Colorado's Jordyn Tyson suffers a season-ending injury

Last Saturday against Oregon, Jordyn Tyson had the best game of his career until he went down with an injury in the fourth quarter.

Colorado’s interim head coach, Mike Sanford, was not optimistic about Tyson’s injury in the post-game press conference after the Buffs’ loss to Oregon. In a Zoom conference with Buffs’ media on Sunday night, Sanford confirmed Buff Nation’s worst fear.

“It’s going to be a season-ending injury for Jordyn,” Sanford said. “[It’s a] lower leg injury. The future is very bright for him and we expect him to make a full recovery.”

While coach Sanford was coy with the details about Tyson’s injury he added that the injury was, “nothing out of the norm with regards to football.”

Losing Tyson is a tremendous blow to a Colorado offense that is in desperate need of playmakers.

In the last two weeks against Arizona State and Oregon, Jordyn Tyson cemented himself as a budding young star at receiver for Colorado.

The true freshman proved himself as a legitimate deep threat for a Buffs’ offense that is one of the worst in the FBS.

Jordyn Tyson’s five touchdowns this season averaged 51.6 yards gained per play. His final touchdown of 2022 went for 81 yards against Oregon, it was his and Colorado’s longest offensive play of the season to that point.

Tyson had recently taken over as CU’s punt returner against Arizona State and made his presence felt immediately. Late in the fourth quarter, the Buffs were down 42-27 when Tyson returned a punt 88 yards for a touchdown. His late-game heroics gave Colorado a chance to steal a win from the Sun Devils but the Buffs were unable to regain possession after Tyson’s return.

It will be nearly impossible for Colorado to replace the deep-threat ability, route running and speed Tyson brought to the table with one player, so expect multiple players to try and fill that role. 

Daniel Arias has had his issues with catching the football this season and has only seen a handful of offensive snaps in the last two weeks. His role was reduced to special teams as a gunner but coach Sanford suggested that we will see Arias more on offense down the stretch.

Montana Lemonious-Craig has shown growth throughout the season, most notably against Cal when he had eight receptions for 119 yards and the game-winning touchdown. When speaking about Lemonious-Craig, coach Sanford said, “he’s going to have a lot of opportunities.”

True freshman Jack Hestera has yet to carve out a role in Colorado’s offense but coach Sanford and offensive coordinator, Clay Patterson, have spoken highly of Hestera in recent weeks. Hestera has seen his snap count increase over the last two weeks as well.

Finally, some good news for the Buffs as coach Sanford mentioned that Chase Penry is close to returning from injury. He last played on October 1st against Arizona and should be expected to resume his role as CU’s punt returner once he is back.

Colorado is on a short week as they travel to Los Angeles to take on the #8 USC Trojans this Friday. The Buffs are currently 34-point underdogs to the Trojans. Now without Tyson, things are only getting harder for the Buffs as they sludge through a brutal November schedule.