SAN FRANCISCO – WR/CB Travis Hunter was named to the All-Pac-12 team twice, including first team honors at cornerback, and was one of five Colorado Buffaloes to earn honors from the league’s coaches, it was announced Tuesday.
Hunter also earned second-team honors at the all-purpose/special teams’ position. Since Colorado joined the Pac-12, Hunter is just the eighth player to earn first- or second-team honors at multiple positions, joining Marquise Lee (USC, 2012), Ty Montgomery (Stanford, 2013), Shaq Thompson (Washington, 2014), Adoree Jackson (USC, 2016), Michael Pittman (USC, 2019), Thomas Booker (Stanford, 2020) and Paiyan Henley (Washington State, 2022).
Alongside Hunter, QB Shedeur Sanders, S Shilo Sanders and P Mark Vassett were all named All-Pac-12 Honorable mention and RB Dylan Edwards was named honorable mention as the Freshman of the Year.
Hunter played both ways for the Buffaloes in 2023 and played in nine games, finishing with over 1,000 snaps from scrimmage, catching 57 passes for 721 yards and five touchdowns on offense and coming up with 30 tackles, three interceptions and five pass breakups on defense. He is the first player in at least the last 25 years of FBS college football to catch 50 passes and come up with three or more interceptions.
Shedeur Sanders finished his season completing 298-of-430 passes for 3,230 yards with 27 touchdowns and just three interceptions. He led the nation in completions per game and set a CU record for most passing yards in a season and was just one touchdown away from the school record despite missing the final game-and-a-half due to injury.
Shilo Sanders led the Buffaloes in tackles with 70 on the season and added one interception, which he returned 80 yards for a touchdown against Colorado State, three pass breakups and a Pac-12-leading four forced fumbles, a number that ranked third nationally as just two players had five on the season in all of FBS.
Vassett put together one of the more impressive punting seasons in CU history, averaging 44.37 yards per punt with a long of 60 and 16 punts of 50-plus yards. He had 22 punts inside the 20 and just three touchbacks, more impressive given the fact he set new school records with 11 punts inside the 10 and six inside the five.
Edwards showed flashes of brilliance as one of the fastest players in the nation. He finished the season with 321 rushing and 299 receiving yards, becoming the first true freshman in school history with 250-plus yards both rushing and receiving. He was named the national freshman of the week after a brilliant season opener when he ran six times for 24 yards and a touchdown and caught five passes for 135 yards and three touchdowns, setting CU records for receiving yards and touchdowns by a running back. For his efforts, he was named the Doak Walker National Running Back of the Week and the On3, 247 Sports and Shaun Alexander National Freshman of the Week.
Two other publications released All-Pac-12 teams recently, the Bay Area News Group and College Football Network. Bay Area News Group listed Hunter at first-team defensive back and Shilo Sanders at second-team defensive back.
College Football Network honored 10 Buffs, as Hunter earned first team defensive back and second team flex, Shilo Sanders earned second-team, Vassett third team and Shedeur Sanders honorable mention.
The other six players honored by CFN were LaVonta Bentley (second team), Michael Harrison (honorable mention), Leonard Payne Jr. (honorable mention), Cam’Ron Silmon-Craig (second team), Xavier Weaver (honorable mention) and Trevor Woods (honorable mention).
***
Story by Curtis Snyder, Associate AD/Athletic Communications, from CUBuffs.com. Content courtesy of the University of Colorado at Boulder.