University of Colorado Athletics
Brooks: Healthy Witherspoon Returning To Spring Form
October 09, 2014 | Football, B.G. Brooks
BOULDER - After a big spring, a big fall was expected from Ahkello Witherspoon. That's fall as in autumn, not a plunge from the depth chart and a freefall out of sight.
But when autumn arrived, University of Colorado football fans might have wondered about Witherspoon's whereabouts.
In CU's spring game, he covered receivers like a fresh coat of paint, breaking up four passes - three of them in the end zone. In the team's four featured scrimmages, including the spring game, he batted away eight balls, made 11 tackles (3 solo) and one interception.
As a 6-3, 185-pound cornerback with that kind of April resume, he was almost automatically penciled in for playing time come September. Then came the eraser -- a lower back injury. When the Buffaloes hit the halfway point of their 2014 season last weekend against Oregon State Witherspoon had played in only two of the first six games.
It wasn't the sort of start he had envisioned for his college career, and the time being sidelined took a physical if not mental toll on him. "I didn't realize how sitting out takes an effect when it comes to the field," Witherspoon said. "'DB' is a real rhythmic position . . . you come out one day and can't go the next and once you mess up your rhythm you don't have the reps to put in what you've worked on. Coming back these last few weeks I've been trying to be consistent day in, day out."
But as for his lack of fall PT after such a sparkling spring possibly dragging him down, Witherspoon said it didn't happen and won't: "No, no, never that. That's one thing I'll never do. I trust in my ability and I have a great coaching staff that believes in every single one of us. That's one of the things I love about this coaching staff. When you make a play, it's move on to the next play. You still are who you are."
After sitting out the opening loss to Colorado State, Witherspoon, a transfer from Sacramento City Community College, played for the first time against Massachusetts. And he admitted he didn't play that well.
"I kind of freaked out with the whole situation," he said. "'Coach Mac' (Mike MacIntyre) told me after the game, 'That'll only happen once.' I knew he had faith in me, so that was the biggest thing. Even after that game, every single day he said, 'I believe in you, I believe in you.' So when I went out there (last weekend), I was trying to replicate what I've been doing in practice and bring it to the field."
Witherspoon participated in a dozen plays against UMass but didn't play in the following three games (Arizona State, Hawai'i, California). He returned to the field against Oregon State, logging 25 plays. His two-game totals: five tackles (one solo), one third-down stop and one pass broken up.
MacIntyre pinned Witherspoon's lack of playing time on "making sure he was completely healthy and ready to go. He's a good player and if he stays healthy he'll be playing the rest of the year in the nickel package."
In that scheme, which puts an extra defensive back in the lineup, starting corner Greg Henderson shifts to the nickel back position and Witherspoon replaces Henderson at corner.
Henderson called Witherspoon a very capable cornerback: "He did a very good job (last weekend) playing some talented Pac-12 receivers. He did his thing. He's definitely comfortable at corner; he has great size, great length, good speed and he can cover. You can put him in press, leave him on an island, pressing man-to-man and he's going to do his job. He wants to compete at the highest level and make plays."
When the Buffs are in their nickel package, said Henderson, "We can get the five best DBs we have on the field. Everybody can play, everybody can cover. It helps us in coverage with the extra man and when we blitz and with everything else. We all feel more comfortable."
Witherspoon traced his increased number of snaps against Oregon State to "just the scheme of the game . . . coach obviously saw something in putting Greg at nickel. He'd been working there all year on second team and was comfortable with the position. As far as me, whatever's best for the team, including me or not including me, I'm for it. They called my number so I was ready to go."
Even if he has the physique and athleticism that secondary coaches covet, Witherspoon is still a very young and inexperienced football player. He didn't play football until his senior year at Christian Brothers High School in Sacramento, followed by one season at Sacramento City CC.
Thus, he's halfway through only his third season in the sport. At the beginning of his junior year in high school there was little indication that he would make it this far. He stood all of 5-8 and might have believed his athletic future was pointed toward basketball (point guard), baseball (outfielder) or soccer. He played all three sports at Christian Brothers.
But between his junior year and graduation, Witherspoon grew to 6-2 and in the next five months topped out at 6-3. Football beckoned; his father (Lucky) was a tailback at the University of Nevada-Reno. Ahkello could see himself on the football field and a CU crowd calling out the same nickname - "Sp-o-o-o-n" - that the UNR faithful pinned on his dad.
Given his high school growth spurt, Witherspoon conceded there was "a little catch up period" between his body and his athleticism. "But I'd been such a smaller guy playing sports for so long that I had a lot of technique, a lot of footwork skills that kind of carried me through to be successful at that size. So when I grew I still had the same principles that came with the growth."
Witherspoon's personal goals for the season's final six games are improving on his consistency and competing on every play. "With the athletic ability I'm gifted with sometimes you get comfortable using that instead of technique and being mentally focused," he said.
Bringing more physicality to his position is another objective - one that he might have initially believed took a backseat to finesse. "Being a corner, everyone has the idea that you don't touch anybody," Witherspoon said.
"But I've actually learned from (Kenneth) Crawley and especially Greg (Henderson), who is always making some of the tougher tackles. Crawley exemplifies the physicality that I've caught onto. I've said, 'Hey, I need to bring that to the field also.' I like how we all push each other."
After six games, the Buffs are fifth in the Pac-12 Conference in pass defense, yielding 246 yards a game. But their 15 touchdown passes allowed is the second-highest total in the league, trailing only Cal (21). CU doesn't play again until Saturday, Oct. 18, beginning the second half of the season at Southern California.
MACINTYRE LIKES DEVELOPMENT OF YOUNG DEs
Redshirt freshman Derek McCartney and sophomore Jimmie Gilbert have consistently been at the forefront of a fierce Buffs' pass rush throughout the first half of the season. The two have combined for five sacks and 11 quarterback pressures through six games.
MacIntyre believes that even with all the duo has accomplished thus far, they can take bigger steps in the weeks and years to come. He said McCartney "has a great future . . . next year instead of 240 (pounds) he'll be 255 and have experience. He'll be a little bit quicker and a little bit stronger, a little bit faster, so it'll make a big difference."
"Jimmie is really doing well also. He's another guy that another year from now he'll be 10-15 pounds bigger and that'll make a big difference. Both of those guys are going to be big-time Pac-12 defensive ends that people are going to have to worry about."
NO DOWN TIME FOR COACHES DURING BYE
The players will have Friday and Saturday off, returning to practice on Sunday afternoon. Not so for the coaching staff. MacIntyre and his assistants will spend the time away from practice attending to a number of odds and ends - including recruiting.
"I'll be working on USC, I'll get with the family a little bit, then we'll have practice Sunday afternoon," MacIntyre said. "So, there will be barely any time off. I'll be watching recruiting film and doing recruiting. All of our coaches are out recruiting so it's busy for the coaches. It's a little bit more of a down period for the players to let them refresh."
Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU
