West Virginia announces Aubrey Burks discharged from hospital, walking under own power

Wade-Peeryby:Wade Peery•10/01/23
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West Virginia star safety Aubrey Burks was carted off the field on Saturday night in the Mountaineers matchup vs. the Texas Christian Horned Frogs. He suffered what appeared to be a head or neck injury of some sort when trying to make a tackle on a punt return.

Burks was then piled on by his teammates. The stretcher was called out, players from both teams gathered around, and were kneeling. The West Virginia Twitter page let fans know that he had been taken to the local hospital in Fort Worth for further evaluation and that additional updates would be made when available.

On Sunday afternoon, the West Virginia football Twitter account let fans know that Burks has been discharged from the hospital in Fort Worth and that he’s walking on his own power.

Aubrey Burks is one of the top-rated safeties in America

Burks thrives when he can get downhill and make plays on ball carriers. As a sophomore in 2022, he had 66 tackles — including 4.5 for a loss — in just 11 games. He had one interception and one forced fumble. Before the 2023 season, Burks was named as one of the Top 10 returning safeties in college football by Pro Football Focus.

In 2022, Burks earned All-Big 12 team honors from PFF, after he racked up 66 tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss, one interception, one forced fumble, and two pass breakups. In 2021 during his freshman season, the WVU safety also suffered a season-ending injury against TCU.

At halftime of Saturday’s matchup between West Virginia and TCU, the Horned Frogs led 21-14. Quarterback Garrett Greene had a 35-yard rushing touchdown and running back C.J. Donaldson had the other score for the Mountaineers.

After being whipped by a very talented Penn State team 38-15, West Virginia rattled off three straight wins. They barely survived against Texas Tech, 20-13. The Mountaineers needed a fourth-down stop on their own 12-yard line with 23 seconds left in the game to prevail against the Red Raiders.

West Virginia will face one of their toughest opponents of the season on Saturday, November 11th, as they face off against the Oklahoma Sooners in their final year in the Big 12 Conference.

Up next for the Mountaineers, they’ll face off against the Houston Cougars on October 12th. The game will be played in Houston and kickoff is set for 7:00 PM EST.

On3’s Andrew Graham also contributed to this article.