BOULDER — The kids are all right. And Colorado’s seniors hold down about a dozen spots in the starting lineup.
The middle classes, however, have not supplied nearly enough depth for the Buffaloes (1-7, 0-4 Pac-12), who haven’t been able to withstand a rash of injuries because of the alarmingly thin roster inherited by first-year coach Jon Embree.
Talk about a difficult assignment: Colorado started three freshmen — cornerback Greg Henderson, safety Kyle Washington and nickel back D.D. Goodson — in the defensive secondary Saturday against Oregon. Other first-year players seeing action on the Buffs’ defensive unit Saturday included linebackers Brady Daigh and Woodson Greer III, linebacker-turned-safety K.T. Tu’umalo and defensive end Juda Parker.
On offense, the Buffaloes depended heavily on a pair of redshirt freshmen: tailback Tony Jones and wide receiver Keenan Canty. Another redshirt freshman, quarterback Nick Hirschman, played the entire second half in place of senior Tyler Hansen (concussion). Punter (Darragh O’Neill) and place-kicker (Will Oliver) also are newbies.
Injuries forced some of the freshmen into the fray. But keep in mind, many beat out sophomores and juniors for those starting jobs.
Without junking the season, Embree is looking toward the future.
“I’m trying to get as many (freshmen) out there as I can as the opportunity arises because I want them to start getting some experience and start speeding up the process of the growing pains,” he said.
How did Colorado’s roster get so doughnut-like, with that hole in the middle? It’s no secret that former coach Dan Hawkins and his recruiters struggled to entice top prospects off disappointing Buffs seasons of 5-7 in 2008 and 3-9 in 2009.
For Saturday’s Pac-12 matchup with No. 23 Arizona State (5-2, 3-1) in Tempe, Colorado may start as few as two sophomores (offensive tackle David Bakhtiari and center Gus Handler) and four juniors (offensive tackle Ryan Dannewitz, linebacker Jon Major, defensive end Will Pericak and safety Ray Polk).
Other possible starters include two sophomores: wide receiver Paul Richardson (if recovered from a knee sprain) and linebacker Derrick Webb (depending on the formation). And junior linebacker Doug Rippy and sophomore offensive tackle Jack Harris are injured starters.
But the sophomore and junior classes pale in comparison to Colorado’s senior group and a class of first-year freshmen that already has 15 eschewing a redshirt. According to CU, that number ties Tennessee for fifth-most true freshmen seeing action this season.
Goodson was a running back until early last week when he was asked if he would be willing to discard his redshirt and help out the secondary at nickel back.
“It was my decision; I was just looking for work,” Goodson said after recording four solo tackles against the Ducks.
Washington, who made his first career start Saturday, said the coaching staff is putting the freshmen in the best possible situations for them to succeed. “It’s just a matter of us grasping it,” he said.
All those teenagers gaining experience for the Buffs could bode well for the future of the program. Until then, expect growing pains.
Injury update. The availability of Colorado senior quarterback Tyler Hansen is day to day for Saturday’s game at Arizona State, CU announced. Hansen suffered a concussion in the second quarter of Saturday’s loss to Oregon. CU lists senior defensive back Jason Espinoza (concussion on Oct. 15 vs. Washington) and junior safety Ray Polk (concussion, wrist, sternum vs. Washington) as probable for the ASU game and senior safety Anthony Perkins (ankle) as questionable. But sophomore receiver Paul Richardson (sprained knee during Oct. 5 practice) is ruled out for his fourth straight game.
Tom Kensler: 303-954-1280 or tkensler@denverpost.com
