Gators of Distinction
Huskies LB Ben Burr-Kirven Hopes to Derail No. 7 Stanford
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The 19-year-old sophomore middle linebacker from Menlo Park faces the biggest test of his college career when Heisman Trophy candidate Christian McCaffrey and No. 7 Stanford drop in for a visit Friday night for a nationally televised showdown between undefeated Pac-12 teams.
“This is definitely a good chance for us to get out there and test ourselves against one of the top teams in the entire country,” Burr-Kirven said. “So I think everyone is excited, but I think everyone is keeping themselves from getting caught up in the hype and understanding that every game is a big game. And just we have to go out and play Husky football, and if we do that we’ll be all right.”
Washington (4-0, 1-0 Pac-12) entered the season as a dark horse candidate to reach the Rose Bowl in its third year under the guidance of former Boise State head coach Chris Petersen, No. 3 on the list of active FBS coaches in winning percentage.
Stanford coach David Shaw ranks fifth.
“If you remember a few years ago,” Shaw said at Monday’s press conference, “I was not happy to see who Washington hired up there, because I think we all knew what was going to happen.”
After going 8-6 in his inaugural campaign and 7-6 last year, it seems Petersen is poised for a breakthrough. And a lot of it had to do with bringing in talent such as Burr-Kirven, who led Sacred Heart Prep in Atherton to a perfect 13-0 season as a senior in 2014.
“I think they’ve kind of built the program that they want to see … and he’s got all the players and recruits that he wanted to get here,” Burr-Kirven said. “But we understand that nothing is given to you in college football, so I think Coach Petersen has done a really good job keeping everyone’s heads up straight, not letting us think about the hype or anything like that, and just understanding that every single week we have to go out there and fight for four quarters or else we’re going to get knocked off.”
This is the type of mentality that Burr-Kirven displayed at SHP as a bruising running back and a relentless tackling machine. It’s the reason NCAA coaches were wrong to write him off as an undersized middle linebacker at 6 feet and 200 pounds as a senior in high school.
“I had the faith, I had no doubt that he could play at that level and he could be one of the best players,” SHP coach Pete Lavorato said. “When he came in here as a freshman, you could just see that he was different than everybody else. No. 1, the love that he has for the game of football, his tremendous desire to get better every day. Never took a practice off, never took a day off.
“And then he also had a tremendous aptitude for the game of football itself, a tremendous football IQ.”
Burr-Kirven has gained 14 pounds since he stepped foot on campus in Seattle, but one thing he hasn’t done is slow down. As a true freshman, he forced his way onto the field by becoming UW’s Most Outstanding Special Teams Player.
“I didn’t come in expecting to get to play right off the bat like that or anything,” Burr-Kirven said. “And it would have been tough with my mentality to kind of sit on the bench for a year, but it just worked out really well.”
He saw action in 12 of 13 games, including setting a career high with seven tackles when the Huskies came to Palo Alto last October.
“I obviously grew up in the area, so I was going to the Stanford games my whole life,” Burr-Kirven said. “So it was a pretty surreal experience, but definitely very cool.”
The Cardinal dominated on defense to triumph 31-14, claiming Round 1 against Burr-Kirven, who dreamed of playing for Stanford while growing up. Alas, it wasn’t
meant to be.
“For high school football recruiting, every team gets the guys they want,” Burr-Kirven said. “So they obviously got the guys they want, and this is where I ended up, so there is no hard feelings or anything like that.”
And it’s not like the Cardinal staff isn’t aware of what it passed up.
“Watching him at Washington is just like watching him at high school,” Shaw said. “What makes a player good doesn’t change. He’s got great instincts, he’s quick, he’s physical, he’s intense. You have to want to block him as much if not more than he wants to get off your block, because he will not stay blocked. He’s a very, very active player, which is why a guy like that joins a great defense as a true freshman and gets on the field.
“That defense was loaded last year, but because of how hard he plays and how well he plays and the guy doesn’t miss tackles and he gets guys on the ground,
that’s why he got on the field.”
Burr-Kirven, who wasn’t allowed to speak to media as a true freshman per team policy, finished last year with 34 tackles and a sack. He missed the Heart of Dallas Bowl with an undisclosed injury, but that just served as motivation during the offseason.
“Definitely missing that bowl game was a bummer,” said Burr-Kirven, who has 12 tackles this season and is listed as the backup at inside linebacker. “So I think I kind of carried that frustration, I guess, into this year and making me a little more committed to everything I’m doing.”
That includes learning the playbook and his responsibilities on the field.“When you’re playing high school football, yeah, you have different defenses you run, but at the end of the day it’s all pretty vanilla, bland stuff,” Burr-Kirven said. “And then coming into college, all of a sudden everything is complex, every play has all these different components that are always changing.”
That’s where his football IQ comes into play.
“I think he does things at a quicker rate than most everybody else, he processes things pretty quickly,” Lavorato said. “Plus, he’s got really good physical abilities. He’s not the biggest kid in the world, but he’s got good speed, he’s strong and he’s not afraid to stick his nose in there.
“I know I don’t think I will ever coach another kid like him,” he added. “He’s the best I’ve ever coached.”
And while it’s not just up to him to slow down McCaffrey, who is averaging 145.3 rushing yards per game and leads the Cardinal (3-0, 2-0) in receiving, Burr-Kirven is up for the challenge.
“When you play a guy like that, obviously he’s an outstanding player, a Heisman candidate, all that stuff, so I think it all just comes down to doing your job and not getting caught up and creeping about who he is,” Burr-Kirven said. “You never know, he might get some plays here or there, but I think as long everyone does their job, we’ll be all right out there.”
Back
It’s gut check time for Ben Burr-Kirven and the No. 10 Washington Huskies.
