Brooks: Will Oliver Kicks Himself To The Forefront

BOULDER - When Tuesday's wakeup call came, Will Oliver never expected the morning to go like this. For that matter, Jon Embree didn't either.

Colorado's first football practice of the day ended with Embree summoning Oliver to "break down" the Buffs in a post-practice ritual that predates Embree's playing days.

"Gimme a Black, gimme a Gold, gimme a Black-Gold . . ."

That's a heady calling for a fresh-faced freshman who bears a slight resemblance to a young Tom Cruise (think "Maverick" minus the bomber jacket and bogus swagger in Top Gun).

But Oliver handled it well - just as he's handled the field goal competition for most of CU's preseason camp. Embree wanted to identify a kicker who "embraces pressure," and after he watched the kid - Oliver will celebrate his 19th birthday two days before the regular-season finale at Utah - deal with as much pressure as could be manufactured on a steamy August practice field, the Buffs had their 2011 placekicker.

If you're marking your camp calendar at home, Embree's naming a starter comes six practices (and days) into preseason camp - a scant prelude for any coach to settle competition at any position. But for the past two days, Embree ogled Oliver's field goal perfection from a variety of distances and arrived at his decision.

After Oliver made 10 consecutive kicks - the last being the "money" ball as the entire team watched - Embree made up his mind and later told reporters, "That guy did it his first time; he's our kicker. It's like a quarterback . . . how long are we going to keep pretending? If I've got a guy who I think is the guy and I have confidence in him. I know he may have a bad day here or there, but you know what? He's come out and earned it. He's had two very good days where he has not missed. I'll take my chances right now with him."

The decision elevates Oliver, a 5-foot-10, 195-pounder from the Santa Monica area, over sophomore Justin Castor, whose only 2010 field attempt was blocked (a 40-yard try at Missouri) when he subbed for Aric Goodman. The consistency of CU's placement game has steadily dropped since the departures of Mason Crosby (2006) and Kevin Eberhart (2007).

Embree's plan is for Oliver to take the early appointment and run with it, the only pressure being self-imposed.

"I don't want him always looking over (his) shoulder; he's our guy," Embree said, adding when CU hired him last December, "I knew we had to have someone. All I heard when I got here was about the Cal game (a 52-7 beat-down in Berkeley) and our kicking problems. So, I'm trying to address all of that.

"I did know we had to get somebody. I know the kid is very accurate; he's got to work on getting better lift, but that will come. Like I said, he's had two very, very good days. The pressure was on him; neither one of them (Oliver or Castor) knew what was going to happen (Tuesday). He was ready, he was prepared."

What transpired Tuesday should put CU's aspiring punters on alert. That competition, said Embree, could be settled just as swiftly once the field has been narrowed to a pair of finalists. Currently competing are incumbent Zach Grossnickle, transfer Mark Brundage and walk-on Darragh O'Neill.

"I don't know when, but it'll happen," Embree said of a No. 1 punter surfacing.

Oliver's challenge will be new and immense. At Harvard Westlake, a high school he described as "not exactly a football powerhouse," he made 18-of-23 field goals and all 50 of his PAT attempts. But he never was called on to attempt a game-winning kick because his team "was never really close enough to beat anyone by a game-winner."

His only other scholarship offers came from Maryland and Fresno State, with Cal dangling preferred walk-on status. He settled on CU because he was familiar with the state - his family owned a vacation home in Aspen - and he knew Embree would emphasize special teams play.

"I'm just taking it one day at a time here," he said. "You have to do it every single day. I've got to be the starter every day, otherwise it means nothing."

Oliver said he arrived prepared "for whatever challenges were thrown my way," but like most members of his signing class, he conceded to being "a little bit" overwhelmed. Castor shepherded him through some of the new places, settings and situations.

"I'm just kind of doing what everyone else is doing," he said. "I have a lot of kicker friends who are all sort of doing the same thing I'm doing. We've all been through it all together and we're all out on our own now, working on it for ourselves."

On Day 1 of camp, Oliver hit 27 of his 29 field goal attempts. Day 2 brought a drop-off, but in a weird kicking sort of way, he said that might have been beneficial: "As a kicker, it sounds a little weird to say, but it's probably good to have at the beginning of camp. You kind of feel the pressure, you feel what it's like hit the ground and that you need to bounce back.

"The biggest thing with kicking is forgetting - having a short memory so you can get back on the field and feel you're as good as you always were. Most kickers have done this a long time, especially when you get to the college level. It's got to be the same thing every time. You won't be here if you're not good; you have to just go back to your normal self and find your own rhythm."

Oliver has been tutored by West Coast kicking guru Chris Sailer, who had Oliver ranked No. 12 among his Top 12 2010 placekickers. "You go over every once in a while and he cleans you up a little," Oliver said of Sailer. "The biggest thing with him is that he gives you things to do and you work on them on your own. There's a certain set of drills for each person. You do them and it makes you better. I started getting back on them today out on the field, with my tape, my steps and making sure I'm stepping in a straight line - all that kind of stuff."

