Hank Zilinskas was a starter for most of this season for the Colorado Buffaloes.
He wound up as a backup and now he’s looking for a new home.
On Tuesday, 247Sports reported that Zilinskas has entered the transfer portal after two seasons with the Buffaloes.
A graduate of Cherry Creek High School, Zilinskas started the first nine games of this season at center.
Through the first eight games for the Buffs (9-4), Zilinskas played 97% of the offense snaps (544 of 563). He had some snap issues at Arizona, though, and was replaced late in the game by freshman walk-on Cash Cleveland.
In Week 9 at Texas Tech, Zilinskas had a bad snap on the first play and was replaced by Cleveland after just six plays. Cleveland took over the position the rest of the season.
Zilinskas played a total of three snaps in the last four games combined, seeing the field late in a 52-0 win against Oklahoma State.
Overall, Zilinskas played the fourth-most snaps (553) among CU offensive linemen this season.
As a true freshman in 2023, Zilinskas played 153 snaps and made two starts for the Buffs.
Ratings record
CU didn’t have a great performance in Saturday’s 36-14 loss to BYU in the Valero Alamo Bowl, but the Buffs and Cougars attracted a load of viewers.
The Alamo Bowl announced the game drew 8.0 million viewers, breaking the record for the bowl. The previous high was 7.829 million for the Jan. 2, 2010, Alamo Bowl between Michigan State and Texas Tech.
It was also the most-viewed non-College Football Playoff or New Year’s Six bowl game since the Citrus Bowl on Jan. 1, 2020, between Alabama and Michigan.
BYU and CU attracted a sold-out crowd of 64,261, the 12th sellout and 13th-best crowd in the 32-year history of the Alamo Bowl.
Notable
CU receiver Jimmy Horn Jr. has received an invitation to the 2025 NFL scouting combine, which brings the top prospects to Indianapolis for work out for NFL teams.