Colorado University Athletics
Brooks: Unflappable Oliver Lives, Kicks In The Moment
October 07, 2011 | Football, B.G. Brooks
BOULDER - Been waiting for Will Oliver to blink? It might be awhile. Colorado's placekicker is one cool, unflappable freshman.
"About as cool as I've seen - for a kicker," CU coach Jon Embree said.
Oliver has hit eight of nine field goal attempts and is 14-of-14 on extra point tries through four games. His only missed field goal attempt - a 29-yarder last weekend against Washington State - was blocked.
Did it rattle him? Not for a heartbeat.
Oliver nailed his next two kicks - a pair of 48-yarders that makes him four-of-four from 40 yards and beyond for the season. His longest field goal is 52 yards, a CU freshman record and one of four kicks he hit in the overtime loss to California. Plus, the 52-yarder is the second-longest (off by one yard) in the Pac-12 Conference this season.
"That's Will," Embree said of Oliver's ho-hum reaction after the blocked attempt. "I don't think anything really bothers him or fazes him. He's got this temperament from Day 1 since I've been around him. That was part of the gut instinct of picking him, his whole approach to kicking, his personality.
"It doesn't surprise me at all - that's Will. I don't know if he just doesn't know any better or what, that he's supposed to be rattled or nervous. He just goes out and does it."
Oliver, a Southern Californian (Santa Monica) whose family will make the trip north to Palo Alto Saturday to see CU play at No. 7 Stanford (5:30 p.m. MDT, Root Sports), said he never saw last week's blocked kick coming. But then most kickers wouldn't.
"As a kicker, you're not supposed to look at the line," he said. "You're looking at the hold and the ball. I thought I hit the ball pretty well, thought I got it up pretty fast. But there were some miscommunications here and there . . . one thing goes wrong, they took advantage of it and you've got a blocked kick."
Stepping in and performing as well as he has hasn't surprised Oliver, who said he "set a pretty high standard for myself, so I just go one kick at a time and believe every kick is makeable. They're not going to put me out there for anything I can't do. You trust your coaches and trust yourself; you don't psyche yourself out and get inside your own head."
Oliver's only "ritual" is one that comes naturally: "Have a good time, put a smile on my face and go out and enjoy everything. You've got to live in the moment."
And clearly, he's done that.
Said Embree: "He's embraced his role."
LURE OF THE 'D': Tyler Ahles might be back where his heart is. At the very least, he's back where it was - on defense. He's a linebacker-turned fullback-turned linebacker. But if the situation arises, he can return to offense.
"I still have an offensive playbook . . . I still look at the game plan," Ahles said. "I think I've got that role (fullback) locked down and there are other guys rolling there. So it's really a situation of whatever needs to happen, whatever the game-time situation is."
"I don't know exactly what the extent of his role would be (on offense) with 'EB' (offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy), but I think he's kind of got it down pat," added defensive ends/outside linebackers coach Kanavis McGhee. "He's been spending a little more time on the defensive side because he's trying to learn our defense."
Ahles, a 6-2, 235-pound senior, shifted to offense last spring but returned to defense last week after he said the coaching staff reviewed his game tapes "and liked what I'd done in previous years . . . it looked to them like I could help out on the D-line."
But CU's base defense changed from last year to this, going from a 4-3 to a 3-4 (three down linemen, four linebackers). Ahles had been in a "stand up" position previously, but, "This defense has the ends coming down and playing a 'three' technique - that's something I've never done before," he said. "I'm still trying to learn and get the technique down. We've got eight games left, and really I'm just trying to play as hard as I can for those eight games."
Switching mindsets - "It's completely different on defense" - won't be much of a hurdle for Ahles. "He's a senior and a competitor," McGhee said. "He wants to do whatever it takes to get on the field. He's feeling his way around a little bit now in this defense, but I've told him to just take his time. He's getting better with every 'rep.'"
Even though the alignment and some of the blitzes might differ from last season, Ahles said the concepts "are pretty similar . . . I'd say for the most part it's a little bit like getting back on the bike."
O-LINE UPDATE: For the first time this season, the offensive line has opened with the same five starters in consecutive games. Maybe not coincidentally, the Buffs ran for a season-high 161 yards last weekend.
