Hunter Renfrow turns back clock with defensive stop

INGLEWOOD, Calif. — While Hunter Renfrow played a bit of defensive back in high school, his most action in the secondary came in the many backyard football games he participated in back in South Carolina.

He put every bit of that experience to use on one of the most impressive plays any Raider made in Monday night’s ugly 28-14 loss to the Chargers at SoFi Stadium.

Renfrow found himself lined up back at his own 10-yard line in anticipation of a Chargers’ punt when he noticed gunner Tevaughn Campbell lined up all by himself on the left side of the Chargers’ punt formation.

It turns out a miscommunication led to just 10 players being on the field for the Raiders on the play. Chargers’ punter Ty Long tried to take advantage by taking the snap and throwing a pass to Campbell down the left sideline.

Renfrow wasn’t having it.

He came flying up the field to make a hit and break up the pass to give possession back to the Raiders when the game was still close in the first quarter.

According to ESPN Stats and Info, Renfrow was 18.95 yards away from Campbell when the ball was released and he reached a speed of 17.04 mph before making contact and separating Campbell from the ball.

“We didn’t have a guy out there and I was kind of in between,” Renfrow said. “I didn’t know if I should play the return or go play the receiver. Luckily, (Long) took some time to throw the ball and I was able to go make a play. It was a big stop for us, I guess.”

Long’s pass was the first attempt by a punter when needing 12 or more yards in the NFL since 2017.

That play was unexpected. Renfrow and quarterback Derek Carr connecting for a touchdown on a third-down play was not.

On Monday, Renfrow again ran the route he used to burn Miami for a touchdown last week.

The former Clemson star ran an out-breaking route before faking a spin and shimmying and then changing direction back to a slant.

He again was wide open and caught a perfect throw from Carr for his second touchdown of the season on the creative route.

Renfrow said it was something coach Jon Gruden came up with that was perfected on the practice field.

“It’s kind of off some other things we do,” Renfrow said. “We worked on it. It works in practice, so we put it in the game. Now it’s worked twice. Hopefully it can be a good play for us coming down the stretch.”

Renfrow finished with a team-high six catches for 45 yards in Monday’s loss, which dropped the Raiders to 3-1. He now has at least five receptions in every game this season.

It wasn’t all great for Renfrow, however. He dropped a pass on his first target of the game on the Raiders’ first third-down try.

He also took the blame for a pivotal sack that forced the Raiders into a longer field goal try in the fourth quarter that was ultimately missed by Daniel Carlson.

“That was my fault,” he said of the sack. “It was a little choice route that I have to hook up and I think I broke in. That one’s on me. Derek tried to hang in there as long as he could to find me, but I have to do a better job of hooking up. That really killed the momentum.”

Still, the Raiders will probably keep him as a receiver.

Contact Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AdamHillLVRJ on Twitter.