On Saturday, Colorado star Travis Hunter sat down with the "College GameDay" crew to talk about his approach to this season and the rise of the Buffaloes in the Big 12. Hunter, of course, has made waves all year as not only one of the top wide receivers in the nation, but also as one of the top cornerbacks.
Hunter has been so good that he is typically projected to go in the Top 3 of next year's NFL draft. He currently leads the Big 12 in catches (60 and touchdowns (eight) on the offensive side, and in passes defensed (seven) on the defensive side.
But it is no easy task to maintain a high level on both sides of the ball, especially with the time restrictions NCAA teams have on practicing. It would be tempting for Hunter to focus at times on defense or offense, and let up a bit on one or the other, just to save his stamina.
In fact, he said, Colorado coach Deion Sanders (himself a star in both baseball and football) often tries to get Hunter to scale back. But Hunter told legendary (and retired) college coach Nick Saban that he does not believe much in scaling back.
Saban began by telling Hunter that he had players during his tenure as a coach who could have played both ways, but he could not figure out how to get them to practice effectively.
"I could never get them to practice in a way that they could go play in a game," Saban said. "So, how do you prepare every week to play both ways?"
Hunter began by saying, "I try to get at least 10 hours of film, not including what we do after school. So you gotta watch a lot of film and practice, when you practice, it's gotta be full speed, nobody can stop you. Coach Prime tries to stop me every day but I won't let him."
Saban wondered how the mechanics of the practice work.
Hunter said, "(Sanders) does a great job of letting us go 1s vs. 2s. So, if I'm going against the 1s on offense, I am going against the 2s on defense. But I'm putting 100% no matter who's in front of me. And I'm not going to get tired. I just keep going and just be focused."
The notion of going 100% no matter what brought a smile to Saban's face. He delivered his message to Hunter: "That's what great competitors do."
Related: Colorado's Travis Hunter Sends Strong Heisman Message After Big Interception