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CU report: DE Brace moves past Herrod

By Paul Willis, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published August 22, 2008 at 7:13 p.m.

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He said it

"It was definitely shocking. You see carpet everywhere, you see nice buildings and you see people with nice cars."

Jameson Davis, on returning to the U.S. after his two-year stint in poverty-stricken Guatemala.

Numbers game

4 Buffs players are out for the year before the regular season kicks off. Shelved are cornerback Benjamin Burney, linebacker Jon Major, guard Mike Iltis and defensive end Drew Hudgins.

Colorado sophomore defensive end Marquez Herrod, right, a highly touted recruit a couple of years back, has been supplanted by junior Jason Brace as No. 1 on the depth chart. "I feel good about it," Brace says.

Photo by Doug Pensinger / Getty Images/2007

Colorado sophomore defensive end Marquez Herrod, right, a highly touted recruit a couple of years back, has been supplanted by junior Jason Brace as No. 1 on the depth chart. "I feel good about it," Brace says.

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One of the eyebrow-raisers on the Buffaloes' latest depth chart was junior defensive end Jason Brace's jump past sophomore Marquez Herrod, a highly touted recruit two seasons ago.

"Marquez and I have been battling it out for a long, long time, and we're still battling it out to this minute," Brace said after Friday's morning practice.

It doesn't appear to be an all-or-nothing situation, as each player figures to receive significant time, regardless of who is anointed the starter. What is clear is that the CU coaching staff likes what it sees from Brace, with head coach Dan Hawkins often pointing out that Brace is one of the strongest players on the team.

"I feel good about it," Brace said. "Anyone who's moved into the No. 1 spot must be doing something right."

Circuitous route

No matter how significant his CU career becomes, Jameson Davis can lay claim to the oddest route taken to Boulder.

After graduating from Eagle High School in Idaho in 2004, the kicker joined Hawkins at Boise State in the spring of 2005. Then he went to Guatemala for two years as part of his mission for the Mormon Church. Upon returning and learning Hawkins had gone to CU, Davis joined the Buffaloes in the spring.

"I love his coaching style," Davis said.

While Aric Goodman appears to have locked up the place-kicking chores, Davis appears the favorite to handle kickoffs. An injury to his left (plant) knee essentially eliminated Davis from consideration for place-kicking, but he's happy with his role for now.

Planning for a new regime

In the past, game-planning for Colorado State consisted of poring over tape of former coach Sonny Lubick's most recent seasons.

But planning for new CSU coach Steve Fairchild's product is quite a different proposition, considering there is no history to study.

"It's tough because you really don't know," Hawkins said. "You just have to be ready to play football."

For a sample of Fairchild's tendencies, the Buffaloes could study tape of last season's Buffalo Bills, where Fairchild was the offensive coordinator. But that could be stretching it a bit.

"You look at every coach's history, everywhere they've been, and try to tie some of that in there," Hawkins said. "But, sometimes,you can complicate things that way, too. There will be a lot of adjustments on game day."

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