Vance Washington

Arizona

Nov 1 (Sat)

5:00 p.m.

Position:
Cornerback
Height:
5-10
Weight:
190
Class:
Senior
Hometown:
Friendswood, Texas
High School:
Clear Brook

AT COLORADO: 2006 (Sr.)?He missed almost all of spring drills after suffering a torn ACL in the opening week of practices; he had surgery on April 14 and at one point was making good progress. But he never returned to 100 percent and was sidelined the entire season.

2005 (Jr.)?He saw action in 12 games including the Champs Sports Bowl (did not play at Texas in the regular season). He had entered the season listed second at cornerback, but underwent arthroscopic surgery on a shoulder July 21; upon his return, he had a trial at wide receiver and impressed the coaches to the point where he was moved there on August 18 (changing jersey numbers from 7 to 21 in the process). He ran a reverse for 14 yards in the opener against Colorado State, but did not see much action at receiver and returned to defense midway through the season. He saw plenty of action on special teams, racking up six points with a tackle inside-the-20, a forced fumble and three downed punts inside-the-20. The forced fumble came in the final minute of play with the score tied at 20 at Kansas State, setting the stage for Mason Crosby’s game winning field goal. In the bowl game against Clemson, he partially blocked the Tigers first punt of the game early in the first quarter. In the spring, he was the runner-up in the team’s strength and conditioning competition for the “Speed” group (RB, DB, WR, QB, K/P), as he owned a team-best 40.5 in the vertical jump and the third fastest 40-yard dash time on the team (4.45).

2004 (Soph.-RS)?He was granted a medical redshirt for the season as he underwent shoulder surgery in late August and missed the entire season. He figured to be in the regular rotation as he was one of just two players on the roster with any Division I experience at the position, albeit minimal (19 snaps). He had a solid spring, with nine tackles (eight solo), four pass deflections, three third down stops and a quarterback sack in the three main scrimmages.

2003 (Soph.)?He saw action in all 12 games on special teams and in one on defense: he recorded one solo tackles in 19 snaps at cornerback against Iowa State. He tied for fourth on the team in special team points with seven, on the strength of three four tackles (three solo), a fumble recovery, a knockdown block and a blocked kick. That block was important, as it was an extra point with 8:55 left in the fourth quarter against Kansas; it left the score at 44-38 in favor of the Jayhawks and CU was able to tie the game with two field goals and send it into overtime.

He missed spring practice recovering from a shoulder sublexation, which he suffered in a January car accident.

2002 (Fr.)?He saw action in 12 games, including the Alamo Bowl (no starts), with all the action coming on special teams.

HIGH SCHOOL?As a senior, he earned Super Prep All-Southwest honors, with Rivals.com ranking him as the No. 35 cornerback in the nation. He also earned all-district (24-5A) honors and was invited to play in two unique high school all-star games, in Europe and Australia. He was a second-team all-district selection at running back as a junior. As a senior, he was in on 80 tackles (40 solo), with two for losses, two passes broken up, two recoveries and two forced fumbles. On offense, he caught 27 passes for 200 yards, rushed one time for a 20-yard touchdown, and owned gaudy averages for kickoff (50.0) and punt (34.0) returns. As a junior, he gained over 1,000 yards on just 82 carries, scoring 10 times with a long run of 85. He didn’t play much defense as a junior, but as a sophomore, he was in 15 tackles and had 10 pass deflections and three interceptions playing corner. One of his top games was a 42-13 win over Beaumont Westbrook as a junior, when he rushed 15 times for 187 yards and four touchdowns. Clear Brook was 0-10 his senior year, 6-4 his junior season and 8-2 his sophomore campaign under coach James Smith. He also lettered four times in track, participating in sprints and relays (owned prep bests of 10.27 in the 100 and 21.01 in the 200, placing third in the state in the latter in 2001).

ACADEMICS?He is majoring in sociology at Colorado. An honor roll student in high school, he has consistently maintained a 3.5 grade point average as a prep.

PERSONAL?He was born September 22, 1983 in Houston, Texas. His hobbies include fixing and programming computers, listening to classical music, science fiction movies, riding motorcycles and breeding dogs.