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ILLUSTRATED VOLUME 24, ISSUE 6 35 f come a senior the way you want your guys to become se- niors," quarterback Austin Appleby said. "In past years, he'd be backyard-ing it. He'd just go out there and do his thing. He was maybe not as concerned with doing things the right way. He just wanted the ball in his hands and his God-given ability took over. Now, he's all about perfection. He's pushing everybody. He's all about doing things right. He's meticulous." It showed in workouts, Appleby said, when Hunt never seemed satisfied. If Hunt was running a route tree, he'd always want to do one more, want to be 20-for-20, no mistakes. A drop meant starting over. After the spring was done and the tally was in, Hunt had the fewest amount of missed assignments of anyone on the offense. "The light bulb has gone on for Akeem Hunt that this is his last time to make an impact on this team, to win a championship, to make a name for himself, and you see that in everything he does," Appleby said. "He's going to be a guy who is equally as important as Raheem is. He's definitely as deadly of a weapon as anybody we have on our squad." So, maybe now more than ever, Hunt is truly prepared to share a role. Now, more than ever, he's eager to see how he fits with- in the team, how his talents can be accentuated as part of a bigger machine. One that, more than ever, could push him to achieve his potential: With his best friend as the focal point. "We know each other's ability," Hunt said of he and Mostert. "We know that we can accomplish the same things. It's humbling, too, because we know one of us could be on top and the next thing you know, he'll do better than me and it's humbling to me and then that makes me work harder. Then I'll do better than him, and that'll humble him and then that'll make him work harder. It's just making each other bet- ter." MAKING A MOVE Mostert only has shown glimpses of what he could bring as a full-time play- er over his first three seasons. A dynamic kickoff returner from his arrival, he led the nation in return yard average as a freshman and capped that season with a touchdown return against Western Michigan in the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl. Those returns showcased his speed and gave peeks at his excellent field vision and ability to hit holes. But it may have been his other special teams work that really revealed clues to his talents. On coverage teams, Mostert would often deliver a handful of plays each season in which his physicality showed up, the way he'd slam return men into the ground with force. Yet, Mostert hardly got a chance on offense, stuck at re- ceiver behind better players but also as one who struggled to catch consistently. Coaches also thought he didn't grasp the offense as firmly as he needed to be trusted to get on the field and make the right plays. Now, though, Mostert has had a year as a running back in Shoop's offense, and Hazell said he knows Mostert will continue to put the time in to understand his responsibili- ties and what's required of him. "(After Maymester), he said, 'I've got to get back into the playbook because that's the most important thing to me right now.' Obviously he feels that's something he needs to get better at," Hazell said. "You go through the spring, he didn't have very many mental assignment misses. But (the offense) is simplistic now. He's running inside zone, he's running outside zone, he's running one-back power play,