{"id":405895,"date":"2026-09-21T03:54:10","date_gmt":"2026-09-21T03:54:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/405895\/"},"modified":"2026-09-21T03:54:10","modified_gmt":"2026-09-21T03:54:10","slug":"cu-buffs-travis-hunter-on-wacky-call-that-clinched-broncos-rally-its-football","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/405895\/","title":{"rendered":"CU Buffs’ Travis Hunter on wacky call that clinched Broncos rally: ‘It’s football’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Travis Hunter<\/a> made a 2-way impact on the Broncos home opener, all right. But it wasn\u2019t the way he \u2014 or anybody else \u2014 would\u2019ve drawn it up beforehand.<\/p>\n

\u201c(It\u2019s) all right,\u201d the former Buffs icon, who became CU\u2019s second Heisman Trophy winner in 2024, shrugged as he met reporters at Empower Field at Mile High after his Jacksonville Jaguars fell to the Broncos, 20-13.<\/a> \u00a0\u201cIt\u2019s football.\u201d<\/p>\n

With 7:30 left in a 13-13 tie, Hunter, a second-year cornerback and sometimes wide receiver, was flagged for pass interference for engaging Broncos wideout Courtland Sutton up the right boundary. At the end of the sequence, players and coaches from both sides had their arms raised in protest.<\/p>\n

The devil was in the details. Replays showed Hunter\u2019s left hand holding Sutton\u2019s right shoulder pad while the former Buffs star\u2019s right hand clutched the Broncos wide receiver\u2019s hip. Hunter broke his grip on Sutton at the last second when he saw the receiver reaching out with one hand for the ball. But Hunter never turned his head or made a play for the rock, appearing to either be looking at Sutton or at the end zone in front of them.<\/p>\n

Coach Liam Coen went ballistic, and a Broncos rally \u2014 the hosts trailed 10-3 at the break\u2013 picked up speed.<\/p>\n

Not only did Hunter\u2019s P.I. call stand, but the zebras tacked on an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on Coen for flapping his gums. Officials gave the Broncos a new set of downs at the Jaguars\u2019 3-yard line.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not going to comment on (the Hunter call). I thought he played it decent \u2026\u201d Coen said later. \u201cI just said one thing and got flagged. It is what it is.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s 1-1 for the Broncos. It\u2019s momentum. And it\u2019s a ship sailing in the right direction again. For one week, at the very least.<\/p>\n

After the 1-2 penalty punch moved the ball from the Jags\u2019 28 to the Jacksonville 3, Jonah Coleman bulldozed his way into the end zone for his first NFL touchdown on the next play. The hosts took a 19-13 lead with 7:21 left in the contest and more or less salted Win No. 1 on the season after that.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the end of the day, the refs (are going to) call what they call,\u201d Hunter said. \u201cI\u2019ve just got to continue to work better. If I put myself in the best position, then I don\u2019t have to worry about the refs.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"DENVEREvan Engram (1) of the Denver Broncos makes a catch as Travis Hunter (12) of the Jacksonville Jaguars defends during the fourth quarter of the Broncos\u2019 20-13 win at Empower Field at Mile High in Denver, Colorado on Sunday, Sept. 20, 2026. (Photo by AAron Ontiveroz\/The Denver Post)<\/p>\n

Hunter, whose No. 12 was retired at Folsom Field in the spring of 2025, was magnanimous when asked about the controversial call. He was effusive, though, when asked about Coen coming to his defense.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, it means a lot,\u201d Hunter reflected. \u201cYou\u2019ve seen the same thing that I\u2019ve seen. So I was just happy. But we don\u2019t need that penalty, either \u2014 we don\u2019t need to attack on (anything). But, yeah, I was happy to see him be able to have my back.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou ever have a coach run out and get a second flag for you?\u201d a reporter asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, yeah,\u201d Hunter replied with a smile. \u201cI\u2019ve had my coaches do that for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWould Coach Prime do that for you?\u201d someone asked, evoking CU\u2019s Deion Sanders.<\/p>\n

Another smile.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe definitely does,\u201d Hunter said.<\/p>\n

No. 12\u2019s day started with a lot more promise. About two minutes into the contest, on the Broncos\u2019 opening drive, he read Denver QB Bo Nix almost perfectly. The former Buff played off the shoulder of Broncos wideout Pat Bryant as the latter ran an out route that cut hard at the 30-yard line, baiting Nix into thinking he had a window for a short gain.<\/p>\n

Then Hunter pounced, as he so often did in Boulder, closing quickly on Bryant and diving at full stretch to extend his arms and tip the pass away just as the Broncos receiver was in the process of closing two hands together to grip the rock.<\/p>\n

The Buffs\u2019 former two-way star finished with a pass deflection and four tackles on the day, including a shoulder-to-shoulder collision with Coleman near the sideline.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe fans, even though they\u2019re Denver fans, they still showed love to me,\u201d Hunter said. \u201cSo that was a good thing, to be able to come back here and play in front of people I played in front of in college \u2026 it\u2019s still home. I don\u2019t have a house here, but it\u2019s still home to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hunter even ran into some old friends before the tilt. Most notably, Broncos defensive backs coach Robert Livingston, who was his defensive coordinator at CU during Hunter\u2019s Heisman campaign.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe called me pregame and we chatted it up a little bit,\u201d Hunter recalled. \u201cWe were just (asking) how each other\u2019s family was doing and checking up on each other.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hunter was recovering from season-ending surgery on his right knee last Nov. 11, so he didn\u2019t play in the Broncos\u2019 34-20 loss to the Jags here last December.<\/a><\/p>\n

As for this Buffs, who suffered a shocking 41-7 beatdown to Northwestern in Evanston on Saturday night \u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t watch it,\u201d Hunter said.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou didn\u2019t miss much,\u201d a reporter quipped.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh, no. I ain\u2019t got (anything) to say about (CU),\u201d Hunter said when asked about the Buffs\u2019 trip to Baylor Saturday. \u201cHope they win, though.\u201d<\/p>\n

.Want more Broncos news? Sign up for the Broncos Insider to get all our NFL analysis.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Travis Hunter made a 2-way impact on the Broncos home opener, all right. But it wasn\u2019t the way…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":405896,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[161214,116,118,117,161213],"class_list":["post-405895","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-jacksonville","tag-all-right-but-it-wasnt-the-way-he-or-anybody-else-wouldve-drawn-it-up-beforehand","tag-jacksonville","tag-jacksonville-headlines","tag-jacksonville-news","tag-travis-hunter-made-a-2-way-impact-on-the-broncos-home-opener"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/405895","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=405895"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/405895\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/405896"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=405895"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=405895"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=405895"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}