Elic Ayomanor has a strong case for college football’s catch of the year.
Beyond that, for the performance of the year, too.
The Stanford receiver hauled in an absurd catch over Colorado star cornerback/wide receiver Travis Hunter for a 30-yard touchdown during the Cardinal’s historic 46-43 double-overtime comeback victory over Colorado on Friday night.
Ayomanor leaped over Hunter, who was draped all over him, and pinned the ball on Hunter’s helmet before snatching it away in the end zone.
It helped Stanford tie the game 43-43 in the first overtime.
Ayomanor dominated Hunter throughout the game, with 13 catches for a school-record 294 yards and three touchdowns.
Trailing 29-0 at halftime, Ayomanor nearly single-handedly carried Stanford’s comeback.
He ripped off two big catch-and-run touchdowns, one for 97 yards and the other for 60, on consecutive possessions in the third quarter, bringing Stanford within punching distance.
“Just knowing that as a team you all persevered until the end and kept fighting is a lot more satisfying than silencing the opposing team’s crowd,” Ayomanor said.
Ayomanor did take a moment after the game pretending to flex a watch to the Colorado crowd, mimicking Buffalos quarterback Shadeur Sanders‘ celebration that he directed at opposing fans earlier this season.
Stanford’s 29-point comeback marked the largest blown lead in Colorado history.
Ayomanor entered Friday night’s clash with modest stats, just 207 receiving yards before his eruption.
“I talked to them about the old cliche people say — it’s 0-0 but that’s not true. It’s not 0-0, it’s 29-nothing,” Colorado head coach Deion Sanders said after the game. “I felt complacency going into the half because we stalled offensively, gave up some yardage as well. Just didn’t like how I felt going in at halftime. We come back out and here comes complacency.
“Here comes that team that I can’t stand, that you can’t stand it. You can’t understand how in the world that happens to us. But it did.”