BUFFALO BITS 2004 SCHEDULE - Collegefootballdatadvds.com

4 offensive tackle in the nation, and the No. 44 overall player in country.
SuperPrep ranked him as the No. 20 player in its Midlands region
(the sixth OL), while Prep Football Report rated him No. 24 in the
region and the eighth O-lineman. As a junior, he garnered all-
Colorado, all-state and all-league honors, with Student Sports naming
him to its postseason junior All-America team. He was a secondteam
all-league selection as a sophomore. He was a three-year
starter at offensive tackle, playing both the left and right sides. He
averaged six pancake blocks per game as a senior, when he did not
allow a single quarterback sack. He averaged four pancakes as a
junior, also not allowing a sack. He started two games at tight end as
a freshman, when he also played some fullback (he caught four
passes and carried just a couple of times). He saw action on defense
occasionally at tackle, in two games as a senior in short yardage situations.
Mullen was 10-2 his senior year, 10-3 his junior year, 11-2 his
sophomore season and 10-3 his freshman year under coach Jay
Madden. MHS reached the state quarterfinals all four years and
advanced to the semifinals his junior campaign. A three-time letterwinner
in wrestling, he was ranked No. 1 as a senior and finished
third in the state as a junior (heavyweight, 28-4 record). Also the No.
1 ranked power lifter in the state in the high school ranks as a senior,
he placed second in the state as a junior and lettered three years. He
also lettered in track as a freshman (shot put).
ACADEMICS—He is majoring in business at Colorado. An honor roll
student throughout high school, he is also a member of the National
Honor Society as he owns a 3.8 grade point average.
PERSONAL—He was born Oct. 31, 1984 in Denver. His hobbies
include skiing, fishing and off-roading. A cousin (Brad Boyer) is a
junior third baseman for the University of Arizona (he batted .351 as
a frosh and .259 last year). He was the first player in Colorado’s 2003
class to commit—he did so on signing day in 2002.
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AKARIKA DAWN, ILB
6-2, 230, Jr., 2L
Sugarland, Texas (Kempner)
AT COLORADO: This Season (Jr.)—Enters fall camp listed first at
the “will” inside linebacker position. Now that he’s stopped shuffling
between the secondary and linebacker, he settled in at the position
and had an excellent spring. He had 23 tackles in the three
main spring scrimmages, including a team-high 12 in the spring
game, along with two for losses, one sack, two passes broken up and
a hurry.
2003 (Soph.)—He played in all 12 games, including five starts: two
each at the mike and will linebacker spots and one at strong safety.
In 448 snaps from scrimmage, he logged 48 tackles (33 solo, four for
losses including a quarterback sack), along with seven third down
stops, two forced fumbles, two pass deflections and an interception
(which he made at Iowa State). He had a career-high nine tackles
(seven solo) in the win over No. 22 Missouri, and posted six each
against Baylor and Kansas State. He also was a special teams regular,
and scored six special team points on the season with three solo
tackles, a forced fumble, a knockdown block and a blocked PAT kick
(against Texas Tech). He had entered the fall listed first at strong
safety, but moved to inside linebacker early in drills where he eventually
opened the season. He still saw some occasional spot duty at
safety at various times during the season.
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2002 (Fr.)—He saw action in all 14 games (no starts), mainly on special
teams but did get in 18 snaps on defense at strong safety. He finished
fourth on the team in special team points with 10, on the
strength of six tackles, one inside-the-20, two knockdown blocks and
a fumble recovery. The latter came against San Diego State, when he
scooped the ball up after SDSU’s return man lost the ball at his
8-yard line; he took it in for his first collegiate score. On defense, in
his limited action he had one tackle (a third down stop at that) and
a pass deflection during the regular season, but against Wisconsin in
the bowl game, he had two tackles, including a sack, both on third
down plays to prevent first downs.
HIGH SCHOOL—As a senior, he garnered PrepStar all-Midlands and
SuperPrep all-Southwest honors, with Rivals.com ranking him as the
No. 42 outside linebacker nationally. He also made the prestigious
Texas 100 list and earned first-team All-Greater Houston (Houston
Chronicle) and all-district (20-5A) honors; he was an honorable mention
all-state selection by the Texas Sportswriters Association. As a
junior, he earned second-team all-district honors at linebacker, and
was Kempner’s defensive MVP. As a senior, he was in on 98 tackles
(64 solo), with 11 passes broken up, three interceptions, three fumble
recoveries and a blocked field goal, seeing action at linebacker
as well as both safety positions. On offense, he played some tight
end as well as receiver and caught four passes for 37 yards and a
touchdown. As a junior, he had 92 tackles (62 solo), with five quarterback
sacks, two passes broken up, two fumble recoveries and an
amazing six blocked kicks. He added four receptions for 60 yards on
offense playing tight end. He had 60 tackles (35 solo) and a sack as a
sophomore, as he played linebacker exclusively as a soph and
junior. Top games as a senior included a 28-21 win over Hightower,
when he had 20 tackles (15 solo) and two PBU’s, and a 35-7 win over
Lamar Consolidated, when he had 17 solo tackles and an interception
he returned for a touchdown. As a junior, in a 30-23 loss to
Willowridge, he had 13 tackles, two receptions, two passes broken
up and a pair of blocked punts. Kempner was 10-1 his senior year,
claiming the 20-5A district title before losing in the regional playoffs,
and was 5-5 his junior year and 2-8 his sophomore season under
coach Tom Henderson. He also lettered twice in track (hurdles, high
jump; he was a regional qualifier in the latter) and once in soccer
(goalie).
ACADEMICS—He is majoring in film studies at Colorado, with an
interest in journalism and broadcast production. He earned academic
all-district honors as a high school senior.
PERSONAL—He was born Jan. 10, 1984 in Houston, Texas. His hobbies
include reading, watching movies and participating in sports.
He also plays four musical instruments, speaks fluent Spanish (his
fiancé is from Colombia), and likes to vacation in Canada. (First name
is pronounced ock-ah-reek-ah.)
Season G Plays
TACKLES
UT AT-TOT TFL Sacks 3DS Hurr FR FF PBU Int
2002 2 18 1 0— 1 0- 0 0- 0 1 0 0 0 1 0
2003 12 448 33 15—48 4-32 1-12 7 2 0 2 2 1
Totals 14 466 34 15—49 4-32 1-12 8 2 0 2 3 1
ADDITIONAL STATISTICS—Interception Return Yards: 1-0, 0.0 avg. (2003). Fumble
Returns: 1-8, 8.0 avg., 1 td (2002). Special Team Tackles: 4,2—6 (2002); 3,0—3
(2003).