BOULDER — While tight end Sean Irwin emerges as an in the Colorado passing game, brother Jeromy sits at home, reduced to cheerleading while rehabilitating a blown out knee.
Jeromy, a triplet with Sean, was CU’s starting left tackle when he went down in the second game of the season with ACL and meniscus damage.
“When he catches a pass,” Jeromy said, “I’m jumping on one leg, screaming at home, yelling at the TV.”
In high school and his first two years at CU, Sean primarily was a blocking tight end, but he’s made some big catches this season. He had a 42-yard reception against Arizona State, a 47-yarder against Arizona, and a 31-yarder against UCLA.
Meanwhile, Jeromy’s absence set in motion a reshuffling of the offensive line which is still causing problems.
“It’s hard to watch, especially with the things the offensive line has been going through,” Jeromy said. “It’s comforting, though, because Sean is really starting to blossom and they’re starting to give him some looks. I was praying for him, hoping he’d get some confidence, and he’s playing well.”
The Irwin brothers love to tease each other. “He’s pretty athletic for a tackle, I’ll give him that,” Sean said. Jeromy gets on Sean about his footwork. Sean tells Jeromy playing tight end is more complicated than tackle.
Seeing Jeromy suffer is hard for Sean, of course.
“It hurts to see him go down because we had a thing,” Sean said. “Jeromy was doing really good, and we really needed him. We have people behind him who are starting to step up. It’s been pretty rough these last two weeks, tensions flaring. He’s just trying to make it through it, and I’m trying to help him the best I can. It’s just weird when I come home and he’s sitting on the couch, telling me, ‘Good game.’ “
The Irwins are from Cypress, Texas. Sean played basketball in high school as well as football, which kept him leaner than Jeromy. Jeromy quit basketball after their freshman season and now stands 6-foot-5, 295 pounds. Sean is 6-foot-3, 245 pounds.
Sean still considers himself a blocking tight end, but one who can make big receptions. It helps that wide receiver Nelson Spruce is so prolific.
“When people see Spruce running routes, they’re like, ‘Oh, he’s probably going to get the ball,’ ” Sean said. “Sometimes he sucks some defenders and they’re like, ‘(Irwin) is a blocking tight end, he’s releasing up the seam, he’s just running a decoy route.’ Then the safety doesn’t see me and there’s a little window.”
Coach Mike MacIntyre said Sean has worked hard to improve his pass-catching skills.
“He has good hands, but just route-running, understanding where to be and how to body a guy,” MacIntyre said. “He’s catching the ball with a lot of confidence, and the quarterback has confidence in him catching the ball.”
The Buffs suffered an excruciating loss last week at UCLA, losing a fourth quarter lead after a huge second half rally. Sean called it “one of the most gut-wrenching losses I’ve ever had.” Jeromy took it hard, too.
“Ugh, I almost broke the TV,” Jeromy said. “It was bad. Those guys played well. That UCLA team was not ready. But we’ve got Stanford this week, we can’t sit here and think about UCLA. Stanford’s way better than UCLA.”
John Meyer: jmeyer@denverpost.com or @johnmeyer
