Football: CU Buffs' Jeff Thomas to grayshirt

The Buffs are counting on a large number of freshmen to play significant roles this season.
Jeff Thomas will not be one of them.

Jon Embree said the 6-foot-3 wide receiver from Dallas has returned home to deal with personal issues. Thomas plans to "grayshirt," which means he will delay his enrollment at Colorado until January.

CU's second-year head coach had already suspended Thomas for the first two games of this season due to his involvement in an airsoft gun incident with Boulder police just before fall camp began.

"When you walk through those (practice field) gates you've got to be able to think about ball," Embree said. "And I don't think he was at that point with some of those things. It was better for him to go back home and take care of some of that stuff."

Even though Thomas did participate in practices during this camp, Embree said the football program has worked "hand in hand" with compliance and he expects Thomas' eligibility clock to begin ticking with the 2013 season.

Thomas, who Embree expects to take classes at a junior college this semester, will not be suspended for the first two games of the 2013 season.

"Now he misses the whole year," Embree said. "It kind of evens out."
Gerald Thomas, a 5-11 freshman wide receiver from New Orleans, is expected to have an immediate impact for CU.

Paul Richardson, the Buffs' top pass-catching target, has already been ruled out for the first two games as the junior continues his recovery from last spring's ACL tear.

New starting quarterback Jordan Webb said after last Saturday's scrimmage that he has a lot of confidence in sophomore Tyler McCulloch and redshirt freshman Nelson Spruce.
Showdown ticket update

CU has sold 23,000 tickets to the public for the Sept. 1 opener against Colorado State at Sports Authority Field in Denver. Sports information director Dave Plati said CU has about 5,000
Click on any photo to see full gallery tickets remaining in its allotment for this year's Rocky Mountain Showdown.

CU has also sold about 5,000 student tickets and expects that number to double before kickoff, bringing the estimated total to about 34,000 overall tickets sold on the black and gold side of the rivalry.

The CSU ticket office has dropped the price for its student tickets from $30 to $25 and extended the deadline for purchase to Aug. 29. Only about 3,000 students have bought tickets to support the Rams so far.

As far as season ticket sales go, CU has sold about 23,000 to date, which is close to last year's number at this time.

Fresher and faster
After giving the Buffs Wednesday afternoon off instead of grinding through the final scheduled two-a-day of camp, Embree said his players responded with a crisp practice on Thursday.
"We're starting to get our legs back. Sharp practice today, a lot faster," Embree said. "We're starting to lose their camp legs and getting their game-speed legs going, so to speak."
--
Camera staffdailycamera.com
Posted: 08/23/2012 06:06:01 PM MDT
August 24, 2012 12:26 AM GMTUpdated: 08/23/2012 06:26:42 PM MDT