Abraham Wright

Wyoming

Sep 20 (Sat)

8:15 p.m.

Position:
Defensive End
Height:
6-3
Weight:
245
Class:
Senior
Hometown:
Oklahoma City, Okla.
High School:
Southeast/NE Oklahoma A&M

AT COLORADO: 2006 (Sr.)?He earned first-team All-Big 12 Conference honors from the Associated Press and the league coaches, as well as almost every newspaper that selected an all-league team. He also earned first-team All-Colorado honors from the state’s NFF/College Hall of Fame chapter, and won the team’s Derek Singleton Award (for spirit, dedication and enthusiasm); he was also selected CU’s Best Interview by the team’s beat media. He was one of 42 players on the official preseason watch list for the Ted Hendricks Award (presented to the nation’s top defensive end), and advanced to the 27 named on the midseason updated listing. His 11? quarterback sacks on the season were the most by a Buffalo since 1993, when Ron Woolfork had 14 (the last time a CU player had double figures); they were the most in the Big 12 Conference and the second most in the NCAA. He was also first in the conference in tackles for loss with 16, a number that ranked him 20th nationally. He concluded his career fifth all-time at Colorado in quarterback sacks (21) and tied for 16th in tackles for loss (29). Overall, he played in all 12 games, starting 11 (came in after the first series against Kansas State), as he was in for 707 snaps, the second most on defense on the team. He racked up 57 tackles (39 solo), with 17 quarterback hurries, eight third down stops, three passes broken up, two caused interceptions, two touchdowns saves and a forced fumble. He five games with two or more tackles for loss, including three multiple sack games (he had four against Colorado State, with three sacks). He had seven tackles three times on the year (Montana State, Arizona State, Baylor), with six three other times. He saw some special teams duty late in the season, registering one knockdown block.

2005 (Jr.) ?He started all 13 games including the Champs Sports Bowl at defensive end, playing 659 snaps from scrimmage in the regular season, the second most by any non-defensive back on the defense. He was in on 27 tackles (19 solo), but always had a pension for making the big play. He tied for the team lead in quarterback sacks with five, and led the team in interceptions caused with four and turnovers forced with six, when taking into account two forced fumbles. He also had seven total tackles for loss (one in seven different games), six third down stops, four quarterback hurries, two chasedowns (near sacks), five pass deflections and an interception. He earned CU lineman of the week honors (as well as the school’s overall athlete of the week accolades) for his monster game at Oklahoma State: he had four tackle, all solo, a quarterback sack, an interception, a caused interception, a forced fumble and a third down stop. He had four tackles in three games, and in the opener against Colorado State, he had two tackles, one for a loss, a caused pick and a forced fumble. In the bowl game versus Clemson, he was in on three tackles.

2004 (Soph.)?He played in all 13 games, and developed to the point where he ascended into the starting lineup for the last three games of the regular season (Kansas State, Nebraska, Oklahoma; he did not start in the Houston Bowl). He played 455 snaps from scrimmage and recorded 23 tackles (17 solo), tying for second on the team in quarterback sacks with four-and-a-half (he had six TFL’s overall). He also had six pressures, the second most on the team, along with three third down stops as he had two or more tackles in eight games. His season high came against Kansas State when he recorded five (three solo), with one for a loss. In the win at Kansas, he had three solo stops that included the first multi-sack game of his career (two, for 12 yards in losses), and his first career sack came at Washington State on the Cougars’ final drive to help keep them at an arm’s length in that win. In limited action in the bowl win over UTEP, he wasn’t in on any tackles but he did have a key pass broken up late in the fourth quarter. He enrolled at CU for the spring semester and thus participated in April drills.

JUNIOR COLLEGE?He played one season at Northeast Oklahoma A&M (Miami, Okla.), lining up at both defensive end and outside linebacker for coach Dale Patterson. He was named to SuperPrep’s JUCO Top 100 List, ranked as the No. 62 player overall in the junior college ranks, and the No. 5 defensive end; Rivals.com pegged him as the 59th best non-high school prospect. He was in on 68 tackles (38 solo), with 14 tackles for loss including eight quarterback sacks and a pass broken up, in helping NEO to a 10-2 record, the SWJCFC championship and a No. 11 national ranking by JC Grid-wire. One of his top games came in a 34-20 win over Blinn, when he made six tackles that included three quarterback sacks. He redshirted his first year at NEO (2002), as he made a transition from linebacker to defensive end.

HIGH SCHOOL?He lettered three years in football, playing defensive end and linebacker as he was a three-year starter. As a senior, he earned first-team All-District honors as he was in on 110 tackles, including 14 for losses and seven-and-a-half quarterback sacks. Top games included a close win over Guymon as a senior, when he had eight tackles, one sack and made the only interception he has ever had on any level of football; it came late in the game to preserve the win. Southeast was 5-5 his junior and senior seasons and 6-5 his sophomore year, reaching the state playoffs, under coach Joe Poslick.

ACADEMICS?He graduated with his bachelor’s degree in sociology in December 2006. He earned his A.A. degree from Northeast Oklahoma A&M in December 2003.

PERSONAL?Born October 15, 1984 in Tulsa, Okla. A cousin (Robert Jones) played cornerback at Oklahoma State (completed his career in 2004). Hobbies include spending time with family and friends and playing video games; he attends church regularly and studies the word of God daily. He started taking sign language lessons in the summer of 2004 and has a sincere interest of working with the deaf after his football playing days are over; he has also hosted deaf children on campus. He was CU’s 2006 nomination for the AFCA’s Good Works team largely in part because of his interest in this area. He was the third player in a four-year span to come to CU from NEO, joining DeAndre Fluellen (2001) and McKenzie Tilmon (2003).

Season	G	Plays	Tackles UT AT--TOT	TFL	Sacks	3DS	Hurr	FR	FF	PBU	Int
2004	12	455	17 6-- 23	6- 31	4.5-30	3	6	0	0	0	0
2005	12	659	19 8-- 27	7- 31	5-28	6	4	0	2	5	1
2006	12	707	39 18-- 57	16-103	11.5-93	8	17	0	3	8	1
Totals	36	1821	75 32--107	29-165	21-151	17	27	0	3	8	2