Buffs' Tupou Welcomes Chance To Play Nose Tackle

BOULDER — When Colorado senior Josh Tupou lines up for the Buffaloes this fall, he'll be right where he believes he truly belongs: playing nose tackle in a 3-4 defense.

It's what you might call a warm welcome home.

Tupou is back with the Buffs after a year away from school, which means he'll be playing in defensive coordinator Jim Leavitt's defense for the first time. Thus, instead of lining up at defensive tackle, as he did in 2014 in CU's 4-3 scheme, he'll be at the nose this fall in the 3-4.

The Buffs senior believes the switch will suit him just fine.

“It fits what I want to do,” Tupou said Thursday afternoon following a strength and conditioning session with CU strength coach Drew Wilson. “I actually like playing nose a lot better than the 'three' technique (defensive tackle). It will be fun.”

“Fun,” of course, is a relative term. But for Tupou, who is listed at 6-foot-3, 325 pounds, the position fits what he believes to be his strengths.

“I like to grind,” he said. “It's a big-boy position. You have to be hitting on every play. I like that.”

Tupou is attending summer school and participating in summer strength and conditioning workouts. While he says he's by no means in playing shape yet, he still has the look of someone who will catch the eye of NFL scouts before his senior year is over. His name is already popping up on NFL draft lists as a top-20 prospect on the defensive line, and if he has the type of season CU coaches think he's capable of having, his stock will only improve.

There's no reason to think that can't happen. An honorable mention freshman All-American in 2012, he played in 10 games (seven starts) that season and finished with 37 tackles. He followed that up with two years of starting in every game for CU, including a junior season in 2014 when he was eighth on the team in tackles (42) and third in quarterback sacks (3).

But the NFL isn't on Tupou's mind now. Rather, he simply wants to start what he finished when he signed with the Buffs in 2012.

“The time for that stuff (NFL) will come,” Tupou said, “but right now, I just want to focus on school and getting a better record for our team. The main thing is trying to improve with the guys, getting a winning record and a bowl game and finishing my senior year strong.”

While Tupou has shown a talent for rushing the passer, it's not the part of the game he enjoys most. He'd rather play the run — and he'll get plenty of chances next fall. Six of the Pac-12's top eight rushers from last season return this year, including Stanford's Christian McCaffrey and Oregon's Royce Freeman.

“There's always a good feeling when you get to play against the best of the best,” Tupou said. “(McCaffrey) is one of the best backs in the country. It will be fun to play against all of those guys.”

Tupou, listed atop the post-spring “pencil” depth chart, will be part of a defense that is expected to take another significant step forward this season. It will be an upperclassmen-laden group, with as many as seven seniors currently projected as starters. If they accomplish their goals, they'll be remembered as the group that helped the program turn the corner.

That, though, isn't Tupou's incentive. Rather, he believes this team's legacy can be one of continuing to build on the foundation set over the last couple of seasons.

“We don't necessarily want to be the group remembered as making the turnaround, but the group that continued what the guys before us started,” Tupou said. “They set it out for us and we want to carry on what they left. We want the young guys to get that feel of winning so they can carry it on and keep it going.”

But his immediate goal is to get back into the routine of school and get back into football playing shape.

“I still have a ways to go to get in better shape if we're going to do what we want to do on defense this year,” he said. “But I'm working on it and I'll get there.”

And, he had a message for Buffs fans:

“Come out and watch us,” he said. “Don't sleep on us. We'll be worth watching.”

Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu