SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Among the upshots of Clemson cornerback MacKensie Alexander’s smothering of Will Fuller on Saturday was Torii Hunter Jr. catching a career-high five passes, the last of which set up Notre Dame’s ultimately-failed game-tying two point conversion attempt with seven seconds left.
Hunter left Death Valley with five catches for 52 yards with a touchdown, which proved a point his coach made during Fuller’s gargantuan month of September.
“I think he's as good as any receiver we've got,” Brian Kelly said a few days before Notre Dame blew out UMass. “It's hard to get him in the game."
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Hunter has the versatility to play all three receiver positions, but has to share time at every one. His primary position is in the slot, where he splits time with graduate student Amir Carlisle. If he moves to the field side, it’s usually because Fuller moved inside in a certain formation. He’s played on the boundary, too, where senior Chris Brown has asserted himself ahead of struggling junior Corey Robinson.
But with opposing defenses rolling coverages toward Fuller — expect Navy to do the same on Saturday — it opens up the rest of the field for Notre Dame’s other receivers. Brown had 84 yards on four catches against Clemson, while Carlisle chipped in with three catches for 34 yards. Fuller barely registered an impact, only reeling in two passes for 37 yards.
The change in how opposing secondaries play Fuller hasn’t altered the mentality of Hunter or his fellow pass-catchers, though.
“We don’t necessarily talk about that,” Hunter said. “We just go out there and run our routes and if the ball’s thrown in our direction, we’ll catch it.”
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Still, opposing defenses are going to scheme to not get beat by Fuller, who despite his down game at Clemson is fifth among FBS receivers in touchdowns (six) and 18th in average yards per game (98.2). Mike London’s Virginia Cavaliers saw what happens when there isn’t safety help over the top against Fuller, whose 39-yard touchdown in the dying embers of that Week 2 game earned Notre Dame a season-saving victory.
That means Hunter can expect more games like his at Clemson, with plenty of targets coming his way as he continues to carve out his own reputation that isn’t based on his All-Star, Gold Glove-winning father, who just finished up his 19th season as a Major League Baseball player.
“As a kid, I felt like I had to live up to the name and all that stuff, but now, it’s kind of my own name,” Hunter said. “I’m trying to make my own path as Torii Hunter Jr., not so much as Torii Hunter’s son.”