Embree said Oliver appears accurate from 46 to 48 yards, with "50-plus probably pressing a little bit . . . we'll just have to get the (offensive) coordinator to get us closer."

If Oliver needs to be occasionally coddled, it might have to come from special teams coach J.D. Brookhart - not Embree. Here's Embree's stance on dealing with kickers: "I believe they're part of the team; I try to coach them with kid gloves, but I just can't. I've got to be me. If you can't handle me, then you can't kick for me. It's like any other position, I can't all of a sudden become gentle and kind to talk to somebody differently in the heat of the battle. So you're going to have to be thick-skinned."

Although Oliver's leg strength currently can't match Crosby's, Embree is hopeful his freshman can be as steely as the Green Bay Packers kicking specialist. When Embree was an assistant coach with the Kansas City Chiefs, he recalled Crosby trying to persuade the Chiefs to draft him.

"He was still on the board, but we didn't take him," Embree said. "In his first (NFL) game, he kicks three or four field goals - including the game-winner. I knew that about Mason. I want a guy who embraces that pressure and wants that.

"I don't want a guy who 'I can't kick today because I'm a little sore' and all that. We'll rest you; we'll keep you on the pitch count. But everybody's sore, everybody's tired and beat up. If you want to be on this team, we've all got to do it together."

Oliver appears aware of that, as well as what will be asked of him. But he is confident in his ability and feels at home. He was smitten by Colorado on his family's previous trips here.

"It gets no better than this," he said. "Just look around, you've got mountains, clean air . . . it's all just wonderful."

He's young, eager and untested, but this much he knows: It can stay wonderful for four years - if he keeps his kicks between the uprights.

DOUBLE DAY BLAHS? And in their seventh practice, the Buffs rested . . . and Embree wasn't pleased. Thursday afternoon's work - the second practice on the first day of two-a-days - "wasn't good enough," Embree said. "That (kind of practice) is not giving us a chance. These guys are getting activity confused with productivity. They think because they're moving around they're doing something; that's not how we work around here. It was not good enough."

Whether his players were leg-weary or not sharply focused from a physical morning practice "doesn't matter . . . they've got to figure that out. We ain't looking for reasons why we can't, we looking for why we can. I don't buy that; it's two-a-days for everybody, it's hot for everybody. They act like they're the only people to ever do it."

DON'T BE LEFT OUT: Players who don't pick up the pace were put on notice. On Wednesday, Embree and his staff will begin assembling a 68-70 man travel squad for CU's Sept. 3 opener in Hawaii. Injuries and other attrition might factor into the final travel roster, but Embree cautioned that the initial list would be "85 to 90 percent" firm.

He said players who definitely will be making the trip need to be getting the majority of the work in practice: "Like I told the players, I'm not one of these guys who's going to sit around for three weeks and try to figure out who can do it. You don't get all day to show that it's important to you. Guys we have who have shown it's important to them, who are in their books, those are the guys we're going to go with until they prove otherwise, that they can't do it."

MORE REPS FOR OTHER QBS: Redshirt freshman Nick Hirschman, who entered camp as senior starter Tyler Hansen's backup, missed both of Tuesday's practices, resting what Embree termed "a foot or ankle or something." He said he assumed Hirschman, who was not at either practice, could miss "a week or two, just to be safe" and definitely would not scrimmage on Saturday (noon-3 p.m., lower practice fields).

"We need to look at those other guys and see who the third (QB) is," Embree said, referring to junior college transfer Brent Burnett, a January enrollee who participated in spring drills, and freshmen Stevie Joe Dorman and John Schrock (walk-on).

BUFF BITS: The cornerback body count continues to drop. Freshman Sherrard Harrington has a hip injury that could keep him sidelined four to six weeks, said Embree. Harrington, of Washington, D.C., will redshirt. He joins sophomore Jered Bell (torn ACL, out for the season) on the disabled list. Sophomore Parker Orms has a strained right calf and hasn't practiced full speed since the first day . . . . Embree said he is "comfortable with the offensive line in general. I think we have a lot of versatility with some guys and that will help us with our depth issues. I think 'Marsh' (position coach Steve Marshall) has done a good job with those guys. I've got to say this about that group: they've come to work." . . . . Castor remains in the competition to kick off and could be a factor on long field goal attempts. Embree said Castor "has to be ready just like at any other position," adding that using Castor for long-range field goals - those from 50 or more yards out - was a possibility . . . . Freshman linebacker Woodson Greer III has been in a blue jersey for most of the early camp work. Embree said Greer, who is coming off shoulder surgery last spring, is being "eased into" camp work. "He's done a good job in the classroom as far as learning that stuff, but I don't want to get him out there, get banging and he gets fatigued and lose him for the whole year. He needs to be able to practice and go against the one offensive unit and see how it is."

Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU