Joel Klatt has been Fox Sports’ lead college football color analyst since 2015 and has been calling games for the network since 2009. Over the years, he’s witnessed countless great games and elite player performances.
Recently, Klatt shared his list of the five best performances he’s ever seen during a broadcast. Among them was Travis Hunter’s debut game for Colorado against TCU.
Joel Klatt Ranks Travis Hunter’s Colorado Debut vs. TCU Among His Top Performances
On “The Joel Klatt Show: A College Football Podcast,” Klatt listed the top five player performances he’s ever seen while broadcasting a game. Coming at No. 2 was Hunter’s performance against TCU in his debut game with the Buffaloes in 2023.
Klatt explained that he had asked the Fox Sports programming department to try to take this specific game while networks were divvying up the Big 12. He believed that the storylines around Deion Sanders and Hunter would be a good way for Fox to start the year.
“I basically pounded the table with our programming department to take that game, with a high pick in the Big 12 draft,” Klatt said.
It’s a good thing Klatt picked it, as the game ended up being one of the best ones of the season. Colorado defeated TCU 45-42, scoring a game-winning touchdown with four minutes left.
There were questions about how Colorado would be with Sanders as head coach and how Hunter’s game would translate from the FCS level at Jackson State to the FBS level at Colorado.
Hunter came out and silenced those doubts and blew Klatt away with his performance.
“This guy went out there and was incredible,” Klatt said. “And from that day forward, I knew immediately that this guy was a star, that he was one of if not the best players in college football, and that he was going to have as bright of a future as anyone in the sport.”
Hunter finished the game with 152 snaps, grabbing 11 catches for 119 yards on offense and had a diving interception in the red zone on defense, which Klatt called one of the best he’s ever seen.
Why would you even throw to Travis Hunter’s side? 🛑
After a long TCU run, he stuns the home crowd!— The Transfer Portal CFB (@TPortalCFB) September 2, 2023
Hunter’s game was so impressive that, at halftime, Sanders said that if he hadn’t missed a couple of deep balls from Shedeur Sanders, he would’ve already sealed the Heisman Trophy.
this was coach prime at halftime of the TCU game 16 months ago.
travis hunter is now the 2024 heisman trophy winner. pic.twitter.com/u7EarcAKSl
— Kyron Samuels (@kyronsamuels) December 15, 2024
“He is him. We missed him on two deep balls,” Sanders said. “He gets those two deep balls, the Heisman is in his crib chilling right now.”
Klatt believes that’s the moment where Sanders and Hunter let the world know about the culture in Colorado under Coach Prime’s leadership.
“That line optimized Deion Sanders and his swag, and now what was the swag of the Colorado program?” Klatt said.
It was a fantastic FBS debut from the young superstar who would go on to have an outstanding college football career and win the Heisman in 2024.
