LOS ANGELES — First-year Colorado coach Jon Embree and his former boss, current UCLA coach Rick Neuheisel, have a running joke that must have caused some good-natured ribbing Tuesday at the Pac-12 football preview.
Embree’s son, Taylor Embree, is a senior wide receiver and a starter at UCLA, and he will play his final home game at the Rose Bowl on Nov. 19.
The opponent that day will be his dad’s team.
“It’s going to be our senior day,” Neuheisel said. “So when the players get honored and run down the line before the game to meet with their family, I tell Jon that I want him out there.”
Neuheisel acknowledged that it might be a bit awkward for an opposing coach to join others in the UCLA family. But, hey, the parents of every senior player are expected to be on the field for the celebration.
“I’m still trying to talk Jon into it,” Neuheisel said with a chuckle.
A Denver native, Taylor played high school football in the Kansas City, Kan., area while Jon was an NFL assistant coach with the Chiefs.
Taylor has finished no lower than second among the Bruins in receptions during his three seasons at UCLA. His career numbers: 117 catches for 1,548 yards and two touchdowns.
Embree to Buffs: Let’s get physical.
Embree said Tuesday what he told his team all spring. He wants to make the Buffaloes more physical.
“I want to improve the identity of our program,” Embree said. “When people see us play, I want them to understand we’re a physical program, a physical team and able to run the football. We haven’t run the football like we should.
“When Colorado was successful in the past, we were a good running team. To be a good team and run the football, you have to have a physical mind-set.”
Other highlights from Embree:
• On recruiting California: “We have to get to where we’re recruiting this state effectively. We have four or five kids committed from California currently in this cycle. We have to continue to improve on that.”
• On senior quarterback Tyler Hansen: “For Tyler to be effective, I look at touchdown-interception ratio. If he’s throwing a lot of TDs and not many interceptions, I’ll be happy with it. My last year at UCLA, Drew Olson was overshadowed. But he had 37 touchdowns and four interceptions. I’ll take that every year.
“I wish (Hansen) was a junior.”
Roster update.
CU announced that two players who signed in February, offensive lineman Alex Kelly and running back Rashad Hall, will not be on the roster this fall. Kelly fractured an ankle in June while playing football on a beach and will “grayshirt” — meaning he will delay enrolling at CU until January to preserve a year of eligibility.
Hall didn’t qualify academically and plans to enroll at a junior college. According to CU, Hall still has a goal of playing for the Buffs.
No byes taking a breather.
Players from other Pac-12 teams shook their heads in amazement when informed that Colorado will play 13 consecutive weeks this season without an open date.
NCAA rules allow teams that play a road game against Hawaii to schedule a 13th game. Revenue generated from the additional game will help defray the expenses of traveling to Hawaii.
“Thirteen games? That is a grind right there, that’s rough,” Utah offensive lineman Tony Bergstrom said of CU’s 2011 schedule. “I mean, the usual 12 games is tough enough. When you’re playing week in and week out, your body takes a toll.
“You feel you’re about 100 years old by the end of the season.”
Beachwear encouraged.
UCLA’s Neuheisel, on the difference between the Big 12 and CU’s new conference, the Pac-12:
“I love the cities to visit in the Pac-12, no disrespect to Waco and Ames and Manhattan; those are wonderful spots,” Neuheisel said. “But the environments that you visit in the Pac-12 are exciting places. Of course, now I have to make sure that Baylor, Iowa State and Kansas State are never on our future schedules.”
