Colorado University Athletics
BUFF BITS: Oliver SA of the Year, CU-Hawaii Now on TV
April 15, 2015 | Football
BUFFALO BITS ON A WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON ...
Oliver Inaugural NFF-CC Student Athlete of the Year
The National Football Foundation's Colorado Chapter created an Academic All-Colorado team and a Student-Athlete of the Year honor beginning with the 2014 season.
CU's senior placekicker, Will Oliver, was selected as the inaugural recipient of the Student-Athlete of the Year Award. He currently owns a 3.76 grade point average in Business, as he is majoring in Finance but is also concurrently earning his Master's in Accounting.
The three-time All-Academic Pac-12 team member was also an honorable mention All-Pac-12 placekicker as a senior, when he led Colorado in scoring with 90 points. He became the first player in CU history to lead the team in scoring four straight seasons. In 2014, he made good on 92 percent of his kicks (42-of-42 PAT, 16-of-21 FG), and at one point, he made nine consecutive field goals, tied for the second-longest streak in school history. Oliver made the last 102 PAT kicks of his career to set the CU record, and finished second all-time in both scoring and kick scoring (279 points), second in field goals made (50) and attempts (69) and first in both extra points made (127) and attempted (129).
The other two finalists for the honor were Chris Bonner (CSU-Pueblo) and Richie Rice (Colorado Mines). Bonner, a senior quarterback, led to the ThunderWolves to the NCAA Division II National Championship and owns a 3.57 grade point average in Business. Rice, a sophomore offensive lineman, was a key figure in the Orediggers' averaging 523 yards on offense while earning a 3.83 GPA in Petroleum Engineering.
The entire chapter board voted for three finalists, with the recipient, Will Oliver, emerging from that group that had an average GPA of 3.56.
The criteria to qualify for the first-ever All-Colorado Academic team included owning a cumulative grade point average of 3.3 or higher for first-team status (3.0-3.29 for honorable mention), and 70 percent participation rate in games, unless injured, and a being a regular (starter, a regular in the game on a rotating basis or a specialist). A total of 158 student-athletes made the inaugural team – 91 first-team, 67 honorable mention – which unlike many others, was not chosen by a “popularity contest” or voted upon by administrators. If they met the criteria, they made the team.
Colorado placed 15 players on the team, eight garnering first-team status: TB Michael Adkins, Soph. (3.41, Business), DE Aaron Howard, Soph. (3.61, Psychology), WR Tyler McCulloch, Sr. (3.41, Communication), P Darragh O'Neill, Sr. (3.74, Business-Accounting), PK Will Oliver, Sr. (3.76, Business-Finance), ILB Ryan Severson, Soph. (3.33, Business-Management), WR Nelson Spruce, Jr.(3.58, Business-Finance) and S Richard Yates, Sr. (3.37, Mechanical Engineering.
Those earning honorable mention were WR D.D. Goodson, Sr. (3.05, Sociology), OG Daniel Munyer, Sr. (3.08, Communication), FB Jordan Murphy, Jr. (3.04, Business-Marketing), OT Stephane Nembot, Jr. (3.09, International Affairs), TE Kyle Slavin, Sr. (3.04, Communication & Political Science) and Travis Talianko, Soph. (3.08, Communication) and S Evan White, Fr. (3.10, Arts & Sciences).
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CU-Hawai'i Now Set To Be Televised
It was announced earlier this year that CU's season opener at Hawai'i was moved to a Thursday night contest, but with the likelihood of national television broadcast of the game. That changed on Wednesday, when the Mountain West announced its weeknight TV package.
The CBS Sports Network, which initially had passed on the game, reconsidered the contest and it will now air on the cable network. The kickoff time for the Sept. 3 game at Hawaiian Airlines Field at Aloha Stadium remains 11 p.m. MDT.
Since 1996, 166 of CU's 209 games have been either nationally or regionally televised (an impressive 79 percent); that includes all 49 of Colorado's games it joined the Pac-12 Conference in 2011. In addition, CU has had 43 of its last 49 non-conference games (88%) televised on a national or regional basis, including the last 23 in a row dating back to the 2008 season.
The Pac-12 Conference and the league's television partners are developing the schedule for the first three weeks of the season, which is usually released around June 1; CU's home opener against Massachusetts on Sept. 12 is a Pac-12 property, but the Sept. 19 game in Denver against Colorado State will be another Mountain West game, and it is currently working on its schedule.
All CU games from the fourth weekend in September on will be determined/announced 12 days in advance as per the contracts with ESPN, FOX and the Pac-12 Networks (and in some instances, on six days notice).
