Senior receiver Nelson Spruce looks for an opening in Wildcat defenders in the first quarter of play at Arizona Stadium on Nov. 8. (Nigel Amstock/CU Independent)
The century-long history of football at the University of Colorado is full of legends and lore: The 1990 National Championship team, 1994’s Heisman Trophy winner Rashaan Salaam, Stewart to Westbrook in the Miracle at Michigan and of course Ralphie the buffalo.
Nelson Spruce authored another page of that history today, when he became Colorado’s all-time leader in receiving yards Saturday with an 11-yard reception just past the 9:00 mark in the second quarter. With the catch, Spruce surpassed Michael Westbrook’s mark of 2,548 career receiving yards at Colorado.
“It’s something that you start your career out aiming for, and to keep working and eventually get to it is [great],” Spruce said after the game, a 48-0 win for Colorado over Nicholls State University. “It’s cool to see all of that hard work pay off.”
“It’s been great to watch Nelson grow into a leader,” Colorado head coach Mike MacIntyre said. “He’s always been a class act but now he is a vocal leader. I see him talking to the younger guys, I see him stepping up in our team meetings and saying stuff. He is a phenomenal player and a phenomenal person.”
That growth for Spruce has come after a breakout 2014 season in which he was among the nation’s leaders in receptions (fourth in the nation), receiving yards (13th in the nation) and touchdown catches (seventh in the nation), and was named one of 10 semifinalists for the Fred Biletnikoff Award for the nation’s outstanding receiver.
Having already surpassed Scotty McKnight for all-time career receptions at Colorado two weeks ago in the Buffaloes’ 48-14 victory over UMass, Spruce entered Saturday’s game versus Nicholls State sitting at fourth all-time in receiving yards at Colorado with 2,490.
He began his ascent to the top spot on Colorado’s first drive, gathering junior quarterback Sefo Liufau’s first throw of the day for a 12-yard gain. He moved Colorado into the red zone on a 27-yard reception later in the same drive, a catch that pushed him past McKnight to third place all-time. Spruce passed Michael Westbrook’s record in the second quarter, and would finish the game with five catches for 80 yards, giving him a current career total of 2,570 receiving yards.
A three-star recruit out of Westlake Village, Calif., Spruce arrived at Colorado in 2011 as a Prepstar All-American and one of the country’s top 100 receiving prospects. He redshirted his first year at CU, and in his redshirt freshman season of 2012 he entered as a part of the wide receiving corps looking to fill the shoes of star receiver Paul Richardson, who missed the entire season with a torn ACL.
Spruce led the Buffaloes in both receptions and receiving yards during the 2012 campaign (with 44 and 446 respectively), firmly establishing himself as a starter for the following season.
2013 saw Spruce catch 55 passes for 650 yards, which placed him second in both categories to Paul Richardson, who was drafted by the Seattle Seahawks in the second round of the 2014 NFL draft.
But it was the 2014 season where Spruce truly was set loose on NCAA secondaries. Throughout a season that would result in dozens of school records either tied or broken by Spruce, the senior wideout established himself as one of the nation’s top wide receivers.
On the way to the aforementioned honor of being a semifinalist for the Biletnikoff Award, Spruce set Colorado’s single-game record for catches both in a first half (10) and in a single game (19) in Colorado’s overtime loss at California in September. Overall, he set the Colorado single season record for catches with 106 and for touchdown receptions with 12. With 20 career touchdown receptions, Spruce is only two away from tying Richardson’s career record with 22.
“If I was at a Fortune 500 company I would hire him in a second because he is very bright and sharp,” MacIntyre said. “But I think he’ll be playing in the NFL for a little while before that.”
With Pac-12 powerhouse No.13 Oregon coming to Boulder next Saturday, Spruce may need to get loose a few more times if Colorado has any hope of knocking off the Ducks.
This post has been updated to reflect that the Biletnikoff Award is given to the nation’s outstanding receiver.
Contact CU Independent Head Sports Editor Sam Routhier at samuel.routhier@colorado.edu, or follow him on twitter @samrouthier.
