Colorado two-way star and Colorado State defensive starter Henry Blackburn linked up this week to show there's no bad blood between the two players. A Colorado State spokesperson told ESPN that the two players met and went bowling this week. Rumors of a grudge have circulated ever since Blackburn's illegal hit on Hunter two weeks ago left Hunter with a lacerated liver. The meet-up will be part of an upcoming video on Hunter's YouTube channel. Blackburn's teammate Ron Hardge III, whose brother plays at Colorado, helped connect the two players.
Even with any notion of bad blood quashed, Hunter remains on the sidelines. He missed Colorado's 42-6 loss to Oregon last weekend and is set to miss their upcoming game against #8 USC on Saturday. It's unclear how many more games he will miss. Colorado's first two games of October are a road game against Arizona State and a home game against Stanford.
Colorado Given "Puncher's Chance" Against USC
#8 USC and Heisman candidate Caleb Williams is certainly not the opponent that Colorado would want to face without Hunter. However, they haven't been counted out completely. ESPN's Paul Finnebaum said that the Buffs have a "puncher's chance" against USC. "They are playing one of the better teams in the country, but one that is still suspectable on defense." While other contributors one Get Up, Football weren't as confident in an upset, they were still willing to argue that Colorado has come leaps and bounds from their one-win 2022 campaign.
While the loss to Colorado killed most of the "Colorado National Champions" momentum, most pundits see the Buffs as, at the very least, a bowl team this year. To do that, they will need a minimum of three more wins to finish at least 6-6. Arizona State (1-3) and Stanford (1-3) both seem like good candidates to get them to five wins. However, that's where the gimmes end for Colorado. The rest of their slate is UCLA (3-1), #19 Oregon State (3-1), Arizona (3-1), #16 Washington State (4-0), and #10 Utah (4-0).
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