Chad Cusworth

Arizona

Nov 1 (Sat)

5:00 p.m.

Position:
Outside Linebacker
Height:
5-11
Weight:
215
Class:
Senior
Hometown:
Highlands Ranch, Colo.
High School:
Thunder Ridge

AT COLORADO: 2006 (Sr.)?He saw action in seven games, all on special teams; he had three special team points on the year, as he had three tackles (one solo).

2005 (Jr.)?He saw action in all 13 games including the Champ Sports Bowl (no starts), all on special teams. He tied for fifth in special team points with six, as he had three tackles (one inside-the-20), a forced fumble and a wedge break.

2004 (Soph.)?He was to enter the fall listed third at outside linebacker, but he required knee surgery after he tore his ACL the first day of fall practice and went on to miss the entire season. He switched to outside linebacker from safety as the newly created position in CU’s defensive scheme provided a challenge for him, and the need was there for depth. He responded well to the move, as he registered 10 tackles, including five solo, one for a loss and a third down stop in the three main spring scrimmages. He had five of those tackles in the spring game despite playing with a sprained elbow.

2003 (Fr.-RS)?He did not see any game action, but dressed for eight games in all. He practiced at safety the entire year.

2002 (Fr.)? Redshirted; practiced the entire fall with the team after joining the squad as a walk-on for August drills.

HIGH SCHOOL ? As a senior, he earned Class 4A first-team all-state defensive honors at linebacker (The Denver Post), first-team All-Prairie League honors and academic all-state honorable mention accolades. He had 131 tackles, with 88 solo and 11? quarterback sacks as a senior, including a monster game in a 7-3 win over Broomfield for the 4A championship. In that contest, he recorded 17 tackles (all solo), with one sack, a pass broken up and two touchdown-saving tackles. He also had three forced fumbles, two recoveries and an interception. He recorded 95 tackles and five interceptions as a junior. ThunderRidge was 13-1 his senior season, winning the 4A state title, and was 8-3 his junior year under coach Joe Johnson; TRHS was 11-1 his sophomore season under coach Marty Heaton; his teams won league championships as a soph and junior. In addition to the three letters he earned in football, he also lettered four times in baseball, as ThunderRidge was the league champion his sophomore and senior years (he lettered as a frosh at Pueblo County High School). He played centerfield and earned honorable mention all-league honors as a senior, when TRHS went to the 5A Regionals. He also lettered in hockey as a freshman at Pueblo County.

ACADEMICS?He is majoring in business (management) at Colorado. He earned second-team Academic All-Big 12 honors as a junior. He owned a 3.5 grade point in high school (a perfect 4.0 as a freshman), and was an honorable mention academic all-state team member (baseball) as a senior.

PERSONAL?Born November 19, 1983 in Pueblo, Colo. He lived in Pueblo through his freshman year of high school (attended Pueblo County High School), and then moved to Highlands Ranch. His hobbies include hunting, fishing, camping, and skiing. Astronaut Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon, is a distant cousin. Several colleges recruited him out of high school to play baseball.