There are a lot of people in Omar Bolden’s ear this week.
The first-team all-conference redshirt senior cornerback was medically cleared Monday, six months after tearing his ACL in spring practice.
Bolden is adamant about not playing until he’s back to his old self, but if there’s one person he could look to for advice, it’s one of his teammates. ASU redshirt senior linebacker Colin Parker underwent two surgeries to repair an ACL tear in high school.
“I realize how tough it is to come back out here but he’s doing well,” Parker said. “I’m excited for him. He’s running and cutting, but you can tell there’s a little hesitation at some points.”
And that’s the most important part of returning from an injury; trusting it won’t happen again.
“You get there physically, but it takes longer mentally,” Parker said. “It’s something you have to be out there doing for a while and realize, ‘I’m going to be okay if I do certain things.’ It takes a while to get that back.”
Parker missed his senior season in high school because of the injury, then redshirted on the scout team as a freshman at ASU, so he went two full seasons before he played in live action again.
“Having people move that fast around you, it’s something that’s always in the back of your mind,” he said. “Once you play a couple times, you get over it though.”
In practice this week, Bolden lined up against ASU senior wide receiver Aaron Pflugrad, who sees encouraging signs from his teammate as well.
“He’s been doing well, it’s been great to see him out here,” Pflugrad said. “It’s just confidence and making sure that knee is all the way back right now.”
Big 12 or Pac-12
2011 is Colorado’s first season in the Pac-12, but its pieces still resemble that of a Big-12 school.
“They have an offense you’d expect to see in the Big 12 because it’s a lot more simple and vanilla,” ASU redshirt senior defensive tackle Bo Moos said. “Sometimes thinking that way can be bad though because you can get caught guessing, so you have to play smart.”
The same goes for the Buffaloes’ defense too.
“Scheme-wise, they are a little similar to Missouri,” Pflugrad said. “We know they are a solid defense and they have some talent in their secondary.”
Regardless of its affiliation, CU still plays quality athletes in its system.
“If you’re playing Division I, you have good players,” ASU junior quarterback Brock Osweiler said. “In that sense, I haven’t really noticed anything that would separate them.”
A realistic Marshall
On Monday, ASU coach Dennis Erickson said his junior running back, Cameron Marshall, looked much fresher after the bye week.
But although his legs received some much needed rest, Mashall still isn’t completely healthy.
“I don't ever expect to be 100 percent,” he said. “If I was, that'd be the biggest blessing I could ever get. I would like to be healthier but at the same time, that's just what I've been dealt.”
Marshall’s attitude is what is keeping his spirits high.
“I don't like to dwell on things I can't control,” he said. “I do my rehab and outside of that it's out of my hands. I feel like I'm getting back to the old me back though.”
Reach the reporter at tyler.emerick@asu.edu
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