FORT COLLINS — Hey, Mom, off the record …
All right, that’s a bit of a stretch. But Colorado State junior defensive tackle Terry Jackson, often charged with tying up blockers and taking up space as teammates roam to make the tackle, has a media member in his family.
His mother, is the education reporter for KTUL-TV, an ABC affiliate in Tulsa, Okla.
“I tell her to give me some pointers for when I do interviews,” Jackson said with a smile.
Terry’s father, Terry Sr., helps run
Tulsa funeral home that has been in the family since its 1948 founding.
“I’ve been around it since I’ve been little,” Terry Jr. said, “and it’s something that doesn’t faze me, which is shocking to a lot of people.”
As a sophomore in 2013, the 6-foot-2, 280-pound Jackson played in 12 games and was one of four CSU players who got starts at left defensive tackle as coaches shuffled defensive linemen from position to position, and in and out of the lineup. Jackson has taken over the job this season. Going into Saturday night’s Mountain West game against Nevada in Reno, he ranks sixth among the Rams in total tackles, with 21 — nine unassisted and 12 assisted.
“I look at my job to be a force in the middle, whether it’s taking on double-teams so the linebacker can get to the tackle, or anything else,” Jackson said. “If there’s the opportunity, I want to be the guy to make the tackle.
“I try to look at it as a whole group, the whole defensive line. And I think as unit, we’re doing good, making improvements from week one. I think Boston College was a big week for us and since then, we’ve been climbing.”
CSU head coach Jim McElwain said Jackson has been more effective than his numbers show.
“When a guy on the D-line does his job, sometimes those are guys who don’t get noticed,” McElwain said. “It allows those linebackers to scrape and make plays. And what Terry’s been able to do is play with much better pad level and consistency, and not take plays off. … He’s doing nothing but getting better.”
Jackson often is much shorter than the lineman blocking him.
“I play with a lot of fight,” he said. “I like to play low, and me being not the tallest guy, working against a 6-6, 6-7 guy, gives me a lot of leverage.”
At Owasso High School, just northeast of Tulsa, Jackson was a Tulsa World all-state choice as a senior in 2010, helping the Rams — yes, the Rams — reach the Oklahoma Class 6A semifinals. His football offers from four-year schools came from a handful of Division II programs. He decided against that, and to additionally prove himself on the field and to improve his academic transcript, he attended Coffeyville (Kan.) Community College.
“I had a hungry attitude when I was in junior college,” Jackson said. “I didn’t want to settle for a Division II scholarship. My goal from high school was to play D-I, and the only thing that held me back from that was my grades. I went to the junior college with the mind-set of taking care of my business and getting to that next level.”
He was an all-conference choice in his only season with Coffeyville and enrolled at CSU in January 2013.
“I’m happy here at Colorado State,” he said. “I’m glad I chose this. I love my coaching staff and my teammates. I came here with a hungry attitude, with a chip on my shoulder, ever since high school, with the Division II schools trying to get me to come there and telling me I couldn’t go Division I.”
Last weekend, Jackson made six tackles and half a sack in CSU’s 42-17 victory over Tulsa, the school from his hometown area.
“It was cool,” he said. “I got to play against a lot of guys from back home. I saw some old faces, and to come out with the W, that was the best.”
Terry Frei: tfrei@denverpost.com or twitter.com/TFrei
