close
close

first Drop

Com TW NOw News 2024

news

The Colorado star had an apparent shoulder injury

Colorado and Kansas State played one of the most exciting games of the 2024 college football season late Saturday night, with the teams combining for three touchdowns in the final seven minutes in a back-and-forth 31-28 win for the No. 19 Wildcats. at Folsom Field in Boulder, Colorado.

The matchup was as notable for who wasn’t on the court as who was.

REQUIRED READING: Colorado can’t pull off another miracle after losing Travis Hunter and other stars to injury

Although they mounted a 10-point comeback in the fourth quarter and nearly won without him, coach Deion Sanders and the Buffaloes played without Travis Hunter for much of the night.

The two-way sensation from Colorado, one of the frontrunners for the Heisman Trophy entering Week 7, left the game in the second quarter with an apparent shoulder injury.

The junior wide receiver and defensive back was one of the key contributors the Buffaloes lost at one point in their loss to Kansas State. The team’s top two remaining receivers, Jimmy Horn Jr. and Omarion Miller, also left the game with injuries in the second and fourth quarters, respectively.

Despite the lack of healthy, available targets, Colorado star quarterback Shedeur Sanders still managed to complete 34 of his 40 passes for 388 yards, three touchdowns and an interception. After the game, as exciting as it was, much of the attention remained on Hunter, one of the nation’s most compelling players whose stellar 2024 season hit a bump in the road.

Here’s a closer look at Hunter’s injury and how his playing status is developing:

REQUIRED READING: What Deion Sanders said after Colorado Football’s loss to Kansas State

Travis Hunter injury update

The play that ultimately knocked Hunter out of the rest of the game came with about eight minutes left in the second quarter, when he hauled in a 14-yard pass from Shedeur Sanders and absorbed a hit from Kansas State safety Daniel Cobbs.

Shortly afterwards, Hunter left the match. He was looked at by a team trainer and taken back to the locker room for evaluation. He returned to the sideline in his full uniform early in the third quarter, but did not re-enter the game.

Prior to his injury, Hunter had three catches for 26 yards on offense and a tackle on defense. When asked after the game about the status of Hunter, Horn and Miller, Deion Sanders had no new information.

“I haven’t gotten an update yet on those specific young men,” he said. “Hopefully they can get back at it. But we’re not going to rush them. Their safety and their health are much more important than this game.”

The player who replaced Hunter at cornerback, Auburn transfer Colton Hood, intercepted a tipped pass from Kansas State’s Avery Johnson and returned it 59 yards to the Wildcats’ 17. Two plays later, the Buffaloes scored a go-ahead touchdown with 3:12 remaining in regulation.

Hunter has shouldered a huge burden for Colorado and was one of the main reasons the Buffaloes started 4-1 this season, Sanders’ second at the helm.

Midway through Colorado’s regular season, Hunter has 49 catches for 587 yards and six touchdowns, the first two of which are team-highs, as well as 16 tackles, three pass breakups, two interceptions and a forced fumble.

Given his importance to the team both offensively and defensively, Hunter has played the vast majority of the Buffaloes’ total snaps this season. Prior to his injury on Saturday, he was on the field for 44 of the game’s 45 offensive and defensive plays.

“The loss of Jimmy (Horn Jr.), Travis (Hunter) and others was certainly great because they are an essential part of our team, an essential part of our identity, an essential part of who we are,” Deion Sanders said after the match. match Saturday evening. “That took a lot out of us, but other guys had the opportunity to step up and they did. I’m proud of them.”

That extraordinary performance has raised questions about its durability and whether it can handle such a huge workload.

Colorado returns next Saturday with a game at Arizona before returning home for an Oct. 26 matchup with Cincinnati. With two more wins, the Buffaloes are eligible for just their third bowl since 2008.