Kendall Hunter begins quest to restore national image
Published: 8/31/2010 4:51 PM
Last Modified: 9/2/2010 12:19 AM
Tulsa World file
He wasn’t included on the All-Big 12 preseason list. He hasn’t been mentioned much in various magazine and website previews. The Bodog.com site has established odds on 35 Heisman Trophy candidates. Hunter is not among the seven Big 12 players on the list.
His 2009 season was ruined by a foot injury, but now Hunter is back as a senior, looking better than ever and seeming completely comfortable in the new Dana Holgorsen offense.
He may not express it, but you know Hunter is motivated to remind that national media that he is, in fact, an elite figure in college football.
This is what a healthy Hunter did as a sophomore in 2008:
* Voted an All-American by the Football Writers Association of America, Hunter led the Big 12 in rushing with 1,555 yards (the sixth-best single-season total in school history). He won the conference rushing title by an average of more than 30 yards per game.
* Against a No. 1-ranked Texas team, a No. 2-ranked Texas Tech team and a No. 3-ranked Oklahoma team, he rushed for an average of 133 yards. He averaged 6.7 per attempt.
* Hunter was sensational against a Longhorn defense that before facing OSU had allowed only 48 rush yards per game. Watched by a crowd of 98,518 fans in Austin (at the time, the largest crowd ever to see a football game in the state of Texas), Hunter gashed the Longhorns for 161 yards, averaging nearly 9 per carry.
Hunter’s quest to reestablish himself as a national name begins on Saturday, when Washington State visits Boone Pickens Stadium.
-- Bill Haisten
Written by
Bill Haisten
Sports Writer