The 19-year-old sophomore middle linebacker from Menlo Park faces the biggest test of his college career when Heisman Trophy candidate Christian McCaffrey and No. 7 Stanford drop in for a visit Friday night for a nationally televised showdown between undefeated Pac-12 teams.
“This is definitely a good chance for us to get out there and test ourselves against one of the top teams in the entire country,” Burr-Kirven said. “So I think everyone is excited, but I think everyone is keeping themselves from getting caught up in the hype and understanding that every game is a big game. And just we have to go out and play Husky football, and if we do that we’ll be all right.”
Washington (4-0, 1-0 Pac-12) entered the season as a dark horse candidate to reach the Rose Bowl in its third year under the guidance of former Boise State head coach Chris Petersen, No. 3 on the list of active FBS coaches in winning percentage.
Stanford coach David Shaw ranks fifth.
“If you remember a few years ago,” Shaw said at Monday’s press conference, “I was not happy to see who Washington hired up there, because I think we all knew what was going to happen.”
After going 8-6 in his inaugural campaign and 7-6 last year, it seems Petersen is poised for a breakthrough. And a lot of it had to do with bringing in talent such as Burr-Kirven, who led Sacred Heart Prep in Atherton to a perfect 13-0 season as a senior in 2014.
“I think they’ve kind of built the program that they want to see … and he’s got all the players and recruits that he wanted to get here,” Burr-Kirven said. “But we understand that nothing is given to you in college football, so I think Coach Petersen has done a really good job keeping everyone’s heads up straight, not letting us think about the hype or anything like that, and just understanding that every single week we have to go out there and fight for four quarters or else we’re going to get knocked off.”
This is the type of mentality that Burr-Kirven displayed at SHP as a bruising running back and a relentless tackling machine. It’s the reason NCAA coaches were wrong to write him off as an undersized middle linebacker at 6 feet and 200 pounds as a senior in high school.
“I had the faith, I had no doubt that he could play at that level and he could be one of the best players,” SHP coach Pete Lavorato said. “When he came in here as a freshman, you could just see that he was different than everybody else. No. 1, the love that he has for the game of football, his tremendous desire to get better every day. Never took a practice off, never took a day off.
“And then he also had a tremendous aptitude for the game of football itself, a tremendous football IQ.”
Burr-Kirven has gained 14 pounds since he stepped foot on campus in Seattle, but one thing he hasn’t done is slow down. As a true freshman, he forced his way onto the field by becoming UW’s Most Outstanding Special Teams Player.
“I didn’t come in expecting to get to play right off the bat like that or anything,” Burr-Kirven said. “And it would have been tough with my mentality to kind of sit on the bench for a year, but it just worked out really well.”
He saw action in 12 of 13 games, including setting a career high with seven tackles when the Huskies came to Palo Alto last October.
“I obviously grew up in the area, so I was going to the Stanford games my whole life,” Burr-Kirven said. “So it was a pretty surreal experience, but definitely very cool.”
The Cardinal dominated on defense to triumph 31-14, claiming Round 1 against Burr-Kirven, who dreamed of playing for Stanford while growing up. Alas, it wasn’t
meant to be.
“For high school football recruiting, every team gets the guys they want,” Burr-Kirven said. “So they obviously got the guys they want, and this is where I ended up, so there is no hard feelings or anything like that.”
And it’s not like the Cardinal staff isn’t aware of what it passed up.
“Watching him at Washington is just like watching him at high school,” Shaw said. “What makes a player good doesn’t change. He’s got great instincts, he’s quick, he’s physical, he’s intense. You have to want to block him as much if not more than he wants to get off your block, because he will not stay blocked. He’s a very, very active player, which is why a guy like that joins a great defense as a true freshman and gets on the field.
“That defense was loaded last year, but because of how hard he plays and how well he plays and the guy doesn’t miss tackles and he gets guys on the ground,
that’s why he got on the field.”
Burr-Kirven, who wasn’t allowed to speak to media as a true freshman per team policy, finished last year with 34 tackles and a sack. He missed the Heart of Dallas Bowl with an undisclosed injury, but that just served as motivation during the offseason.
“Definitely missing that bowl game was a bummer,” said Burr-Kirven, who has 12 tackles this season and is listed as the backup at inside linebacker. “So I think I kind of carried that frustration, I guess, into this year and making me a little more committed to everything I’m doing.”
That includes learning the playbook and his responsibilities on the field.“When you’re playing high school football, yeah, you have different defenses you run, but at the end of the day it’s all pretty vanilla, bland stuff,” Burr-Kirven said. “And then coming into college, all of a sudden everything is complex, every play has all these different components that are always changing.”
That’s where his football IQ comes into play.
“I think he does things at a quicker rate than most everybody else, he processes things pretty quickly,” Lavorato said. “Plus, he’s got really good physical abilities. He’s not the biggest kid in the world, but he’s got good speed, he’s strong and he’s not afraid to stick his nose in there.
“I know I don’t think I will ever coach another kid like him,” he added. “He’s the best I’ve ever coached.”
And while it’s not just up to him to slow down McCaffrey, who is averaging 145.3 rushing yards per game and leads the Cardinal (3-0, 2-0) in receiving, Burr-Kirven is up for the challenge.
“When you play a guy like that, obviously he’s an outstanding player, a Heisman candidate, all that stuff, so I think it all just comes down to doing your job and not getting caught up and creeping about who he is,” Burr-Kirven said. “You never know, he might get some plays here or there, but I think as long everyone does their job, we’ll be all right out there.”
Sacred Heart Schools Atherton
Founded by the Society of the Sacred Heart, SHS is a Catholic, independent, co-ed day school for students in preschool through grade 12
