Boulder – It must be difficult for Colorado coaches to study Oklahoma’s depth chart and see all that talent. Spotting two Front Range players who start on the Sooners’ offensive line can’t make the task any easier.
Junior center Jon Cooper (6-feet-2, 276 pounds) starred at Fort Collins High School. Junior left tackle Phil Loadholt (6-8, 352) played high school football at Fountain-Fort Carson.
“You don’t want any Colorado guys playing against you; those are good players,” CU coach Dan Hawkins said. “You want the best and brightest staying home and playing for you.”
Everybody appears to be playing at an exceptional level for the third-ranked Sooners (4-0), and the offensive line is no exception. Oklahoma has allowed only two sacks, and running backs are averaging 5.8 yards a carry (252 per game).
“When they put two guys on you, they can open up some big holes,” Colorado defensive tackle George Hypolite said.
Hypolite likely will knock pads with Cooper quite often Saturday at Folsom Field.
“(Cooper) is quick and knows how to play,” Hypolite said. “He seems pretty comfortable in the system. When you see that from a center, you know their offense is clicking.”
A two-year starter, Cooper might well have signed with Oklahoma in any case but said he declined to consider Colorado because the “recruiting scandal” occurred during his senior year.
“(Former CU coach) Gary Barnett was on leave while I was being recruited,” Cooper recalled during a phone interview this week. “I was just hesitant to go into that situation.”
Loadholt, the tallest starter in Oklahoma history, played two seasons at Garden City (Kan.) Community College. He gave an oral commitment to Louisiana State after his first year of junior college. But after learning that some of his credit hours would not transfer to LSU, Loadholt returned for a second year at Garden City and then committed to Oklahoma.
“He’s huge,” Hawkins said.
Cooper was still trying to scrape together some tickets early in the week. This will mark his first football game in his home state since he left for college. He expects to have at least 30 friends and family in the stands.
“Folsom Field is a great venue, and the scenery is awesome,” said Cooper, who attended a recruiting “junior day” at CU during his high school career. “It’s just a great place to play a college football game.”
Footnotes
Hawkins said Wednesday that true freshman Kai Maiava will make his first start, playing at left guard ahead of redshirt freshman Wes Palazzi. … Hawkins spoke with suspended linebacker Michael Sipili and was assured by Sipili that the sophomore will not transfer and will return to the team for spring drills if he is reinstated by the school.
Staff writer Tom Kensler can be reached at 303-954-1280 or tkensler@denverpost.com.
