Montclair State University Athletics

Cornell Hunt was a dominant force at middle linebacker for the Red Hawk defense for four seasons, helping Montclair to back-to-back ECAC Championship Game appearances, including the 2007 South Atlantic Bowl title. Hunt was a three-time First-Team All-NJAC selection and was voted as the Defensive Player of the Year in 2008. Hunt was an eight-time NJAC Defensive Player of the Week honoree and was selected as the ECAC Southeast Defensive Player of the Week on three occasions. He was twice named to the D3Football East All-Region Team and received All-America honors from the organization in 2008 in addition to being chosen to the Football Gazette All-America Team in 2006. Hunt registered 38 tackles and a pair of sacks in 2005 helping the Red Hawks to the ECAC Southeast Championship before moving to middle linebacker the following year. In his first start at the position, Hunt registered 14 tackles and returned an interception 77 yards as Montclair knocked off Iona College in the season opener. It would be a sign of things to come as Hunt posted five games with 10 or more tackles. He matched that total of 14 against Rowan, however his biggest play came in overtime as his interception sealed a 27-20 come-from-behind win over the No. 7 Profs. Hunt finished with 102 tackles becoming the first player in eight years to hit the century mark for tackles in a season.The following year, Hunt would surpass the 100-tackle mark again finishing with 127 stops en route to earning his second straight NJAC First-Team honor. In 11 games he recorded no fewer than eight tackles leading the NJAC in that category. Big games and big plays would highlight Hunt's outstanding campaign in 2007. Against Springfield College in Week 2, Hunt amassed 20 tackles against the Pride's vaunted triple-option attack, two shy of the single-game record, in a 33-30 upset of the No. 9 team in the nation. A week later at seventh-ranked Wesley, he posted 11 tackles and came up with another game-changing play. With Montclair leading 27-26 in the waning minute, Hunt picked off a pass at the goal line sealing MSU's second consecutive win against a Top 10 opponent. Hunt's career came to a close in 2008 with his third straight 100-plus tackle season. He hit the number on the nose and joined Sam Mills as the only players to record three consecutive 100-tackle seasons. Hunt is one of four players in program history to amass 300 tackles in a career.