Pick your poison: Texas Christian All-America defensive end Jerry Hughes bearing down on your quarterback’s head or a whiff of cyanide.
Air Force coach Troy Calhoun, who doesn’t even make his living in the passing game, would take the latter.
“When he’s allowed to live in pass rushing mode, you’re better off drinking cyanide,” Calhoun said on the Mountain West teleconference this week. “He’s an unbelievable edge football player.”
Hughes is synonymous with TCU’s 5-0 record and its charge toward a berth in a Bowl Championship Series game.
Air Force’s option offense was not conducive to typical Hughes stats last weekend. Colorado State’s more balanced attack Saturday is Hughes’ specialty. It’s also strength vs. strength, going against CSU’s veteran offensive line.
“If you give him an edge, he’s going to take it and get around to your quarterback,” said CSU offensive coordinator Greg Peterson.
Hughes, who dumped quarterbacks 15 times last year, already has six sacks this year.
A second-tier tailback recruit from Houston, he enrolled at TCU with dreams of becoming the Horned Frogs’ next LaDainian Tomlinson. Instead, he saw a No. 98 jersey hanging in his locker. At defensive end, he became the most decorated Horned Frog since Tomlinson.
“I grew taller and wider,” Hughes said of his expansion from 6-feet-1 to 6-3 and adding 40 pounds of menacing bulk.
There are no regrets, even if he admits to joking with TCU coach Gary Patterson about getting in just one play in the backfield.
“I really don’t think I want to go back to being a running back now that I’ve played defense,” Hughes said. “Taking all that punishment running backs do, I don’t think that’s something I want to go through again.”
The speed, agility and pass-catching skills Hughes demonstrated in high school might pay off at the NFL level. He is widely projected as an outside linebacker in a 3-4 defense.
For all the praise he’s earned and first-round draft projections, Hughes has remained humble. Fixing his computer to take an online course was more important to him than getting to an awards banquet.
He’s taking 18 credits this semester so he can finish with just six in the spring when he prepares for his NFL workouts.
“Once you take the step to the NFL, it’s hard to come back and go through school. This is a better path for me,” he said.
It’s all about paying back his parents for their support.
“They were happy at Clemson in the pouring rain (TCU won 14-10) and they were happy at Air Force when it was nine degrees,” Hughes said.
Natalie Meisler: 303-954-1295 or nmeisler@denverpost.com
