Colorado University Athletics
Brooks: Espinoza Glad For Brief Stay On His Island
November 18, 2011 | Football, B.G. Brooks
BOULDER - If Jason Espinoza had an extra second or two to rub his eyes in disbelief, that's what he would have done. But at that precise moment last Saturday afternoon, "Espy" had other things to do.
Safety Terrel Smith alerted Espinoza, who was at right cornerback for Colorado, to take a quick look at the Folsom Field scoreboard and video screen. A picture of "Espy" was superimposed over a tropical island - palms waving against a blue, cloud-dappled sky.
Below the scene . . . "Espinoza Island."
"I looked at the screen, then I looked back down because (Arizona) was about to snap the ball," Espinoza recalled. "I was kind of confused . . . it was like, 'Did I just see that? What was it?' That was like three drives before I got the interception and I was thinking, 'I have to make a play now.'"
So he did. He smartly picked off Wildcats quarterback Nick Foles - one of CU's three for the afternoon in the Buffs' 48-29 win. Foles obviously hadn't been briefed about venturing too close to "Espinoza Island" . . .
OK, so maybe it's not as perilous for a QB as "Revis Island," and Jason Espinoza is no Darrelle Revis - the New York Jets' superb fifth-year lock-down corner. But "Espy," with all of five games under his belt after returning to defense after a four-year absence, suddenly has a pair of late-season picks and is CU's interception leader.
"What a pleasant surprise - and I shouldn't even say pleasant surprise," CU defensive coordinator/secondary coach Greg Brown said. "He picked up where he left off when he used to be a DB, back when he was a freshman . . . he's smart, tough, has great instincts and ball skills."
Of course, the "Espinoza Island" bit - the creative offspring of BuffVision Internet Marketing Manager Sam Neumann and game-day producer Adam Creapo - has made it to YouTube. And "Espy" might have had an inkling of what was coming last Saturday afternoon when Creapo Tweeted him about the idea.
Still, Espinoza was pleasantly stunned, but not too much to do his job. In a season where CU almost had reached the point of advertising for healthy corners, Espinoza's successful shift from receiver was a bonus, although he also missed a couple of games with concussion symptoms before returning two weeks ago.
In his first game back he intercepted Southern California's Matt Barkley. That was Espinoza's first career interception and, as did his pick of Foles, it came against a quarterback Espinoza will be watching on Sunday afternoons.
"Maybe when I finish playing and look back I'll appreciate those more," he said. "But I'm always hard on myself; I'm not going to settle. I'm going to try and get another one this weekend (at UCLA) and help us win."
Espinoza came to CU as a walk-on defensive back at the urging of Brown, who was a high school teammate of Espinoza's high school coach - Alamosa's Manny Wasinger, now the offensive coordinator at Adams State.
Wasinger told the 5-8, 180-pound Espinoza was a must-see prospect, so an invitation was extended for a CU summer camp in 2007. Espinoza had scholarship offers from Adams State and a couple of other Division II schools, and he did consider Adams State because he was told he also could play basketball - maybe his first love - and football there.
"But I just wanted to get out of Alamosa and go to a bigger place," he said.
At CU, he stayed in the secondary for all of a week, then became a scout team receiver/return specialist. It wasn't until a week into the 2011 season, when Brown's bunch was in the early stages of what would become an incredible shrinking act, that Espinoza was approached by Brown and linebackers coach Brian Cabral about moving back to defense.
After receivers coach Bobby Kennedy gave his blessing, Espinoza switched sides and began trying to catch up on what he'd missed. "We put in a new defense every week and have to learn it within three or four days," he said. "But I've always picked up the offense, and now the defense, pretty easily. It's not that bad."
Easy for him to say . . . ask fellow DBs Travis Sandersfeld, Anthony Perkins and Ray Polk - all targets for Espinoza when he wanted to drag a more experienced teammate into the position meeting room to help him with extra film study. Said "Espy:" "I'd make them go watch film with me downstairs. I always ask a ton of questions . . . I'm probably annoying out on the field."
For the next couple of years, before Brown left for one season at Arizona, he and Espinoza frequently joked about "Espy" making the switch back to defense. Both wish now it had gone beyond the joking stage.
"I wish I had . . . I'd know a lot more about the defense and the concepts of it," said Espinoza, whose best season as a receiver came in 2009 (13 catches, 136 yards, one touchdown - with 109 yards and the TD coming against Toledo).
Said Brown: "We think he would have done nothing but progress because he's so smart and tough as nails. But, still, it was good for me to be reunited with him almost five years later."
Espinoza's high school - Alamosa - has one of the better nicknames anywhere, the Mean Moose. As a senior, Espinoza set state all-classification records for receiving yardage (1,507) and TD passes (20) in leading the Mean Moose to an unbeaten season (14-0) and the 2006 3A state title. In a semifinal win against Florence, after catching the game-tying touchdown pass, he kicked the game-winning PAT. And in basketball, he lettered twice and was the South Central League's MVP as a junior.
Football and hoops have been a huge part of Espinoza's life, but that will change. A communication major, he's already got a job waiting in Arizona with Dream Team Empire, a sports management company headed up by a former CU graduate assistant who coached Espinoza at receiver.
