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Brooks: Hirschman's Focus
On Sr. Win - Nothing Else
BOULDER - Nick Hirschman's head
is clear, his mind bright, his spirit goofy. That's what his
Colorado teammates have come to know and more often than not love
about him.
Hirschman could be viewing Friday's game against
Utah as a launch platform for spring drills and beyond. But he's
not, although he is due to make his second start of the season at
quarterback, returning from a concussion that sidelined him for
last week's loss against Washington.
Come spring, CU's severely unsettled QB position
will have a roomful of competitors - six, including Hirschman, with
at least one more on the way come fall. So, wouldn't it be
fortuitous for Hirschman to treat this season's final game as
perhaps a chance to create some separation for the future?
If it happens, so be it . . . but don't even
suggest it.
"No, that's too far away to look at it like
that," Hirschman said. "All of us on this team are focused on
getting this win, a home win, a win for the seniors. Our minds
aren't anywhere but there right now. This game is really about the
seniors rather than all of us in that auditorium."
CU's 2012 senior class is among its smallest,
numbering only eight. They are: linebackers Jon Major and Doug
Rippy, defensive lineman Will Pericak, safety Ray Polk, receiver
Dustin Ebner, tight end Nick Kasa and offensive linemen Ryan
Dannewitz and Eric Richter. Also, a trio of fourth-year juniors
will say goodbye to Buffs football on Friday - receiver Jarrod
Darden, tight end DaVaughn Thornton and kicker Zach
Grossnickle.
CU coach Jon Embree called the 2012 senior class
"not a vocal group by any stretch of the imagination, which is OK.
They're more lead-by- example players. How they worked and how they
prepared week-in and week-out, a lot of them playing not quite
being 100 percent, all those things were good for the younger kids
to see."
Hirschman, a third-year sophomore, was among
those who took notice. The departing players, he said, have "put in
four or five years of work here and unfortunately didn't have a lot
to show for it due to bad circumstances and things of that sort. A
great way to honor them is to go out and get them a win on their
Senior Day. That's the main goal of this team right
now."...more
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