BOISE, Idaho — A handful of Boise State players are excited to play in their home state of Texas Saturday in the Frisco Bowl, including redshirt-sophomore EDGE Gabe Hunter.
For the first time, Hunter's dad will be in Frisco to watch him play college football. Considering the road it took to get here, the matchup with North Texas is going to mean even more for Hunter.
The Pflugerville native has gone from a walk-on Bronco, to one of the rising stars of Boise State's defense.
Hunter has been an underdog, and his work ethic has carried him the whole way.
"Man, it's crazy going from going into the season, I didn't even know if I was going to be on the travel squad," Hunter said.
The 6-3, 235-pound defender had to fight his way onto The Blue. Coming out of Hendrickson High School, Hunter had 14 scholarship offers, but did not receive one from Boise State.
"They said that they didn't have enough scholarships, but they would love to have me walk on," Hunter said.
Hunter had to choose between a guaranteed scholarship somewhere else, or following his heart and trying to earn a scholarship in the City of Trees.
"I talked to my high school coach," Hunter said. "He said, 'if anybody is going to be able to do it, it's going to be you, but you've got to know that it's going to be hard work and it's going to be more than you're bargaining for.'"
The underdog chose to bet on himself.
"I just knew that if I could outwork the guy in front of me, then that's what was going to get me to that next level. That's what was going to get me to that spot," Hunter said.
In Boise State's Mountain West battle against Colorado State, Hunter's hard work started to pay off, as he pulled down a goal-line interception to close out the Broncos' 49-10 win.
"He got an opportunity because of injury and he stepped up and was ready to go," head coach Andy Avalos said. "He has been consistent, and that's the thing. He's intelligent, he understands the game, he cares about getting better at the game."
Mr. consistent himself and the Broncos' leading tackler in 2022, DJ Schramm, echoed Avalos' comments on Hunter's rise through the Boise State ranks.
"Gabe's done an awesome job of stepping up for us, especially down the stretch," Schramm said. "I'm super proud of him and how he's showed up every day and gone to work and performed for this brotherhood."
Hunter has played in nine games this season, recording 12 tackles and two interceptions, including a second game-sealing pick in the Broncos' senior day win over Utah State. He has not only proven his playmaking ability, but also his dogged work ethic.
"Since he got here, he just kept working his tail off," defensive coordinator Spencer Danielson said. "He didn't know if it was going to be this year where his number was going to be called upon. We didn't know that we were going to need him to make two big interceptions at the end of games and the different plays that he has made, but he did."
This week, Hunter credited his debut-season success to that dogged work ethic, and his mentality as the "underdog."
"I just feel like it's just that mentality. There's got to be a dog, I gotta show some grit," Hunter said. "I just have always been an underdog. I feel like I've always tried to bet for myself and try to outwork people because I feel like that's the only way that I can survive."
Boise State looks to send its seniors and Dirk Koetter off with a win Saturday against North Texas in the Frisco Bowl at 7:15 p.m. MT. Bronco Nation can use KTVB's Game Tracker and live blog for the score, updates and highlights.
Watch more on Boise State Football:
See all of our Boise State football coverage in our YouTube playlist: