Injuries were a story all night long on Saturday as the Colorado Buffaloes fell to the Kansas State Wildcats, 31-28. However, that did not stop a raucous Folsom Field crowd from expressing displeasure with a strange sequence of injured Wildcats midway through the third quarter.
While trailing by two touchdowns, the Buffs were driving in high-tempo fashion when not one, not two, but three significant gains in a row ended in injury timeouts for Kansas State defenders.
Boos then came raining down from the Boulder faithful under the assumption that these injuries were feigned to allow for Wildcat rest and to sedate the black and gold’s momentum. After the game, KSU head coach Chris Klieman came to the defense of his squad.
“It’s our best players, we want them to stay healthy, and they’re not,” Klieman stated. “I get it, that’s human nature to think that guys are faking injuries. It’s our best players, we want them to stay in the game. They were legit. Jacob (Parrish)’s was really legit. (Marquise Sigle’s) was really legit and Keenan Garber, he cramped up.”
The Buffs ultimately scored on that drive via a 7-yard pass from quarterback Shedeur Sanders to wide receiver Will Sheppard to trim the deficit to 21-14.
Whether the injuries from Kansas State were strategic or legit as Klieman proclaimed, it didn’t make a massive difference in the end. The Buffaloes made a 10-point comeback later in the fourth quarter to take the lead, but a quick touchdown strike from the Wildcats shortly after was the deciding factor in Colorado’s first Big 12 loss.
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