The herd will have to manage the rest of the season without one of its younger Buffs.
Freshman running back Justin Torres departed the Buffs football squad Tuesday, coach Dan Hawkins said Wednesday morning.
According to the Denver Post, Hawkins said Torres was dealing with personal issues involving homesickness. The 19-year-old open-option major and native of La Mirada, Calif., returns to the Golden State with 58 yards on 14 carries on the season for the Buffaloes.
Hawkins alluded to a possible return for Torres.
“We’ll see,” Hawkins told the Denver Post. “People ask me if kids [today] are different. I don’t think they are, but their lives are 8,000 times more complicated. There is a combination of things there.”
CU running backs Coach Darian Hagan said he had no idea Torres was planning to leave.
“He was in my office Monday joking around,” Hagan said.
With the departure of Torres, redshirted freshman Quentin Hildreth of Denver East High School will slide to the No. 3 spot behind juniors Rodney Stewart and Brain Lockridge in the tailback depth charts.
The Buffs are scheduled to kick-off Big 12 play on Saturday, against the Missouri Tigers in Columbia, Mo. at 5 p.m.
Contact CU Independent Sports Editor Esteban L. Hernandez at Esteban.hernandez@colorado.edu.
