Owen McCown and Jordyn Tyson are leading a charge of young Buffs who will be seeing increased playing time in the near future.

In Saturday’s game against UCLA, Colorado started quarterback Owen McCown, wide receiver Chase Sowell and left guard Van Wells. 

That was the first time the Buffs started three true freshmen on offense in the same game since November 8, 2008. Tyler Hansen started at quarterback alongside Darrell Scott at running back and Ryan Deehan at tight end in a 28-24 win over Iowa State.

McCown also became the earliest true freshman to start at quarterback by any player in CU history. 

Despite the quick jump in competition, McCown said he was more excited than nervous during his first meeting with the Buffs media Tuesday afternoon.

“Obviously I wish I would have played better and wish we would have come out with the win but overall I was excited about the start,” McCown said.

It was a rapid rise up the depth chart for McCown. On Monday, Colorado head coach Karl Dorrell praised how quickly McCown picked up the playbook and said that was the reason why he is now the starter.

“With me being a guy that came in late in the summer and not graduating early, I think I came in and pushed myself hard to really catch myself up and prepare myself,” McCown said.

Cheers erupted at Folsom Field last Saturday when McCown was introduced to the crowd as the starting quarterback and the true freshman spoke about how excited his teammates were for him. Regardless of all the emotion swirling around the Buffs’ freshman starter, he remained focused on the game.

“The team kind of hyped me up but I tried not to listen to it too much,” McCown said. “We were about ready to play a game so I just wanted to calm down and get ready.”

On the field, McCown took a beating as he was sacked fives times and the Bruins front managed to generate pressure early and often.

Colorado re-shuffled their offensive line during the UCLA game which resulted in the Buffs moving Casey Roddick, their best offensive lineman, to right tackle to protect McCown’s blindside.

While it may take some time for the Buffs’ offensive line to fall in place with the lefty signal caller, McCown’s veteran offensive line gave him their full support.

“Everyone came up to me and said we got your back,” McCown said. “That’s been encouraging and really calmed me down. They all told me to just be me.”

Colorado’s coaching staff turned to multiple freshmen on the offensive side of the ball outside of the three true freshmen that got their first career starts on Saturday.

Charlie Offerdahl (redshirt freshman) got the start at running back and Jordyn Tyson (true freshman) is the Buffs’ second leading receiver this year.

According to Dorrell, Chase Sowell is doubtful to play this week against Arizona with a soft tissue injury so we may see Tyson get his first start this weekend.

McCown, Sowell and Tyson have already been able to form a tight bond off the field as they spent time over the summer as roommates.

“I think we really kind of day by day pushed ourselves as a group,” McCown said. “Not only those two, but other guys in my class really push ourselves to be better.”

Tyson also said that developing chemistry between himself and McCown has been easy because they lived together.

“He was always getting extra work in the lab,” Tyson said. “We’ve always had that connection but he just keeps getting better and better.”

When talking about his fellow freshman receiving a good amount of playing time early, Tyson brought up Wells, Sowell and McCown and said, “we all deserve it.”

Despite the team’s early struggles, Tyson reiterated that this team is still together and not ready to throw in the towel this early in the season.

“We’re still keeping our heads up, we’re not giving hope,” Tyson said. “We shouldn’t, because I think we can be good.”

McCown and Tyson are both determined to grind this season out with the hopes of picking up wins along the way.

As Dorrell and the Buffs look to generate some momentum on both sides of the ball in search of their first win of the season, expect this young group of freshmen to continue fighting throughout the year as they look to prove themselves at the collegiate level.

While there may be growing pains and on-the-field learning experiences as Colorado’s freshmen begin to take the field, Dorrell and the rest of the team are ready to rally around their young Buffs this weekend in Tucson against the Arizona Wildcats.