e-Edition
Sign up for email newsletters
Sign up for email newsletters
e-Edition
Trending:
Of the 17 seniors playing their final game for Colorado State on Friday against New Mexico, only a handful have had the impact that linebacker Dequan Jackson has.
Jackson is a graduate student and Friday’s game will be the end of his fifth year of eligibility.
A member of the CSU program since his freshman year in 2018 and a starter since his sophomore year, Jackson made a strong impression on head coach Jay Norvell, who only got to coach the standout for one year.
“Dequan is an excellent student,” Norvell said. “He is a guy that has really taken advantage of his education. And he has also taken advantage of his football, playing here at CSU. He’s tried really hard to be a great example to the younger players. The guy has really been an example in tough times and he’s committed to this university and he’s committed to this program.”
As a freshman out of Robert E. Lee High School in Jacksonville, Fla., Jackson appeared in 10 games, registering 11 tackles. He was just scratching the surface of what he was capable of.
His sophomore year, he played in all 12 of CSU’s games, starting 11 of them. He had 87 tackles, 6.5 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks. He established himself as a leader on defense.
COVID hit his junior season and he played and started in four games of the shortened season. He had 40 tackles and was a team captain for the first time.
He started every game his senior season, totaling 84 tackles, 8.5 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks.
Following his junior season, he was named All-Mountain West second team and after his senior year, he was named All-Mountain West honorable mention.
So far this season, Jackson has 89 tackles and 5.5 tackles for loss to go along with two forced fumbles.
Even though he has been a captain for three seasons, Jackson has taken on a larger role as a leader on this year’s team — one that featured both a new coach and a significant number of players who left the team during the season.
“It’s been an honor, man,” Jackson said. “A lot of times, it’s the players on the team who get to vote, especially when a new staff comes in. I think the staff has approved of it anyways, but it’s been an honor to lead these guys and have guys look up to me for influence and to take on every challenge that we’ve had and be an example for guys on how to handle it and how to handle adversity.
“I hope the guys have learned from me over the years. Maybe when I will leave out of here, I will inspire some other guys to step up and be a leader.”
As one of the longest tenured Rams, Jackson has endured his share of change and adversity. He played under three coaches — Mike Bobo for two years, Steve Addazio for two years and now Norvell for his final one.
Between his senior season and this one, Norvell came onboard and has really enjoyed getting to know the three-time captain on more than a player-coach level and watching him take a leadership role.
“I just think it’s been great getting to know each other,” Norvell said. “We really spend a lot of time just talking about what’s important in leadership and all the qualities of great leaders and examples of great leadership. Dequan is really taking that seriously and I just think it is going to serve him well the rest of his life.”
Norvell hopes the younger players have learned from Jackson how to handle themselves in tough situations.
Through the coaching changes, Jackson stayed. Then as players began leaving the team early in the season, Jackson was determined to stay loyal and committed and play the rest of his final year.
“I made a commitment to this program and to the team and I never really signed to a coach,” Jackson said. “I appreciate the coaches who assigned me and recruited me. Every coaching staff has been great with me, personally. It’s just one of those things where I look at the commitment I made to my brothers and the guys in that locker room and I could probably look at myself the same way.
“Every time that opportunity comes around, I look at the guys and I realize that this is where I want to be. It hasn’t really been a hard decision to stay here.”
New Mexico is 2-9 on the season and 0-7 in the Mountain West. The Lobos have lost eight games in a row, most recently suffering a 34-10 setback against San Diego State.
The Lobos are led offensively by quarterback Miles Kendrick, who has passed for 863 yards and three touchdowns. However, C.J. Montes got his first start at quarterback last week and passed for 112 yards and had an interception.
Running back Nate Jones leads the ground attack with 534 yards and two touchdowns. Geordon Porter is the team’s leading receiver with 312 yards and two touchdowns.
“We may see a couple of quarterbacks in this game so we really have to be prepared for that,” Norvell said. “They are kind of a spread option team where they try to run their quarterbacks and get their athletes in space.”
Defensively, Cody Moon leads the team in tackles with 97 tackles. He also has 7.5 tackles for loss and 3.5 sacks. Reco Hannah leads the team in sacks with four. Ronald Wilson and A.J. Haulcy each have two interceptions to lead the team.
“Their defense is very difficult, a lot of blitzing, a lot of stunting,” Norvell said. “We just have to be really dialed in to where people are and being able to block movement against these guys.”
CSU leads the all-time series between the two teams, 43-25. The Rams have won the last 11 meetings, including last year’s 36-7 victory in Albuquerque.
We invite you to use our commenting platform to engage in insightful conversations about issues in our community. We reserve the right at all times to remove any information or materials that are unlawful, threatening, abusive, libelous, defamatory, obscene, vulgar, pornographic, profane, indecent or otherwise objectionable to us, and to disclose any information necessary to satisfy the law, regulation, or government request. We might permanently block any user who abuses these conditions.
Sign up for email newsletters
You are stylish, but not trendy. You want the best in fashionable apparel—and you wear it well. And you know…
Physical therapy is an important part of returning to an active life after an injury. But how do you choose…
Skyline Moving is the trusted, licensed and local moving company in Northern Colorado. They can manage your entire door-to-door move,…
Bollards enhance security, protect gates and assist with traffic management. Black Eagle Fence provides expert bollard installation at your property….
You don’t have to live with dirty, stained carpets. The team at Steamway Floor to Ceiling believes that happiness is…
Copyright © 2022 MediaNews Group
source
—
Note that any programming tips and code writing requires some knowledge of computer programming. Please, be careful if you do not know what you are doing…