Challenger: 25 Years Later, A Still Painful Wound

Initial observations from Colorado’s 48-21 victory over the Central Florida Golden Knights in the Buffs’ first Big 12 road game under head coach Deion Sanders. Strike a pose: All-everything CU junior Travis Hunter entered the day with the fifth-best cumulative Heisman Trophy odds, according to Vegas Insider, trailing Miami QB Cam Ward, Alabama QB Jalen Milroe, Tennessee QB Nico Iamaleava and Oregon QB Dillon Gabriel.

Michael Malone can’t get enough of Russ. The 10th-year Nuggets coach arrived at Ball Arena for work around 8 a.m. Saturday and found Russell Westbrook already in the gym, working out. Practice wasn’t starting until 11. When Malone subbed Westbrook out of the team’s scrimmage a few hours later, he was taken aback by the immediate increase in sideline intensity.

Big plays were the way for the Cal Poly football team. The Mustangs relied on four big plays — plays of at least 20 yards — to score two touchdowns and set up two more in a 28-7 Big Sky Conference win over Northern Colorado on Saturday at Nottingham Field in Greeley. Cal Poly’s victory in front of more than 4,000 fans spoiled UNC’s Homecoming festivities, and kept the Bears winless in five games this season.

A new report from NASA details how ongoing air leaks at the International Space Station (ISS) are “a top safety risk.” The report, published from NASA’s Office of Inspector General on Sept. 26 and signed by Deputy Inspector General George A. Scott, states the leak is in a tunnel connecting the ISS’ Russian segment to a docking port.

A 27-year-old man who shot two of his Topgolf coworkers — killing one of them — in December has pleaded guilty to murder and attempted murder. Victor Salazar-Guarache took a plea deal in Adams County District Court on Thursday, according to court records. Salazar-Guarache pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and second-degree attempted murder, court records show.

Jared Bednar has been answering questions about the positives and negatives of playing his superstar forwards, Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen, together versus apart, for several seasons. The start to this season offers the same potential storyline, but with a twist: The Colorado Avalanche will start the 2024-25 campaign without Valeri Nichushkin and Gabe Landeskog and is likely to be short Artturi Lehkonen as well. To this point in training camp, MacKinnon, Rantanen and Jonathan Drouin have skated together every day. “It’s a good question.