Sean Bunting reflects on first interception of 2018, hungry for more
Sean Bunting defended Michigan State wide receiver Felton Davis III with outside leverage near the eight-yard line.
Davis was forced outside but eventually leaned back in, and Bunting allowed him to do so.
As quarterback Brian Lewerke released the football into the end zone, Bunting slipped inside Davis and secured the ball for his first interception of the 2018 season on Sept. 29 at Spartan Stadium.
From Nov. 1 to Nov. 24 last season, the 6-foot-1, 181-pound now-junior registered five interceptions over the course of four weeks – including at least one each game from Week 9 to Week 12.
This time around, opposing quarterbacks aren’t throwing toward Bunting as much. When they do, he tries to always be ready.
“If I’m not getting the plays, the other guys are,” Bunting said. “Eventually, they have to come my way because they won’t have it against our other guys.”
Emerging as a star in the secondary for the Central Michigan football team in 2017, Bunting often reminds himself not to get discouraged. He is the first to explain that interception numbers are deceiving for a cornerback.
Even Jacksonville Jaguars player Jalen Ramsey, the NFL’s top shutdown cornerback, has yet to make an interception through four games.
Fourth-year CMU head coach John Bonamego, 55, spent time in the NFL from 1999 to 2014. He worked as a special teams coordinator with five different teams, but Bonamego is well aware of hoodwinking statistics for a defensive back.
“He hasn’t given up many plays at all,” Bonamego said. “He’s not getting a lot of looks, so that’s a compliment to his play.”
Since graduating from Chippewa Valley High School in 2015, Bunting’s maturity has grown on the field. He said he’s thankful to have the opportunity to work with former defensive backs coach Archie Collins for two seasons and now Cory Hall in Mount Pleasant.
Other names Bunting attributes to his success graduated after last season – Amari Coleman, Josh Cox and Darwyn Kelly. Another is junior cornerback Xavier Crawford, who lines up on the opposite side of Bunting for each play on Saturday.
Crawford started all 12 games in 2016 for Oregon State, making 70 tackles, two tackles for a loss, one sack, one interception, one forced fumble and 10 passes defended.
After a season-ending back injury held him to five games in 2017, the 6-foot-1 defensive back graduated early and left for CMU with Hall.
Crawford is happy to be in Mount Pleasant playing under Hall once again, but Bunting was ecstatic when talking about the tactics Crawford has shared with him – on and off the field.
“He’s taught me to stay level-headed and always stay humble,” Bunting said of Crawford. “He’s taught me not to get too high on myself because it’ll all fall down. He said if I want to go to the next level, I have to start acting like it now.”
CMU’s upcoming opponent is yet another tough challenge on the horizon for Bunting and Crawford. The duo will have to lock down a trio of top Mid-American Conference wide receivers – senior Anthony Johnson, junior K.J. Osborn and freshman Charlie Jones.
Quarterback Tyree Jackson has flashed passes to Johnson, Osborn and Jones for a total of 937 yards and 12 touchdowns this season.
Hall isn’t worried – he has Bunting and Crawford.
“They feed off each other,” Hall said. “We are going to do what we do and make sure it’s better (than Buffalo) on every snap.”
