The Colorado Buffaloes will head down to the Rose Bowl to face the No. 23 UCLA Bruins at 7 p.m. ET this evening and Travis Hunter will play in the Pac-12 showdown. The electric two-way player was sidelined for a month earlier in the season with a lacerated liver and made his return against Stanford two weeks ago. The team had its bye last week and he was adamant that he was ready to go to work.
Hunter’s return against Stanford two weeks ago was a mixed bag. He hauled in 13 receptions for 140 yards and two touchdowns on offense and ended up making five tackles on defense. However, it was clear that he was getting fatigued in the second half and the Cardinal took advantage by picking on him.
Wide receiver Elic Ayomanor torched him for 13 receptions, 294 yards, and three touchdowns as Stanford pulled off a huge comeback to win in double overtime. Head coach Deion Sanders drew criticism for the number of snaps Hunter played coming off an injury and it remains to be seen if he’ll be on the field that much for today’s game against UCLA.
Colorado enters the game as a heavy 15-point underdog at DraftKings Sportsbook, with the total set at 61.