Colby Pursell

Delaware

Sep 6 (Sat)

1:30 PM

Photo by: Casey Paul

Photo by: Tony Harman

kd nixon touchdown vs. oregon state 2018

Photo by: Maggie Still

Position:
Offensive Line
Height:
6-4
Weight:
305
Class:
Sophomore
Hometown:
Valencia, Calif.
High School:
Hart

AT COLORADO: He has played in 22 career games with 20 career starts, the most of any returning offensive player and third on the team behind Nate Landman (29) and Carson Wells (22).
This Season (Jr.-2)—CU's nominee for the Rimington Award, given to the nation's top center … Named fourth-team Preseason All-Pac-12 by Athlon.
2020 (Jr.)—Started and played in three games including the Alamo Bowl, missing the other three due to injury … Started the season opener against UCLA and played in the first 66 snaps before being injured, then returned for the regular season finale against Utah, playing in all 66 snaps against the Utes and in all 79 against Texas in the Alamo Bowl … In the two regular season games, he had 103 plus plays out of 132 for an average of 78 percent, best on the team … He had five touchdown blocks, three perfect plays on passing touchdowns and one knockdown block, allowing just 1.5 pressures and committing one penalty … Along with the starting offensive line, he was named the Offensive Player of the Game for the UCLA game when the Buffs racked up 525 yards of offense, 264 rushing and 261 passing … The offensive line also picked up a Midseason Unit of Interest nod from the Joe Moore Award, given to the top offensive line in the nation … He was on the preseason watch lists for the Rimington Award (top center) and one of 114 on the official watch list for the Danny Wuerffel Award (community service) … He was named honorable mention on the Academic All-Colorado team by the state chapter of the National Football Foundation.
2019 (Soph.)—He was named to the NFF/Colorado Chapter All-Academic honorable mention team … He played in seven of 12 games, starting five … He missed five games in the middle of the season due to illness … In all he played in 333 snaps on offense and graded out to 83.9 percent with 29 knockdown blocks, eight perfect plays on passing touchdowns and four touchdown blocks … He started the first four games of the year before missing the next five … He came back for the final three games of the year, which includes wins over Stanford and Washington, and started the season finale at Utah … Against Washington, he had his best game grading out to 92.7 percent, the top game grade for any offensive lineman on the season … He was named the team's Offensive Player of the Game for the season finale against Utah … He was named Preseason third-team All-Pac-12 by Phil Steele ahead of the season.
2018 (Fr.-RS)—Named to the Colorado Chapter of the National Football Foundation All-Colorado second team … Was a finalist for CU Freshman of the Year (all sports) … Given the Byron R. White Leadership Award at the school's Academic Breakfast … Named honorable mention to both the Colorado Chapters of the NFF All-Academic and the Pac-12 All-Academic teams … Started all 12 games at center … When he started at Colorado State to open the season, he became just the third freshman to start a season opener at center, joining past CU All-Americans Bryan Stoltenberg and Andre Gurode … Played 830 snaps on offense, most among offensive linemen and all but 40 snaps in the season … Had only missed five snaps on offense until the final game of the season … Graded out to 2.53 on the season with 13 touchdown blocks, 13 perfect plays on passing touchdowns and 12 knockdown blocks … Alongside Frank Filip and Will Sherman, became the first trio of freshmen linemen to start a game in CU history for the Oregon State and Arizona game … At the conclusion of spring practice, he was selected by the coaches as the winner of the John Wooten Award given to a single player with an outstanding work ethic … In the team’s strength and conditioning testing at the end of the spring semester he power cleaned 325 pounds and squatted 500 pounds (third-best squat on the team).
2017 (Fr.)—Redshirted; he joined the team in January as a grayshirt … At the team’s end-of-spring strength testing, he power cleaned 315 pounds … During the fall of 2016 while he sat out of competition, he helped coach at his high school alma mater.

HIGH SCHOOL—A two-year starter at offensive tackle, he earned first-team All-Foothill League honors as a senior, despite missing the first four games of the season with a knee injury … Upon his return, he helped his team average 150-plus yards rushing and over 200 yards passing per game, allowing just two quarterback sacks while only being called for a single penalty … He played on the junior varsity as a sophomore, but was promoted to the varsity for the playoffs when Hart made a run to win the CIF Southern Section championship; even though he saw limited action, he called the playoff run his top moment in his high school career … Under coach Mike Herrington, Hart was 7-4 his senior year, 8-4 his junior season and 12-3 during the championship sophomore campaign.

ACADEMICS—He graduated from Colorado with a degree in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and is pursing a master's degree in Organizational Leadership … He was named to the NFF/Colorado Chapter All-Academic team honorable mention in both 2019 and '20 … An honor roll student in high school, he owned a 3.7 grade point average, earning straight A’s his junior year.

PERSONAL—He was born on October 14, 1998 in Santa Clarita, Calif. … Hobbies include camping, working out (owned a 365-pound bench press as a prep) and scuba diving; in fact, he is a certified rescue diver (which he attained when he was 15). (Last name is pronounced per-sell)