Rookie Sterns bringing stability to Broncos’ secondary
Fifth-round DB playing with ‘a chip on my shoulder’
ENNGLEWOOD — After being named the Big 12 defensive freshman of the year in 2018, Caden Sterns turned in two dud seasons to finish his Texas career. That tumbled him down draft boards to the fifth round, a fall Broncos coach Vic Fangio described as “an awakening” for the safety.
As one of the breakouts of the Broncos’ rookie class, Sterns is playing like he’s re-fueled and refocused. He debuted for Denver on special teams in Week 1, then Ronald Darby’s injury moved Pat Surtain II to an outside cornerback spot and shifted Sterns to the dime position (sixth defensive back).
Since then, he’s played 107 of 507 defensive snaps (21.1%) at dime, with two interceptions, two sacks, 12 tackles and four passes defensed.
“(Falling in the draft) definitely put a chip on my shoulder, just because in college I know I didn’t play the way I wanted to the last two seasons,” Sterns said. “I put that on me, because I wasn’t the player I knew I could be. Now I’m showing more of my potential with where I’m at, even though there’s still a lot of room for me to grow.”
With what defensive coordinator Ed Donatell described as “opportunistic” instincts, Sterns is one interception away from becoming the first Bronco with three interceptions as a rookie since Hall of Famer Steve Atwater had three in 1989.
Sterns had his first pick off a deflection late in the fourth quarter of the Week 3 win over the Jets, then tallied
another fourth-quarter INT in the Week 9 rout of Dallas when he baited Dak Prescott into a bad throw to Ceedee Lamb across the middle. Sterns leapt up and to his left to make the athletic play on Prescott’s fourthdown throw and put away the Cowboys for good.
The 22-year-old said his comfort in the dime role, which he learned in the preseason, is allowing him to make highlight plays.
“This year has gotten my confidence back to where it was my freshman year in college,” Sterns said. “When my level of play was falling off in college, there were some (nagging injuries factoring in) but I was definitely starting to get into my head. I was starting to try to force plays and do things I wouldn’t typically do instead of letting the game come to me and trusting myself.”
While Sterns is asserting himself in the NFL, his brother Jerreth, who is slightly older than the Broncos safety, is emerging as a star in his own right at Western Kentucky.
Jerreth leads the nation with 104 receptions, is second with 1,276 receiving yards and tied for first with 11 touchdowns. Caden called his brother, who was an FCS standout at Houston Baptist prior to arriving at WKU, “the best receiver in college football.” And Caden’s head-to-heads with Jarreth growing up — they are two of seven brothers in the family, four of whom played college football
— molded the Bronco.
“My brother’s going crazy right now, breaking all types of records in college, and nobody deserves (the success) more than he does,” Caden said. “It’s about 50/50 between us (in who’s a better player) — we definitely had our fair share of battles when we were younger, and he probably beat me more than I beat him. He’s a tremendous competitor and the reason I am the player I am today.”
Jerreth noted his younger brother “felt disrespected” when he slid to 152nd overall in April, but the safety continued to keep a positive outlook as he did during his sophomore and junior seasons at Texas, when injuries affected his performance.
“He always kept working and kept a positive outlook on his situation and you can tell that from the way he’s going now,” Jerreth said. “(In the draft), there were not that many safeties better than him in that class. So he was on work mode from the start, with the mindset of, ‘I’m about to go show everyone that I should’ve went a lot earlier.’”
There is already that
Broncos headquarters.
Sterns started turning heads early on in training camp before asserting himself during the first half of this season. With 33-year-old Kareem Jackson playing on a one-year deal, he could very well find himself starting at safety alongside veteran Justin Simmons in 2022.
“(Sterns) does a really good job as a rookie already dissecting route combinations, and where they’re trying to attack, what the quarterback’s looking at as the game’s developing,” Simmons noted. “Those are some of the things that I think will make him a great payer for years to come.” belief within
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Hunter Dickinson scored 27 points to help No. 6 Michigan open with an 8876 win over Buffalo on Wednesday night.
The Wolverines started strong in their season opener, leading by as much as 21 points in the first half and going ahead 51-36 at halftime, before coming out flat in the second half.
The Bulls were much more aggressive and it paid off, allowing them to cut the deficit to five points with five-plus minutes left against coach Juwan Howard’s team.
“Juwan probably got a couple more gray hairs,” Dickinson said.
The players, meanwhile, learned a lesson about getting comfortable with a big lead.
“Things like that will help us down the stretch and help us prepare for the adversity that’s coming ahead for us,” Dickinson said.
Caleb Houstan helped Michigan pull away, making a 3-pointer to give the Wolverines a 15-point lead with 3:12 left. The highly touted freshman finished with 11 points and six rebounds.
“He’s such a a great shooter and the way our offense is designed, he’s going to have a lot of open shots,” Dickinson said. “He’s got a really good opportunity to score a lot for us.”
Terrance Williams scored 15 points and Eli Brooks had 11 points and four assists for the Wolverines.
Buffalo’s Jeenathan Williams scored a career-high 32 points.
No. 20 Florida St. 105, Pennsylvania 70
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Malik Osborne had 18 points and 13 rebounds, Anthony Polite scored 17 points, and No. 20 Florida State won its seventh straight home opener, routing Pennsylvania.
Osborne, who missed Florida State’s second exhibition game with flulike symptoms, was energetic from the start in recording his fourth career double-double and third at Florida State. He shot 4 of 6 from the floor and 9 of 12 from the freethrow line.
Rayquan Evans added 14 points and four assists, while Houston transfer Caleb Mills scored 10 of his 14 points in the second half in his debut with the Seminoles. Mills shot 6 of 13 from the floor while adding five rebounds, three assists and two steals.
Jordan Dingle had 23 points on 8-of-15 shooting while Jonah Charles and Clark Slajchert added 12 points for Penn.
Florida State shot 50% overall and 38.9% from 3-point range, while holding Penn to 38.9% shooting.
Women No. 9 Indiana 86, Butler 63
Nicole Cardano-hillary scored 29 points to lead No. 8 Indiana to a victory over Butler.
Cardano-hillary shot 11 for 12 from the field, including 7 for 8 on 3-pointers, and had six rebounds and five assists to lead the Hoosiers, who shot 52%. Grace Berger added 18 points on 9-for-15 shooting, Mackenzie Holmes had 11 points and eight rebounds, and Ali Patberg had 10 assists.
Alex Richard scored 20
points on 10-for-13 shooting and Zoe Jackson added 18 points for Butler. The Bulldogs shot 50% but committed 18 turnovers.
Indiana led by 13 late in the first half before Butler pulled to 43-31 at the break. The Hoosiers extended the advantage to 16 points in the third quarter before pulling away in the fourth. Their largest lead was 25.
No. 15 Tennessee 59, Southern Illinois 49
Jordan Walker scored 14 points, Alexus Dye had a double-double, and No. 15 Tennessee turned a 9-0 fourth-quarter run into a 17-2 game-closing surge to beat Southern Illinois in the season opener for both teams.
Walker had seven points and Tamari Key and Sara Puckett both had the only five points they scored in the critical run after the Salukis had the Lady Vols on the ropes.
Southern Illinois, which led 30-27 at the half and 4238 after three quarters, was up 47-42 after a deep 3-pointer by Makenzie Silvey and a fastbreak layup by Quierra Love with 5:24 to play. At that point the Salukis had made eight 3-pointers and the Lady Vols were 0 for 13.
Walker then hit a 3-pointer and Puckett followed with another 3 for the lead before Key made three free throws to make it 5147 in favor of Tennessee. Abby Brockmeyer scored for Southern Illinois but Puckett and Key made layups and Walker scored four points in the last 36 seconds to wrap up the win.
Love led Southern nois with 13 points.
Illi
No. 17 Ohio State 71, Bucknell 48
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Jacy Sheldon scored 20 points, and No. 17 Ohio State pulled away from Bucknell in the second half for a win over Bucknell in the season opener for both teams.
The Buckeyes raced to a 20-7 lead late in the first quarter, which closed with a 7-0 Bucknell run. The Bison extended that run with the first eight points of the second quarter to grab the lead before Ohio State edged in front 28-24 at the half.
From there, the Buckeyes slowly pulled away.