86.1 grade among Power 4 receivers with at least 100 snaps. In his CU career, he has 137 receptions for 1,478 yards and 13 touchdowns, already in the top 20 for receiving yards (16th), receptions (14th), and touchdowns (11th) in CU history. Defensively on the season, he has seven pass breakups, two interceptions, a forced fumble, and 21 tackles. Per PFF, he has a passer rating allowed of 42.4, and his coverage grade of 88.1 is the third-best in the Power 4. He is the only cornerback in the P4 with over 100 snaps in press coverage and grading out over 80 percent.
Colorado State (W, 17-6 vs. New Mexico)
Kobe Johnson, Colorado State, a graduate student running back/return specialist 5-9, 190, Lawrenceville, Ga. (Discovery High, South Dakota State)
INDIVIDUAL STATS: 1 punt return, 82 yards, one TD, one kickoff return, 20 yards
INDIVIDUAL NOTES: Returned a punt for 82 yards to the house, giving Colorado State a 14-3 lead in the second quarter. Return TD is the longest in Canvas Stadium history and the eighth in program history. He totaled 102 return yards.
rds (1 punt return for 82 yards, one kickoff return for 20 yards).
Western Colorado (W, 38-28 at #10 Colorado School of Mines)
Braeden Hogan, Western Colorado, senior running back, 5-11, 200, Morrison, Colo. (Columbine)
INDIVIDUAL STATS: 148 yards on 19 carries, 2 TDS (53, 21)
INDIVIDUAL NOTES: Hogan went for a career-high 148 yards in hostile territory, doing a lot of the heavy lifting and leading all ball carriers in Western’s 10-point victory at No. 10 Colorado School of Mines. His 53-yard second-quarter run put the Mountaineers up 14-0, and his 21-yard touchdown run late in the fourth quarter was Western’s final score in the win by No. 8 Western.
