Shedeur Sanders describes the impact that Travis Hunter's injury had on him

There was plenty of bad blood between Colorado and Colorado State ahead of their rivalry game on Saturday night. From back-and-forth comments between head coaches leading up to the game to a scuffle between both teams before the game, there was no question that emotions were running hot in Boulder.

The line was crossed in the first quarter of the game though, as two-way Colorado star Travis Hunter took a big late hit along the sideline from Rams’ defender Henry Blackburn. The play resulted in Blackburn being ejected and Hunter having to be taken to the hospital, and after the game, Buffaloes’ quarterback Shedeur Sanders spoke about the personal impact the moment had on him.

“When Travis went down, it made me feel some type of way honestly because you look like one of my brothers on the offensive side,” Sanders said. “So it really hurt me a lot knowing the work he put in and everything just leading up to the game, knowing you can always count on him in those moments.”

Sanders got in the face of Blackburn immediately after this hit occurred as Hunter spent quite some time on the ground in pain following the injury.

Hunter re-entered the game later in the first quarter, but was not in shape to finish the contest following a medical evaluation in the locker room that resulted in a trip to the hospital. Head coach Deion Sanders said that Hunter would likely miss multiple weeks as a result of the injury, which is essentially like losing two players fo Colorado as he’s a major contributor on both sides of the ball.

Offensively Hunter has caught 16 passes for 213 yards this season for the Buffaloes, but tight end Michael Harrison stepped up big for Colorado’s offense with a career game to pick up the slack.

“So now we have Mikey step up today, which I’m proud of him for just getting in the windows and understanding. His number was called and he was ready to execute,” Sanders said.

Harrison had seven catches for 76 yards along with the last two clutch, must-have touchdowns for the Buffaloes in both overtime periods, all notching career highs for the redshirt junior.

Colorado didn’t have anyone to pick up the defensive slack following Hunter’s absence, as they gave up 397 yards in the air to Colorado State. But they surely will need to next week, as they face No. 10 Oregon in their first conference game of the season this Saturday.