How does ‘The Jackhammer’ do it? ‘I have no idea’ says the Beavers’ Colletto
Jack Colletto rumbles for a 47-yard touchdown against Arizona State (courtesy Oregon State athletics)
There is no spot for Jack Colletto on Oregon State’s football Mount Rushmore. They likely won’t put his likeness in bronze on campus. He won’t make any All-America teams or cause NFL scouts to swoon.
But it’s safe to say that in 125 years of football in Corvallis — from the Farmers to the Hayseeds to the Aggies to the Orangemen to the Beavers — there has never been a player quite like “The Jackhammer.”
Colletto’s uniqueness as a player comes in an era of specialization in the sport. Two-way college football went the way of the Studebaker in the early 1960s. There have been many players switched from offense to defense or vice versa through the years, but few have played both in relatively equal portions.
Then there is the 6-3, 240-pound Colletto, who has played quarterback, linebacker, special teams, fullback, Wildcat quarterback and folk hero during his four years in Corvallis.
“They have put me in a bunch of different situations,” Colletto said in a phone interview after Wednesday’s practice session. “It’s been fun the way they have used me. I have enjoyed the challenge of learning new roles. Any way I can get on the field, I’ll do it.”
More than anything, Colletto has become a third- and fourth-down-and-short specialist for the Oregon State offense with uncanny success. Of 24 running plays he has taken at quarterback in the Wildcat attack this season heading into Saturday’s Civil War showdown with 11th-ranked Oregon at Autzen Stadium, the redshirt junior has converted 22 into either a first down or a touchdown.
The jackhammer replaced the chainsaw as the tool of choice at Reser Stadium this season as the Beavers swept through the opposition unbeaten. Short yardage situation? No problem with Colletto at the controls.
“He has been really effective,” head coach Jonathan Smith said post-game. “Our team gets energized when he gets into the game; the crowd does, too. And Jack has worked at that thing. He gets himself in the huddle and they call a play that puts the ball in his hands — the guys like it.”
The crown jewel for the Jack of all trades was the 47-yard burst to the end zone on fourth-and-two in the fourth quarter for the final points in the Beavers’ 24-10 victory over Arizona State last Saturday.
“That’s what Jack does,” senior receiver Trevon Bradford told reporters after the game. “He comes in and makes plays when we need them.”
Colletto also sometimes makes memorable quips. Asked what he saw when he got the ball on the long scoring play, he said, “Come on, man, of course I was thinking touchdown all the way. The adrenaline kicked in on that one.”
Then, asked for further description: “I saw a bright sunset, daylight … there were angels, a wide-open hole … I said, ‘All right, let’s go,’ and I just took off.”
That, I told Colletto Wednesday, was brilliant stuff — Phil Jackson-like material. Did he have the poetic rejoinder planned, or was it an ad lib?
“That was completely improv,” he said. “At times, I just feel the need to say what’s on my mind.”
What else to expect from a mechanical engineering major who would seem to be, in some ways at least, a bit of a free spirit.
Asked what he hopes to do for a career, he was quick with a response: “Play football.”
And how about after his playing days are over?
“Hopefully, I can retire and be a stay-at-home dad,” he said. “Isn’t that crazy?”
Might he dabble a bit in engineering, if only to justify his major?
“I’ll probably be an engineer for a bit,” he said, “but ultimately I’d like to have my own business.”
What kind of business?
“I have absolutely no clue.”
The folks in his hometown of Camas, Wash., aren’t surprised to see Colletto experience success, though they didn’t envision him becoming the Beavers’ Swiss Army knife. His family moved from Kingston, Wash., near Seattle to Camas midway through his sophomore year. He started at safety as a junior and then at quarterback and safety as a senior, leading the Papermakers to a 14-0 record and a 4A state championship in 2016.
Colletto was honored as the state’s Gatorade Player of the Year but received scholarship offers only from FCS programs, so he chose to go to Arizona Western JC.
“I wanted an opportunity to play at a Power Five school,” Colletto said. “That was the hope, which fortunately worked out well.”
Though he was the No. 2 quarterback, he helped the Matadors reach the NJCAA championship game in 2017. Smith saw enough in Colletto that he made him part of his first recruiting class at Oregon State.
“I liked Coach Smith’s vision and the guys he was bringing in,” Colletto said. “With the relationship I built with him through the recruitment process, I felt it was the best fit for me.”
Colletto played eight games and started one as a 220-pound sophomore in 2018, completing 23 of 47 passes for 201 yards and no touchdowns as the third-string QB (behind Jake Luton and Conor Blount) on a 2-10 team. Colletto connected on 11 of 20 passes for 104 yards in a 49-7 loss to California at Reser; the next week, he scored a pair of rushing TDs in a 41-34 overtime win at Colorado. That was about the time where the “Jackhammer” idea was born in the minds of OSU’s offensive coaching staff.
In 2019, Colletto played predominantly at linebacker but also saw some action at quarterback and at Wildcat QB in the first four games. Then he decided to redshirt the season to preserve a year of eligibility.
“I wanted the extra year to get stronger and learn the linebacker position better,” he said.
Colletto played in all seven games during the COVID-shortened 2020 season. He played some linebacker, making 14 tackles, but also ran the ball 15 times for 128 yards and two TDs. In the season finale against Arizona State, he carried six times for 44 yards.
This season, Colletto has been all over the place for the Beavers. He is a member of all special teams “except for field-goal and field-goal block.” He has played some, too, for linebackers coach Trent Bray. Colletto has five tackles, but three of them came in the season opener vs. Purdue.
“I’ll get in on some of the (opponents’) short yardage stuff against heavy personnel,” Colletto says. “That’s pretty much it. I understand the situation and what Coach Bray sees. I just try to be ready for whatever opportunity arises.”
Colletto’s calling card, of course, has become third- or fourth-and-short. Sometimes, he will line up at fullback and be the lead blocker in the backfield. When called upon to carry the ball, he almost always bulls, slithers or claws his way to a first down or touchdown.
When Colletto enters a game in such a situation, there is no disguising what kind of play the Beavers will run. The defense has plenty of opportunity to adjust. Smith and O-coordinator Lindgren don’t seem to care.
It’s like giving the ball to Michael Jordan at the foul line and daring all five defenders to stop him on his path to the basket. “The Jackhammer” almost always makes it to the first-down marker or goal line, anyway.
Colletto has carried 29 times for 147 yards and a very respectable 4.7-yard average this season. The most mind- boggling statistic might be this: Zero loss yards. He also has one reception for one yard and a TD, that in the 42-34 upset of Utah.
What is Colletto’s secret? How does he find the hole? How does he avoid an avalanche of would-be tacklers? What is his mindset?
“I have no idea,” he says.
Colletto, with O-linemen Nate Eldridge (6-4) and Joshua Gray (67) after rushing for a TD against Southern Cal (courtesy Oregon State athletics)
Then: “All I’m thinking is, ‘Get the first down.’ They tell me what the play is and I try to see the numbers and stuff — if anyone on the defense is misaligned or whatever. Then I just go.”
Colletto begins a typical practice with the linebackers but invariably spends time with the offense and special teams, too.
“When the offense calls me over, I head over there,” he said. “Then I go right back. It’s pretty easy.”
Most players have one position coach. Colletto has several — Brian Lindgren (quarterbacks), AJ Steward (running backs), Bray (linebackers), Jake Cookus (special teams). Who does he consider his position coach?
“You’re making me pick a favorite,” he says with a chuckle. “I can’t say one.”
With the TD reception against Utah, Colletto became the second FBS player (joining Baylor’s Dillon Doyle) to intercept a pass and score a TD via a rush and reception this season. He has scored eight rushing touchdowns, ranking him eighth in the Pac-12. Against the 45-27 romp over USC, he became the first FBS player since 2004 with two rushing TDs and an interception in the same game.
Twice this season he has been a member of the weekly “Paul Hornung honor roll,” the annual award given to the nation’s most versatile player. I was floored last week when the five finalists were announced and Colletto wasn’t among them.
“Yeah, What the heck, man? That’s messed up,” Colletto said in jest. “No, really, I don’t pay too much attention to that.”
After the win over ASU, Colletto was asked about the 7-4 Beavers being headed to their first bowl game since 2013.
“It’s crazy,” he said. “When I look back to 2018 and where we were and the amount of work that needed to be done … to be a part of that process, the rebuild and the change, and finally to be where we’re at … the seniors who paid their dues deserve this more than anybody.”
Colletto, who turned 23 on Nov. 19, isn’t one of those departing seniors. He says he will return for a sixth year in Corvallis and play his senior season in 2022. A 3.6 student, Colletto expects to get his undergrad degree this spring and get in some post-grad work in the fall. Then, he hopes, he will be on to a career in the NFL.
The decision to go to OSU, he said, “was the right one. Everything played out the way I envisioned it. Well, maybe not exactly the way I envisioned it — who could foresee this? — but I like where I’m at.”
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