As far as experience goes, first-year wide receiver Andy Hunt has about none.
He’s played in only four games so far in his collegiate career. He’s only got five catches for 71 yards and just one touchdown.
Yet Andy actually has more experience catching passes from junior quarterback, and older brother, Matt Hunt, than some of DePauw’s most veteran receivers.
Despite being only two years apart in age, this experience with the Tigers is just the third time the two brothers have played organized football together. After playing a year of youth football together, Matt and Andy united for two seasons at Heritage Christian School in Indianapolis.
Even with the lack of organized experience, Matt and Andy are still pretty familiar with one another’s skill set.
“...we always played together in the neighborhood and in the yard,” Matt said.
As Andy was getting set to make his college choice, Matt had just come off his first full season as the Tigers’ starting quarterback. Despite having the opportunity to be a large factor in his younger brother’s decision, Matt tried to leave it up to Andy and just help out where he could.
“Andy and I are pretty close, but I tried to leave my opinion out when he was deciding on a school,” Matt said. “When he was really struggling with a decision I sent him a long text just weighing the pros and cons of each school and I'd like to think that helped him make a decision, but I didn't want to influence his decision.”
At first, the idea of playing with Matt actually turned Andy off from playing for the Tigers, but eventually, with Matt’s assistance, DePauw eventually became the right choice.
“At first I did not want to go to the same school because I didn't want to follow him but then we just talked about it and he told me to go wherever I felt most comfortable and I felt most comfortable here,” Andy said.
While on the outside it’s easy to think there’s an increased comfort level, there are also some drawbacks to having your older brother as your quarterback.
Andy knows that while Matt will be his biggest fan, he’ll also be the first to call out some mistakes.
“I would say there is comfort in knowing that he will always have my back but at the same time I know that when I mess up he will be harder on me than he is others,” Andy said.
“He's done well,” Matt said. “I'm definitely harder on him because I'm more comfortable saying something to him and I know how to push his buttons.”
That hasn’t kept Matt from getting Andy the ball, however.
While Andy’s five receptions don’t look all that impressive, his brother has done a good job spreading the ball to 14 different wide receivers. Sophomore Jake Hagan and senior Connor Jeffers both lead the team with only 10 receptions each.
“He definitely gives us another weapon at receiver,” Matt said. “He's got great speed and runs good routes, which has added to our repertoire of weapons.”
For both Hunt brothers, the experience so far has been a positive one.
“It's nice having him out there, he does a good job of asking questions when he's confused,” Matt said. “I think it helps him having me because he's not afraid to ask me questions.”
Andy’s been enjoying this as well.
Said Andy: “I (don’t) really think about it much but not many people can say that they caught passes from their older brother in college, so I think that is pretty cool.”