"Ever since a child, my whole life has been sports - basketball, football - it's been my life," Espinoza said. "Honestly, it hasn't hit me yet - life without sports. I don't know, I'll have to do something. I can play pickup (basketball), but you can never go play football again. That'll definitely be tough."
But that's an issue for another time. His focus now is on UCLA, fashioning a two-game CU win streak and erasing a 23-game out-of-state losing streak that has accompanied the Buffs for almost five seasons. Ironically, Espinoza is one of five players who were on the roster when CU won its last road game - at Texas Tech in 2007.
Over the last couple of days, Brown has told his players their first priority is to "pick up right where we left off (against Arizona)," Espinoza said. "If we do that we can win. Everyone was playing their hearts out last week. If we do that we've got a great shot at winning this week."
LET RICK STICK WITH THE PISTOL: UCLA coach Rick Neuheisel adopted the "pistol" offense last season, primarily to boost his running game and because he believed it better suited his personnel. The formation's top requirement is a multi-talented quarterback, one who's adept at ball-handling as well as running and passing.
CU senior Tyler Hansen has the athleticism and ball skills to be a pistol QB, but he's glad his coaches at CU never shifted to that scheme - not full-time anyway.
"We did a little last year . . . it's a weird offense," Hansen said. "I like the offense I'm in a lot better. You can do some certain things out of the pistol that confuse a defense, a lot of misdirection stuff . . . on some play-action stuff you're going to turn your back on the defense so they don't really know where the ball is. You can do some unique stuff out of it."
How is it weird?
"It's a different feel," Hansen said. "When you're in the shotgun, the back's next to you. That's natural. Having the back behind you when you're in shotgun (the pistol), that's hard to explain. It's not normal."
Pistol QBs can be asked to run more, therefore increasing their chances of injury. Hansen has been there; he was tackled while executing an option pitch late last season and suffered a spleen injury that cost him the remainder of the season.
"I've learned better than anyone that the more a quarterback runs it's not good for the quarterback or the offense," he said. "You're going to get hurt and beat up. You definitely have to limit the way you use the quarterback in running the ball and you have to be smart with how you run it."
Hansen ran 10 times for 50 yards last weekend, with some of those rushes on designed plays. On other plays, he said he went with his feet "when guys weren't open and I was trying to find the check down and didn't. So it's wide open, let's run. I think it was just more of the way it happened. If I had found the check down and it was open, I'd have thrown it to him."
RUGBY PUNTING TO BE ADDRESSED LATER: Among CU's off-season projects will be working with first-year punter Darragh O'Neill on his rugby punts. With his background in Gaelic-style football, O'Neill can punt with either foot. He's done that this season, but the results have been mixed.
Coach Jon Embree said while O'Neill has had a good first season (he's eighth in the conference with a 42.5 average), a few of O'Neill's rugby punts have been too low. "We would like it to be executed differently," Embree said. "Unfortunately, we aren't able to do that sometimes. That isn't his fault, that's Jon Embree's fault. That's on me. Two more games and then we'll see if we can get that fixed."
BUFF BITS: Freshman offensive tackle Stephane Nembot will make his first road trip this season, traveling with the Buffs to UCLA. "He deserves it; he's worked hard and is doing a good job," Embree said. "It's like a trip home for him." Nembot was born in Douala, Cameroon, but went to high school in Van Nuys, Calif. (Montclair Prep). He was a defensive tackle in August camp but switched to offense shortly thereafter . . . . Other freshmen Embree acknowledged for their scout team duty included receivers Nelson Spruce and Austin Vincent and defensive back Jermane Clark . . . . Former CU coach Rick Neuheisel, in his fourth season at UCLA, is hearing the howling of the wolves much louder this fall. His overall coaching record is 86-57, including 33-14 at CU, but he's 20-25 at UCLA (5-5 this season). The Bruins have been to one bowl in his previous three seasons at his alma mater. Embree and Neuheisel coached together at CU, and Embree calls Neuheisel "a survivor, he always has been. I'm not worried about all of that stuff (being said about Neuheisel's future)." . . . . Senior tailback Rodney Stewart needs 455 yards to become CU's all-time leading rusher. That's a 227.5 yard average in the Buffs' last two games . . . . Embree believes Stewart can play in the NFL "because they didn't think he could play in college. That's what he does - he proves people wrong . . . he'll make somebody's team." . . . . All of the Buffs' practices this week have been in Folsom Field with loud music blaring from the PA system. Embree said he doesn't know how loud the Rose Bowl crowd will be Saturday night, but he wanted his team to be able "to concentrate with noise in the background." Plus, he said his players liked the music . . . . The Buffs' confidence got an obvious lift after the win against Arizona, but Embree believes his team "gained confidence coming out of the USC game." He said the final score (42-17) wasn't indicative of "how well (CU) moved the ball . . . consistency was an issue in that game. Then against Arizona, being able to answer when Arizona came at us, I think all that kind of plays into it." . . . . CU's former staff emphasized keeping an even keel emotionally. Embree calls himself "a peak and valley guy . . . I'm not one of those level guys. I expect the players to play with emotion and passion. It's a game you can't play without emotion and passion - the exception being the quarterback position. You want him to be a little more level. But at the other positions, if you're not passionate, you're not playing with emotion, you're toast."
Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU
