Colorado Football: How will Laviska Shenault Jr.’s absence impact Buffs?
One of the biggest games to date for Colorado football, against the Washington Huskies, just got a whole lot more difficult without Laviska Shenault Jr.
Among all the breakout players to emerge so far during the 2018 campaign, Colorado football’s rising star sophomore wide receiver/rusher Laviska Shenault Jr. might’ve had the biggest impact out of nowhere. Due to a lingering toe injury, Shenault Jr. will miss Colorado’s huge matchup against the Washington Huskies on Oct. 20.
Washington’s secondary just got a big sigh of relief without having to prepare to matchup with one of the biggest skill position threats in the nation. Shenault Jr. is also one of the most versatile weapons in the PAC-12. Facing the ultra-talented and deep Washington secondary would’ve been a very entertaining factor in this PAC-12 showdown.
Last week, Shenault Jr. had his worst individual performance of the season so far in the loss to the USC Trojans out of the PAC-12 South. Yet, Shenault Jr. still managed to rack up more than 100 total yards and one touchdown on the ground. Limiting his explosiveness most of the way is one of the factors that ultimately led to USC’s victory over the Buffaloes.
Colorado football was having a magical season under head coach Mike McIntyre until the loss to USC. The team was in firm contention for the PAC-12 South crown, and could still be starting with a solid win over a top 25 team in Washington.
This offense will now have to rely more on the ability of junior quarterback Steven Montez. He’s having a solid junior campaign, but a lot of that success is due to the emergence of Shenault Jr. The absence of Shenault Jr. will also hurt his building Heisman campaign that looked really good up until the USC game.
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Moreover, the Colorado passing game is going to have to put a heavier emphasis on the wide receiver duo of sophomore K.D. Nixon and junior Tony Brown. But, neither Nixon nor Brown has near the production levels or versatility of Shenault Jr. The pressure put on the rest of the Colorado offense to face one of the best defenses in the PAC-12 just skyrocketed.