Big 12 School Loses Key Defensive Player for Season

A Big 12 school suffers a major blow with the 2024 season only a couple weeks away. Cincinnati will be without a key defensive player all season.

According to Neil Meyer of Front Office News, Cincinnati defensive tackle Jalen Hunt will miss the entire 2024 season due to a knee injury sustained last week during practice.

Hunt, a redshirt senior, did not play in the Bearcats’ scrimmage on Saturday, but the extent of his injury was not known at that time.

With the status of Dontay Corleone still uncertain, Hunt was expected to be the next man in line and play a critical role on the Cincinnati defensive line heading into the program’s second year in the Big 12.

Hunt started his college career at Michigan State before transferring to Cincinnati before the 2023 season.

Cincinnati finished 3-9 and 1-8 in conference play in 2023.

Cincinnati acquired former Mountaineer linebacker Jared Bartlett in January. Bartlett left WVU after five years as a Mountaineer. Even though he was planning to transfer following the 2023 season, a source told WV Sports Now at the time of his transfer that Bartlett and the football program worked together to part ways on good terms.

Bartlett agreed to play in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl game, which helped end his WVU tenure on a positive note.

Bartlett has one year of eligibility left as a grad transfer.

Following West Virginia’s bowl win over North Carolina, Bartlett posted that it was his last game as a Mountaineer.

“Proud of this team, glad to ball out with my guys one last time. Let’s go Mountaineers,” Bartlett wrote.

Bartlett appeared in 49 games throughout his WVU career, recording 128 total tackles, 13.0 sacks and two forced fumbles. Bartlett had six total tackles with two going for a loss of yards against North Carolina in his final game as a Mountaineer.

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