"That doesn't hurt," admitted sophomore left tackle David Bakhtiari, who returned to the lineup two games ago after recovering from a sprained knee. The consistency of the same five starters "makes us more feel comfortable with each other and more confident," he added.
"But at the end of the day it's just what happens with injuries and guys going down . . . . We just have to grasp that nasty mentality that not just one or a couple of players have, it needs to be all five of us every time bringing that nastiness."
Offensive line coach Steve Marshall said Bakhtiari's play against Washington State "was markedly better . . . but we expect a lot out of him. We're expecting him to carry the torch, and for a sophomore that's a big deal. But he's got to do it. He's got a big challenge this week - he'll have an awful good, veteran defensive guy over the top of him, but that's how it should be for a left tackle. Hopefully he'll continue to stay healthy and get better, and as long as he gets time on the job he'll be just fine."
Starting alongside Bakhtiari in the past two games have been Gus Handler (center), Ethan Adkins (left guard), Ryan Miller (right guard) and Ryan Dannewitz (right tackle).
Jack Harris opened the season at right tackle, but suffered a season-ending foot injury in Week 2. Daniel Munyer opened at center, but was sidelined in Week 3 by an ankle sprain. He has returned to practice, but Handler is expected to open Saturday against the Cardinal, which leads the Pac-12 in several defensive categories and features one of the league's top defensive fronts.
Also, Embree said freshman guard Paulay Asiata, who has been used primarily on special teams (field goals/PATs), has recovered sufficiently from a shoulder injury to play more on offense. "What he's done this week has put him in position to help," Embree said. "He'll be playing before it's all said and done."
BUFF BITS: Along with the four suspended defensive backs (Parker Orms, Josh Moten, Ayodeji Olatoye, Paul Vigo), Embree said tailback-turned-corner Brian Lockridge (ankle) likely is out for the Stanford game, and corner Travis Sandersfeld (foot) probably is a week away from returning. However, Jonathan Hawkins has rejoined the squad after dealing with a family issue and Arthur Jaffee (knee) is hopeful of playing for the first time since the Colorado State game. Freshman Will Harlos has seen some duty this week at safety and sophomore Terrel Smith, usually a safety, has worked some at corner . . . . CU freshman cornerback Greg Henderson played at Norco High School (Corona, Calif.) for Todd Gerhart, father of former Stanford running back Toby Gerhart . . . . Buffs defensive coordinator Greg Brown believes Stanford's speed rivals Oregon's, but what the Cardinal does with its tight ends might make for an even more difficult match up. Brown says Stanford uses three- or four-tight end sets on a regular basis, positioning them in a variety of places. Plus, Stanford disguises its substitutions very well, making last-second defensive adjustments almost impossible . . . . Stanford is well balanced, but Embree thinks the Cardinal is "more of a run team that uses that to pass . . . I think if you asked them, they'd say they're a run team first, a pass team second. That's not to say they can't come out and throw it all over the yard if they want to." That's because of premier QB Andrew Luck and a top-tier receiver/tight end corps . . . . Freshman linebacker Woodson Greer, a potential redshirt, could play this weekend. One of the five players Embree suspended indefinitely on Wednesday was linebacker Liloa Nobriga, a sophomore who had 46 tackles in 2010 (sixth on the team) but had not played this season . . . . CU men's basketball coach Tad Boyle is scheduled to fly with the Buffs on Friday for the Stanford trip. A win in Palo Alto would snap CU's 20-game road losing streak - and it might necessitate Boyle becoming a regular member of football's official traveling party. Whatever works . . . . The Thursday night Buffs gathering featuring former coach Bill McCartney has outgrown its home, Pasta Jay's in Boulder. The event - Coach Mac's Football Fix and Feast - will shift next Thursday (Oct. 13) to Gebhardt Automotive at 2470 49th St., just off the Foothills Parkway. Dinner still will be catered by Pasta Jay's, and parking is free. McCartney co-hosts the event, which began in early September and runs through November, with Mile High Sports radio personalties Mark McIntosh and Jimmy "Doog" Dougan. More information: www.macanddoog.com.
Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU
