Hunter, Shedeur end ‘great’ run at CU despite loss
On the scoreboard, Travis Hunter and Shedeur Sanders went out with a whimper at Colorado.
But their lasting impact in Boulder — on the field and off — was probably immeasurable.
With two dynamic stars playing their final college game, the 23rd-ranked Buffaloes were blown out 36-14 by No. 17 BYU in the Valero Alamo Bowl on Saturday night.
Hunter, the Heisman Trophy winner and two-way sensation, caught four passes for a game-high 106 yards and a touchdown. His 43-yard scoring grab from Sanders cut Colorado’s deficit to 27-7 with 6:14 left in the third quarter. The lockdown cornerback also made four solo tackles.
Sanders was 16-of-23 passing for 208 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions.
Both players are expected to be picked high in the NFL draft next spring.
“It felt great representing Colorado and bringing it back to where it was in the past,” Sanders said. “And obviously, we laid the foundation of the program, so now it’s stable for the other players that are coming in to take off and pick up where we left off at.”
Nothing has been the same at Colorado since the school hired Deion Sanders as coach in December 2022 — and that was the idea.
Along with the hype and hoopla surrounding the arrival of Coach Prime from Jackson State, the former NFL superstar brought a talented group of transfers to the Rocky Mountains — most notably his quarterback son and Hunter. Together, they helped transform the Buffaloes (9-4) from a national afterthought to one of college football’s greatest shows and hottest tickets.
While Hunter and Shedeur Sanders didn’t have the send-off they were hoping for Saturday night, the Buffaloes are still excited about a bright future.
“I don’t look forward to it, but I do because that means they are going to another level, another chapter of life, and they’re going to soar,” Deion Sanders said. “I’m thankful that I feel we’ve equipped them with all the tools necessary to be successful.”
Hunter and Shedeur Sanders are expected to be among the first five selections in the 2025 NFL draft. Some are projecting that Colorado’s star duo could join Penn State defensive end Courtney Brown and linebacker LaVar Arrington in 2000 as the only college teammates chosen with the top two picks.
Colorado is 13-12 under Deion Sanders, but the Buffaloes made their first bowl appearance since 2020, and fan interest is the highest it has been in decades.
All home games were sold out the past two seasons, a first in the program’s 134-year history. The team also averaged 4 million viewers on national broadcasts during that stretch.
Colorado games attracted celebrities such as Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, NBA stars Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, Chauncey Billups and Kyle Lowry, and rappers Offset, Master P and Key Glock.
Coach Prime made the program cool, but the entertaining play of Hunter and Shedeur Sanders provided a reason to watch.
During the 2024 regular season, Hunter had 92 catches for 1,152 yards and 14 touchdowns, plus a rushing score. On defense, he had four interceptions, made 32 tackles, broke up 11 passes and forced a critical fumble that secured an overtime victory against Baylor.
The Associated Press Player of the Year joined late running back Rashaan Salaam (1994) as the only Heisman Trophy winners in Colorado history and decided to skip his senior season at Colorado to enter the NFL draft.
Shedeur Sanders, a senior, completed 635 of 884 passes (71.8%) for 7,156 yards and 62 touchdowns in two regular seasons with the Buffaloes.
“All the OB’s, original Buffs, how thankful and appreciative they were that they got an opportunity to come participate in a week of bowl festivities,” Deion Sanders said after the game when asked what he has learned during his time with his departing players. “So, patience and forgiveness and just overall love, man.”
The turnaround they spearheaded was exactly what Colorado athletic director Rick George had in mind when he hired Deion Sanders.
“I’m thankful that Rick gave me the opportunity,” Deion Sanders said. “We wouldn’t have had the Heisman Trophy winner, a guy that [could be] the first or second pick of the whole draft. Several other guys are definitely going to get drafted. It wouldn’t have happened if I wouldn’t have accepted that calling. So I’m thankful with the opportunity afforded to me. I’m thankful to be here, period.”
And while Hunter and Shedeur Sanders are moving on, their impact on the program’s future is already evident.
Quarterback prospect Julian “JuJu” Lewis, rated the No. 2 overall recruit by ESPN for the class of 2025, enrolled early at Colorado and worked with Shedeur Sanders and Hunter during practices for the Alamo Bowl. Lewis completed 267 of 353 passes for 3,798 yards and 48 touchdowns in leading Carrollton (Ga.) High School to the state final.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
OTTAWA, Ontario — Danny Nelson scored the eventual game-winner in the third period and Trey Augustine made 38 saves, leading the United States to a 4-1 win over Canada on Tuesday night and into the top spot in Group A at the world junior hockey championship.
Cole Hutson and Cole Eiserman each had a goal and an assist for the Americans. Ryan Leonard scored into an empty-net.
Bradly Nadeau scored for Canada, which allowed three goals on seven American power plays. Carter George stopped 24 shots.
Canada finished third in the pool and will face Czechia in Thursday’s quarterfinals. The Americans face Switzerland.
“We’re not here to beat Canada tonight,” Augustine said. “We’re here to win a gold medal.”
The other matchups will have Group B winner Sweden take on Latvia, and Finland square off with Slovakia.
Canada and the U.S. played in the same building exactly 16 years to the day at the 2009 event, when John Tavares scored a memorable hat trick in Canada’s 7-4 comeback victory on New Year’s Eve. The Canadians went on to win a fifth straight gold.
“That’s something that’s storybook-like,” Eiserman said of beating Canada on home soil in the tournament’s marquee round-robin matchup. “Something that you’ve dreamt of.”
The teams met on New Year’s Eve for the first time since Dec. 31, 2016, when Canada picked up a 3-1 victory in Toronto. The U.S. got revenge less than a week later with a 5-4 shootout win in the title game in Montreal.
The Americans opened this under-20 tournament with a 10-4 win over Germany followed by a 5-1 victory over Latvia before losing to Finland 4-3 in overtime. Canada started with a 4-0 defeat of Finland before falling to Latvia 3-2 in a shootout and then rebounding to beat Germany 3-0.
The Canadians had a power play to start the third period while trailing 1-0 after Leonard took a roughing call at the end of the second. Nadeau blasted a one-timer for his first goal of the tournament off a feed from Brayden Yager at 1:58.
Nelson restored the U.S. lead at 4:22, taking a pass from Huston and beating George with his third goal.
The U.S. scored its third power-play goal of the game at 13:21 when Eiserman scored his second and put the game out of reach at 3-1 after a boarding penalty by Canada’s Easton Cowan.
Leonard scored into the empty net with 1:52 left in regulation to spark chants of “U-S-A! U-S-A!”
George, who entered with consecutive shutouts that bookended the Latvia loss, saw his streak end at 133:02 on Tuesday’s first power play to silence the beer-chugging crowd at Canadian Tire Centre.
In the first period, Hutson took advantage of a failed Canadian clearing attempt on a U.S. power play and scored his second goal of the tournament.
Tempers flared later in the period when Canada’s Luca Pinelli and Zeev Buium of the U.S. went off for roughing and then jawed at each other in the penalty box.
Leonard hit another post for the Americans and Carson Rehkopf fired an effort that Augustine, who entered with an .879 save percentage in two starts, got enough of with his glove at the other end before tempers again boiled over at the buzzer.
In another Group A game, Finland beat Latvia 3-0 and finished second in the group. In Group B, Switzerland beat Kazakhstan 3-1 to secure a spot in the quarterfinal round. Also, Sweden completed a sweep of its four preliminary round games, beating Czechia 4-2 in another Group B game.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
-
Greg Wyshynski, ESPN
New York Rangers star goaltender Igor Shesterkin has been placed on injured reserve with an upper-body injury, an NHL source told ESPN on Tuesday.
The Rangers recalled NHL veteran Louis Domingue from the AHL Hartford Wolf Pack. Shesterkin’s backup, Jonathan Quick, is 5-4-0 in 12 games this season with a .907 save percentage and a 2.69 goals-against average.
Shesterkin stopped 21 of 25 shots in the Rangers’ 5-3 loss to the Florida Panthers on Monday night. During that game, Panthers forward Sam Bennett was checked into Shesterkin’s upper body by Rangers defenseman Ryan Lindgren. Shesterkin was down on the ice briefly but didn’t leave the game.
Shesterkin, 29, is 11-15-1 in 27 games this season with a .906 save percentage and a 3.10 goals-against average. While the Rangers are 20th in goals against per game this season, Shesterkin is second among all goalies with 13 goals saved above replacement, according to Stathletes.
It has been an eventful month for Shesterkin. He signed a contract extension with the Rangers on Dec. 6 that makes him the highest-paid goalie in NHL history: an eight-year, $92 million deal that starts in the 2025-26 season. The 2022 Vezina Trophy winner is in the final year of a four-year deal with an average annual value of $5.66 million.
The injury to Shesterkin is the latest bit of adversity for the Rangers this season. They are 16-19-1 after 36 games, having lost four in a row and going 2-8-0 in their past 10. The Rangers were seven points out of a playoff spot entering Tuesday night.
-
Sports2 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports9 months agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports1 year agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports3 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike
-
Business2 years agoBank of England’s extraordinary response to government policy is almost unthinkable | Ed Conway