BOULDER — Patrick Williams, an incredulous look on his face, appeared to be on the verge of laughter.
The question that drove the Colorado senior wide receiver to this emotional state went something like this: How can 5-foot-7, 180-pound cornerback Cha’pelle Brown possibly compete against the big boys in college football?
“Have you ever seen Cha’pelle dunk?” the flabbergasted Williams asked. “Man, he can throw it down. And nobody is more competitive than Cha’pelle.”
As a senior guard at Los Altos High School, just east of Los Angeles, Brown averaged 25 points per game and owned the court. But football is his sport of choice now, and Saturday brings a tall task as the Buffs (3-0) play Florida State (2-1) in Jacksonville, Fla. The Seminoles’ leading receiver is senior Greg Carr (nine catches, 144 yards, one touchdown). At 6-6, Carr will tower over Brown in a one-on-one matchup.
But then, Brown isn’t big on the topic of height, or his lack thereof.
“I don’t even think about it, because I can’t change it, and it’s been that way my whole life,” Brown said. “All I can do is go out there and compete, use the right techniques, make tackles and make plays.”
The junior already owns one of the biggest plays of the Buffs’ season. In the 31-24 victory over Eastern Washington in Week 2, Brown picked off a Matt Nichols pass, returning it 27 yards for the winning touchdown with 1 minute, 44 seconds left. That game-clincher, which helped garner Brown the Big 12 defensive player of the week honors, wasn’t as much about athleticism as it was about football smarts.
“I read the quarterback’s eyes,” Brown recalled. “He got me earlier in the game with the same play, so this time I tried to bait him into throwing it, and he did. I was at the right place at the right time.”
According to CU secondary coach Greg Brown, the cornerback’s sense of time and place is one of his most valuable assets.
“He’s a vision guy. He sees what’s going on and he reacts,” Greg Brown said. “Plus, he’s so quick and athletic. The ball goes up in the air, and more often than not he goes up and gets it. And he’s tough. Boy, will he tackle.”
Cha’pelle Brown’s breakout game came last year in the Buffs’ crazy 65-51 victory over Nebraska. CU coaches voted him defensive player of the game. He had five tackles (three solo) and two third-down stops, broke up two passes and returned an interception 51 yards inside the Huskers’ 5-yard line to set up a touchdown.
Williams has gone head-to-head against Cha’pelle Brown in practice for three years. At 6-2 and 205 pounds, Williams would seem to have a big advantage. Not true, he says.
“He’s unbelievably quick,” Williams said. “He’s quicker out of the break than bigger receivers, and because he’s a student of the game, he knows where the ball’s going.”
In CU’s 17-14 overtime win against West Virginia last Thursday, Brown had eight solo tackles and seven assists. He also had a possible scoring interception in his hands, but the ball bounced out for a Pat White incompletion.
“Cha’pelle does not like to lose — ever,” Williams said. “Whether it’s pickup basketball at the rec center or swimming laps at the pool, he does not like to lose. If we had a thousand Cha’pelles on our team, it would be a coach’s dream.”
Is that true, Coach Brown?
“Absolutely.”
Patrick Saunders: 303-954-1428 or psaunders@denverpost.com
