At times this season, the 2010 University of Colorado Buffaloes football team has seemed as if it would defy expectations and possibly even qualify for a bowl game. Those hopes now appear to be dashed, as the team’s starting quarterback is out for the season with a ruptured spleen (via CBS4). Tyler Hansen suffered the painful injury during Saturday’s depressing 27-24 loss to Texas Tech, and senior Cody Hawkins will now likely finish the season hurling the rock for the Buffs.

The team also lost its leading tackler during the game, as former Parker high school star Jon Major sprained his right medial collateral ligament, notes Boulder’s Daily Camera. It marks the second time in three weeks the Buffs have lost their best tackler, the first being safety Anthony Perkins, who was injured in a loss at Missouri three weeks ago.

The Longmont Times-Call points out that the team would need to go 3-2 down the stretch to qualify for a bowl game. “We’re just going to keep hanging in there, and we need [the fans] to hang in there,” says head coach Dan Hawkins. That’s going to be tough, considering the remaining schedule holds two obvious losses (Oklahoma and Nebraska) and three difficult games against Kansas, Kansas State, and Iowa State.