Wide receivers coach Jason Phillips had never experienced four wideouts go down in a single game until Saturday and the in-game attrition forced Colorado to go deep into the depth chart to finish out against Kansas State.
Travis Hunter and Jimmy Horn Jr. did not return in the second half, which gave freshman Drelon Miller and junior Terrell Timmons the opportunity to have their moment in crunch time -- that is, until Timmons went down late in the fourth as well.
The Buffs came up short in the 31-28 loss, but with the starters Hunter, Horn, Omarion Miller (and at the very end Timmons) not on the field, Colorado was able to stay afloat offensively.
“Guys in the room, that’s why you coach them all,” Phillips said. “You get everybody ready to play. You got a travel squad list of guys, which is 11 for us. Get all those guys ready to play and I thought those guys stepped in, the backups stepped in and did a great job.”
Drelon Miller recorded five catches and 27 yards against Kansas State. While his numbers may seem minimal, his most important contributions -- and all 27 of his yards -- came during the Buffs’ second drive in the fourth quarter to put the team in scoring position. His longest catch was for 17 yards to put CU on KSU’s 7.
“Just out on the field, my wisdom and talent-wise just paying attention to the little things like reading a corner, just being at the spot at the right time, just technique release, I learned so much from coach Phil and the other receivers in the room," Miller said of his development through his first season.
While Miller saw some increased action on Saturday, the Buffs are getting Hunter and Horn back for Arizona this weekend. The Buffs will be without Omarion Miller for the foreseeable future and also likely without Timmons this week, but having the Buffs starting four receivers after a difficult weekend will be crucial for Colorado.
The next man up behind them is true freshman Jordan Onovughe. Quarterback Shedeur Sanders mentioned Onovughe will make an impact on his 2Legendary podcast.
“Jordan O is the next one off the bench coming in and he’s going to be able to add a lot of success to this offense,” Sanders said. “... I don’t feel nervous about him even being in because of the way he practices. … It’s a lot of confidence with him.”
Onovughe has yet to record a catch for the Buffs with the talent ahead of him in the wideout room, but if Colorado does have any guys go down again against Arizona, Phillips could likely give Onovughe the go-ahead.
“Whatever Shedeur says that’s what we’re going to do,” Phillips said. “So if Shedeur feels comfortable with him and he's confident in him, I have no issue with that. I feel the same way about Jordan. He's done nothing but demonstrate since I've been here that he deserves an opportunity."
An opportunity for Onovughe may present itself on Saturday, but until then, Phillips and his starting four wideouts will go out and show why Colorado has the 7th-best passing offense (336.3 yards per game) in the country.
Notable
Following Tuesday's update from head coach Deion Sanders that Hunter (shoulder) and Horn (knee), “should play for certain” for the Buffs road matchup vs. the Wildcats, Phillips provided a further update on how Horn is doing mid-week.
"[Horn] practiced today, so he feels really good, I'm excited to have Jimmy back,” he said. “Will [Sheppard] also practiced today too. So we'll be fine.”
