FORT COLLINS — Brandon Owens waited out his freshman redshirt year and watched then-incumbent seniors Joey Rucks and Darryl Williams man Colorado State’s cornerback positions.
Owens knew his turn would come. He said Wednesday that he just didn’t imagine how many practice turns he would receive this fall.
“We’re going to be able to play tired out there,” Owens said of the conditioning work for the thinned-out cornerback ranks. “I knew with the senior corners leaving last year, I’d have to step up and take a leadership role.”
The thinnest position on the squad has only shrunk in camp.
“I was concerned with (cornerback depth) last spring,” CSU coach Steve Fairchild said. “Throw an incident and an injury or two, and it gets even thinner. We understand injuries are part of the game. There will never be an excuse.”
Owens and walk-on transfer Nick Oppenneer took over last spring while several candidates were sidelined with injuries. Sophomore DeAngelo Wilkinson, the most experienced returning cornerback, is on indefinite suspension.
Oppenneer watched practice with a boot on the ankle he sprained Tuesday. It’s unknown when he will return, although Fairchild expects him back before the first game.
The cornerbacks didn’t even have their position coach Wednesday. Tim Duffie was excused from practice because his wife was scheduled to give birth to their first child.
Fort Hays State transfer Scott Zick and redshirt freshman Ivory Herd saw more work. The staff is also keeping an eye on true freshman Gerard Thomas, who picked off a Klay Kubiak pass and returned it to the end zone.
“We don’t need anyone else. It’s our core group,” Zick said. “We just help each other out. No position is set in stone, and we want to put pressure on each other to do better.”
Zick returned home to Fort Collins last year.
“I played at Fort Hays (in Kansas), but I couldn’t be there for four years of my life. So I moved back here,” the Fort Collins High alum said.
Footnotes.
Kubiak, a redshirt freshman from Regis and younger brother of starting safety Klint Kubiak, saw his most extensive work with the second unit. . . . Besides Oppenneer, wide receiver Ryan Gardner was in a boot with an ankle sprain. True freshman receivers Marquise Law and Byron Steele continued to impress the staff.
Natalie Meisler: 303-954-1295 or nmeisler@denverpost.com
