What is the world’s biggest oxymoron? How about 6-foot-7, 318-pound Cole Pemberton playing weak tackle for Colorado State?
“The strong-side linemen like to talk trash about that,” Pemberton says with a chuckle. “But we’re more athletic than them; we just say we’re on the quick side.”
With four seniors starting along the offensive line, there’s been lots of time for jocularity. But right now, more than anything else, the Rams (3-5, 0-4 Mountain West) would like to snap a five-game losing streak with a victory Saturday against Air Force at Hughes Stadium.
“Our team morale is good; it’s better than everybody moping around,” Pemberton said. “We just need to get that win.”
With three losses in their last four games, it’s not as if the Falcons (4-4, 3-2) are exactly flush. But coach Troy Calhoun feels there may be some extenuating circumstances at work.
“I think we’ve both played some extremely hard schedules recently,” he said. “I think both of these teams are better than their records may show.”
Saturday’s game represents the start of the final third of Pemberton’s regular-season career, a time that, already likely to lead to thoughts of what-ifs and what-was, can also cause one to ponder what will be.
In Pemberton’s case, that could very well be the NFL. According to Ron Burton, a former professional player who currently coaches the defensive line for Air Force, the pros certainly won’t dismiss a player capable of moving from one side of the line of scrimmage to the other, as Pemberton does for the Rams, one reason why the senior has “a great opportunity.”
Pemberton spent most of his high school years in Shawnee Mission, Kan., but his family moved to Highlands Ranch before his senior season and he finished out at Mountain Vista, and was one of seven linemen in CSU’s 2005 recruiting class.
Pemberton says he and his fellow senior linemen — Adrian Martinez, Shelley Smith and Tim Walter — admit to knowing that potentially there’s something waiting for them out there.
“All of us want to keep playing. In the back of your mind, you know there’s a little more riding on how you play this year, that there is the future,” he said. “But on a list of goals, everything with my team is going to come first before anything for myself.
“You always have to keep the future in mind and prepare for it, but the way I feel is that if the team is succeeding, then the individual success will come as well.”
That’s the type of attitude which has endeared Pemberton to his teammates and coaches.
“It’s what I would expect from him,” CSU offensive line coach Pat Meyer says. “He’s not a big-headed kid, running around saying, ‘I’m an NFL guy.’
“A lot of guys, good players, walk around acting like they’re good players. Cole acts like he’s an underclassman who just wants to get better for the team.”
Pemberton has started all but two games in three seasons. He admits to spending his Sundays watching some of the players he hopes will be his peers at this time next year.
“I watch the Joe Thomases, the Marcus McNeils, all those guys. You try to watch their footwork, what they’re doing with their hands,” he said. “If you want to be good, you have to get to the point where you can do the things they can do.
“When the Broncos are on, I definitely try to watch (Ryan) Clady. I remember when he came out of Boise State, I thought he had quick hands and could play — now everybody knows how great he is.”
Whether he finds a home anchoring the left side of an NFL line or the right, one thing that would definitely change for Pemberton is the digits on his jersey — league rules don’t allow tackles to wear numbers in the 50s.
“That won’t be a big deal. It was the number that they just gave me when I got here,” he said of perhaps being the only No. 53 playing tackle in college football. “I never thought about changing it — (former Ram) Mike Brisiel told me that was the number he wanted when he came here.
“I didn’t mind it. I always thought a number was just a number, but now I like it — I’m glad I stuck with it.”
Anthony Cotton: 303-954-1292 or acotton@denverpost.com
Three questions for CSU
1. In a classic matchup of weakness vs. weakness, will Air Force be tempted to pass against Colorado State’s severely ailing secondary? The Rams have fallen to 116th nationally, yielding 279 yards through the air. AFA has been so successful on the ground that, as usual, the Falcons haven’t had to throw very much. Conversely, teams haven’t tried to keep it on the ground vs. CSU.
2. With the possible return of running back Leonard Mason from a rib injury, will the Rams go back to a running game by committee? Mason and John Mosure haven’t proved the ability to play an entire game. One or the other has been injured much of the season. More competition would further help keep the pressure off QB Grant Stucker.
3. After squandering two-touchdown leads in three of the past four games and getting routed by TCU after taking a 6-0 lead, can CSU ever win after trailing? The Rams’ defensive woes have compounded in the second half of the past three games. The team can’t help but be nervous if it sees another early edge on the scoreboard. Offense also needs a second-half spark.
Natalie Meisler, The Denver Post
