BOULDER — Valley Christian High School in San Jose, Calif., had a pretty remarkable offensive backfield in 2012. Tailback Byron Marshall went on to be a standout running back and wide receiver at Oregon. Another tailback, Ryan Severson, became a linebacker at Colorado. Yet another tailback, Jarrod Lawson, is a running back at San Jose State. Jay MacIntyre was the quarterback.
The best of them was Severson, who also played linebacker.
“He was an awesome high school player,” said MacIntyre, son of CU coach Mike MacIntyre and a redshirt freshman receiver for the Buffs. “He was the all-star of our team. He’s one of the best high school players I’ve ever seen.”
One Bay Area newspaper named Severson the area’s offensive player of the year, but to Mike MacIntyre, Severson stood out for his defensive prowess.
“When you watched him play in high school, he was all over the field,” MacIntyre said. “He made every play, just flying past everybody.”
On Saturday, Severson becomes a huge player for the Buffs. Long a special-teams standout, he will get the first start of his career at inside linebacker at Arizona State because of a leg injury to Kenneth Olugbode, who had started 17 consecutive games.
“Very excited,” said Severson, a junior. “It’s always a dream to start. It’s been two years. I’ve been playing a lot of special teams. I’ve also been getting in on second and third downs, so I’ve had the playing time, I just never had the actual start. It’s going to be cool to get in there and play an actual full game.”
The Buffs now have lost both first-string inside linebackers. Rick Gamboa had to step in when Addison Gillam went down in the third game.
“I think Ryan will be fine,” Gamboa said. “He’s been here three years, getting thrown in games for all three years that he’s been here. The past couple games when we put him in second (down) and third situations, he’s made some pretty big plays for us. Since Kenneth is down, he obviously has a big spot to fill. He knows he has to play at a high level, and we all trust that Ryan is going to do it. He’s very fast, he’s smart, he knows what he’s doing.”
Having both first-string inside linebackers out going into the second Pac-12 game might be a source of concern for CU fans, and Gamboa acknowledges there is pressure.
“Addison, he’s been starting the last two years,” Gamboa said. “K.O., same thing. They’re leaders. They’re captains. It just puts us in a position where we have to step up our game — maybe not worry about making the big plays but focusing on our jobs. The big plays will come. If you try to make a big play, you’re trying to do too much. As long as you focus on you, doing your job and being vocal, I think we’ll be good.”
A redshirt freshman, the 6-foot, 230-pound Gamboa made his first start against Colorado State and contributed a huge play in the fourth quarter. Recognizing a screen pass was coming because of the formation CSU was in, Gamboa hit running back Dalyn Dawkins as the ball arrived and it popped up into the air. Olugbode caught it and turned it into a 60-yard pick-six.
CSU was successful on a previous screen, but Gamboa was wise to the play the next time the Rams tried it.
“You could see him calling it out because it was the same set,” MacIntyre said. “He sees it and he breaks on it. He didn’t have to have reps in practice. He saw it once and got it. He has kind of a photographic memory, and I think that helps him a lot.”
Now the Buffs are hoping Severson is up to the task for his first start, too. At 5-foot-10, 205 pounds, Severson is undersized for a linebacker — 3 inches shorter than Olugbode and 15 pounds lighter. Severson leads the Buffs in special-teams tackles this season (eight) and will remain on kickoff and punt coverage because he is so valuable there, but he won’t be part of the return teams so he can rest his legs.
“Speed is my main asset — I utilize that on special teams a lot — being able to run with backs, wide receivers,” Severson said. “And being a little bit short, I can get a little bit lower than a lot of linemen and be just as physical.”
He has another asset MacIntyre prizes:
“He’s what I would call a warrior.”
John Meyer: jmeyer@denverpost.com or @johnmeyer
