BOULDER — On the coldest New Year’s Day in memory, then Boulder High School senior Will Pericak joined the brave in the Polar Bear Plunge and ran into the frigid water of Boulder Reservoir.
“Never again,” Pericak said this week. “It’s the coldest my feet ever have been. (But) it’s one of the things you have to experience in Boulder.”
Almost equally distressful for a college student on vacation, Pericak got up in the predawn hours on Memorial Day. That was all for a good cause, though, manning Bolder Boulder water stations.
If the Colorado Buffaloes’ 6-foot-4, 285-pound junior defensive tackle had more Boulder spirit in him, he’d run the Bolder Boulder, climb the Flatirons and ride a bike up Boulder Canyon. He only regrets he was born too late for the Halloween Mall Crawl.
Another thing Pericak learned since he arrived at Boulder Community Hospital: It’s CU’s duty to beat Colorado State.
“I grew up with the tradition of this rivalry,” he said. “It means a lot. It’s one of those games with bragging rights on the line.”
He remembers well the CU-CSU games at Folsom Field in the 1990s. “It was wild. The crowd was into it. It’s the kind of environment I love to play in,” he said.
Pericak gets his chance again Saturday in the Rocky Mountain Showdown at Sports Authority Field at Mile High. It’s also a source of family pride for him; his parents are CSU graduates.
The Rams wanted to sign Pericak, but his heart was at home in Boulder.
A starter in every game of his career, he has taken well to CU’s new defensive front. He was credited with five tackles against Cal last week.
Now the CU defense is preparing for CSU sophomore quarterback Pete Thomas, a pure pocket passer.
“He doesn’t run as much (as other QBs), but they have a good running game and they know how to get the ball moving,” Pericak said.
It was because of Pericak that nearly 50,000 fans lingered on the edge of their seats at Folsom Field into overtime last weekend. He blocked an extra point early in the game, a point that proved crucial at game’s end.
“The guard I went up against, he got the better part of me last year at Cal and I owed him one,” he said.
One of the nation’s top linebacker recruits coming out of high school, he was briefly ticketed for tight end upon arrival at CU. But he was placed on the defensive line as soon as he reported for a redshirt year in 2008.
“Will is such a good kid,” said CU defensive tackles coach Mike Tuiasosopo. “He is smart. He understands the game. He got himself better over the summer just from the physical standpoint. . . . Part of the deal for Will is his understanding what we expect, schematically and technique-wise.”
Footnotes.
Who will play offensive tackle for CU on Saturday remains a mystery, with David Bakhtiari and Ryan Dannewitz battling injuries. Both were on the practice field Wednesday. “A lot will depend on how they are feeling (today),” coach Jon Embree said. . . . CU has sold more than 36,000 tickets. CSU has passed 16,000. “We had a great crowd last week (for the Cal game) and they really did a good job of helping us,” Embree said.
Natalie Meisler: 303-954-1295 or nmeisler@denverpost.com
