Colorado has yet to announce who will coach its football team in 2023, but that hasn’t stopped the recruiting train from rolling along.
On Monday, Morgan Pearson, a three-star athlete from Ardmore, Okla., announced his commitment to the Buffs for the 2023 recruiting class.
Pearson visited CU last weekend and was also considering Michigan State. According to 247Sports.com, he has 14 offers, including form Iowa State, Minnesota, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Pittsburgh and Texas Tech.
Listed at 6-foot-3, 220 pounds, Pearson played receiver and safety at Plainview (Okla.) High School.
CU is still in the process of finding a replacement for former head coach Karl Dorrell, who was fired on Oct. 2. Despite the coaching shift, CU has 20 players verbally committed for the 2023 class, with four of them committing this month.
In addition to Pearson, linebacker Victory Johnson (San Diego), receiver Jordan Onovughe Santa Ana, Calif.) and cornerback Jordan Shaw (Downey Calif.) have all committed this month.
Roddick enters transfer portal
On Monday, CU left guard Casey Roddick put his name into the NCAA transfer portal, according to 247Sports. Although the portal window doesn’t open for most FBS players until Dec. 5, graduate transfers can put their name in at any time. Roddick, who has spent the last five seasons at CU, is a graduate transfer.
Roddick, who was a team captain, started all 12 games, including 10 at left guard and two at right tackle this season. Overall, he has started the last 22 games, the longest active streak on the team. Roddick has played in 42 games, 30 as a starter, since coming to CU out of Ventura, Calif., in 2018.
After Saturday’s 63-21 loss to Utah, Roddick said he had not made up his mind on returning for 2023, adding, “At the end of the day, if you leave or not, you’re gonna have another head coach regardless. So I mean, at the end of the day, it’s still football.”
Players who put their name into the transfer portal can still return to their current team.
Reed looking ahead
Over the past two seasons, sophomore cornerback Nikko Reed has been one of the top young players on the Buffs’ roster.
Following the loss to Utah, Reed said he’s not focused on CU’s coaching situation, but rather on his own development.
“What I’m looking forward to is just keep on growing,” he said. “I’m not really worried about any coach changes. Just worry about myself and focus on what I can control.”
Beginning Dec. 5, players can put their name in the transfer portal. Reed didn’t talk about the portal, but hinted he could be back at CU next year when he said, “I’m gonna take the offseason, come back and do spring again and keep working.”
Reed, who has two seasons of eligibility remaining, started all 12 games for the Buffs this season. He had 43 tackles, three tackles for loss and a team-best two interceptions. He also led the team with seven pass breakups.
Also CU’s top kickoff returner, he had 430 yards on 19 returns (23.6 average).
Kopp’s future
After getting his first taste of college football last Saturday, redshirt freshman quarterback Maddox Kopp said he’s not sure what his future looks like as the Buffs go through a coaching change.
“I have no idea what can happen,” he said. “If I’m back, if I’m not, I really have no idea. I want to be here. I love this place. I love the town. I love Boulder. The mountains, I don’t have that in Houston. I love this place and I want to be here but I mean there’s things that are out of my control.”
Kopp, who transferred to CU from Houston last winter, was sixth on the depth chart early in the season. However, with injuries and other circumstances, he wound up starting Saturday against Utah. It was his first game since Nov. 28, 2020, when he was a senior at St. Thomas Catholic in Houston.
“I just feel like just going out and playing football is one of the best things you can do in life,” he said. “Doing it with this group of guys was something I’ll never forget.”
Just the 15th freshman to start a game at quarterback for CU since 1980, Kopp was 15-of-28 for 123 yards and a touchdown against the Utes.
“Just (need to work on) consistency,” he said. “Some of the little throws that I just got a little jumpy, and I didn’t set my feet and stuff like that.”
Notable
CU’s final main statistical leaders included Deion Smith (393 rushing yards), JT Shrout (1,220 passing yards), Montana Lemonious-Craig (23 receptions), Jordyn Tyson (470 receiving yards), Cole Becker (53 points), Josh Chandler-Semedo (101 tackles; three sacks); and Reed (2 interceptions). … A school-record 22 different players caught at least one pass this season, including tackle/tight end Frank Fillip and walk-on running back Dante Capolungo getting their first catches against Utah. … CU’s final attendance at Folsom Field for the year was 257,084 – an average of 42,487.3 per game. Not counting the COVID year of 2020, that’s the lowest average since 2015 (39,389).
