Colorado's Travis Hunter Left Fans, Sports Stars in Awe With Jaw-Dropping TD Catch

This was incredible.
Aug 29, 2024; Boulder, Colorado, USA; Colorado Buffaloes wide receiver Travis Hunter (12) pulls in a touchdown reception past North Dakota State Bison cornerback Jailen Duffie (17) in the second half at Folsom Field. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports
Aug 29, 2024; Boulder, Colorado, USA; Colorado Buffaloes wide receiver Travis Hunter (12) pulls in a touchdown reception past North Dakota State Bison cornerback Jailen Duffie (17) in the second half at Folsom Field. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports / Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports

The Colorado Buffaloes, powered by three touchdown passes from quarterback Shedeur Sanders and a trio of touchdown receptions by two-way star Travis Hunter, opened the 2024 season with a 31-26 victory over North Dakota State at Folsom Field on Thursday night.

Sanders and Hunter, as they often did during the 2023 season, made several impressive plays but one particular play from Hunter stood out.

Leading 24-20 with just under eight minutes to go in the fourth quarter, the Buffaloes had a third-and-goal inside the five when Sanders fired a pass to Hunter, who somehow got his hands in position to make the catch with a North Dakota State defender draped all over him.

The touchdown reception gave the Buffaloes some much-needed breathing room. It also left pretty much everyone, from star athletes like Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James to sports pundits like former ESPN analyst Robert Griffin III to college football fans on X, formerly known as Twitter, in awe of Hunter.

ESPN NFL analyst and Super Bowl champion Ryan Clark declared Hunter the best player in college football, a sentiment many fans and pundits seemed to agree with.

Hunter, who caught seven passes for 132 yards and three scores at receiver while also playing over 40 snaps at cornerback, is already regarded as one of the top picks in the 2025 NFL draft.

If he keeps up this level of play on both sides of the ball, Hunter could indeed be taking home some hardware at the end of the college football season.


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Tim Capurso

TIM CAPURSO

Tim Capurso is a staff writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. Prior to joining SI in November 2023, he wrote for RotoBaller and ClutchPoints, where he was the lead editor for MLB, college football and NFL coverage. A lifelong Yankees and Giants fan, Capurso grew up just outside New York City and now lives near Philadelphia. When he's not writing, he enjoys reading, exercising and spending time with his family, including his three-legged cat Willow, who, unfortunately, is an Eagles fan.