Colorado University Athletics
BARREAU'S LONG ROAD TO CU PAYING OFF
by Erich Schubert, SID Student Assistant
From Colorado Springs’ Cheyenne Mountain to Kyrgyzstan’s Pamir Alay Mountains to the Boulder flatirons, Terrance Barreau has become a veteran in alteration and adjustment.
Barreau (pronounced buh-row) is CU's starting split guard, and at age 24, he is the oldest player on the Buffaloes. His age is indication of the meandering road he took to get to Boulder.
Barreau hails from Aurora, Colo., where he attended Gateway High School and earned first-team all-state honors as a senior. He went on to attend the Air Force Academy Prep School in Colorado Springs for the 1997-98 school year, and was the team's most valuable player on offense.
His time at prep school led him to enroll at the Air Force Academy.
“It was a family decision,” he said. “I wanted to really focus on academics. Football was something that was kind of secondary to school.”
Barreau spent his first semester at the academy focusing on academics. His next year he was ready to contribute to the Falcons as he recorded 24 knockdown blocks as a backup offensive tackle. Prior to the season, Barreau had completed Combat Survival Training. He also completed Operations Air Force and was a member of the cadet squadron 10.
During his sophomore season in 2000, Barreau was starting to emerge as one of the best linemen in the Mountain West Conference. After starting the first six games, however, he left the team determined that military life was not for him.
“It was a good decision and I don’t regret it,” he said. “The Air Force Academy isn’t for everybody. Either you’re really into it or you’re not.”
Falcon Head Coach Fisher DeBerry was supportive of Barreau and made contingent plans with Colorado Head Coach Gary Barnett to send him north to CU in 2001.
Things didn't work out, as Barreau would have liked though. Because he had already spent three years at the academy, he had to come to the realization that he owed the government two years of service or thousands of dollars in tuition and expenses.
In the spring of 2001, leaving the confines of the U.S. for the first time, Barreau was deployed to Kyrgyzstan (wedged in between Kazakhstan and China) working in security police detail.
“It was a great experience,” Barreau said. “It was right after September 11, so we were building a base and supporting Operation Enduring Freedom.”
Barreau was part of a contingency response group which landed in Kyrgyzstan and had to secure the ground.
“We got the troops into the air base,” Barreau said. “It was cold though. It wasn’t like any cold I had ever experienced. But we got in and got the job done.”
He said they had a few incidents here and there but overall it was a good experience for him, noting emphatically that he regrets none of his choices or experiences.
After serving the rest of his military obligation at Seymour Johnson AFB in North Carolina, Barreau returned to Colorado in 2003 and practiced all season on the Buffs' offensive line. Being out of football for awhile and with his experience playing in the Falcons' run-oriented offense, Barreau took some time to learn a new offense, but his fundamentals were prevalent and offensive line coach Dave Borbely could tell he had a player who had played Division I football.
“Terrance hadn’t played football in almost two-and-a-half years so everything was a big adjustment for him, and particularly the pass protection part of it,” Borbely said. “But he’s a smart guy, he’s a good athlete and he’s a leverage player. It took him a year
but he picked it up pretty quickly.”
Borbely, who is in his third year as the Buffs' offensive line coach, has worked with Barreau to help turn him into a starting guard for the Buffs.
“I feel like I’ve seen a lot of the situations we’ve been in and been through a lot of stuff,” Barreau said. “I felt a little hesitant coming into a team that I hadn’t been involved in, but I think I've done pretty well. Coach Borbely is a great coach and he's really worked with me on my technique and I think I've got it down pretty well.”
Through 10 games Barreau has 16 knockdown blocks, third most of all the O-linemen and is tied for a team-best six touchdown blocks in 514 snaps from scrimmage. He has allowed solely one-half sack, as the line has allowed just eight total out of 330 passing plays, a pretty good ratio.
Although he's starting for the Buffs, Barreau still holds his prep school mentality that a student-athlete is a student first. He is set to graduate with a finance degree in May. After graduation he wants to pursue a career in corporate finance.
“Once football is over, that’s what going to school is for and that’s what the degree is all about,” he said.
Barreau’s age and maturity level have put him in position to be a leader on the team, although it’s a status that he merits by example.
“I don’t think his leadership role is automatic,” Borbely said. “I think it’s something that he’s earned. The players look up to him because he’s an older guy and particularly because of his work ethic. He does a great job out here and I think that’s how he’searned his stripes at our place.”