We
had the first scrimmage of the Spring, and although I don’t think we learned
anything monumental yet about this team, practices have me amped up and with
the added potential bonus of prizes I gave in and purchased my season tickets,
not that I ever considered not actually doing so, and I even anted up the $20
to mildly upgrade my seats for the csu game, albeit only an assurance that I
will be in one general area in one corner near student section. However, as long as the Bohnhead is in
charge, I won’t give another added cent.
Players
will be getting ipad minis for playbooks this year. Wow, the money must be flowing in for a
program that did not even provide water for its coaches last year. How’s that facilities upgrade comin’ Mikey
Mcbohn?
Practice
Notes: Tuesday’s
practice was conducted in the ugly practice bubble, which MacIntyre said was
fine to keep them out of the mud for now, but he would prefer the future
facilities. In the first practice with
pads he said the team wasn’t quite as sharp as they were last week. Thursday
was the first day of tackling, but not much was reported.
MacIntyre talks a lot about
linebackers in general, how Baer has had great success with them in the past,
even playing young kids early. He has
talked about the two frosh he lured from San Jose, Markeis Reid and Addison
Gilliam a lot so far, but I have not heard that much about returnees Webb,
Daigh, Greer, Vigo or Washington. This
will be an intriguing position group to watch leading up to opening day and
once the defense is on the field.
D-line coach Jim Jeffcoat
has 15 linemen to work with, 10 of which are frosh or soph. He says they will focus fist on improving
against the run, because that will make everything easier. He likes the word relentless and wants his
players to play that way.
Nice article on new Buffs
WR coach Troy Walters, who is a favorite on Twitter. He likes what he has to work with and that
they are hard workers: http://www.cubuffs.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=3843&SPID=255&DB_LANG=C&ATCLID=206766362&DB_OEM_ID=600
First
scrimmage The second
half of practice Friday was up in Folsom Field.
MacIntyre said the scrimmage would be very basic, with quarterbacks off
limits. And I guess it was. They ended up running 116-120 plays
(depending on reports) in 80 minutes with about 90 offensive snaps and 25+ on
Special Teams. The word of the day was
tempo, and as they have been doing with all practices, they packed in a lot of
work and plays. Guys are always moving
and they are snapping the ball quickly, mainly to prepare for at least 8 teams
that run some form of no huddle. Article and Stats: http://www.cubuffs.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=600&ATCLID=206785663
The offense moved the ball
(515 yards) but was only able to score three times. The highlighted plays on
offense were a 45-yard pass from Connor Wood to Gerald Thomas and a 46-yard TD
from Hirschman to DD Goodson. They
spread the ball around a lot with 24 guys touching the ball, 15 of them
catching at least one; Keenan Canty and Austin Vincent each had 4 receptions, with
Thomas netting the most yards with 66 on 3.
Nobody had more than 6 carries either (Donta Abron 6-24, Josh Ford 4-42
with a one-yard TD) as they wanted to get a look at everyone. They did throw more than 50 times while only
rushing 30 plays.
Parker Orms led the defense
with a few big plays including a 31-yard pick six. Greg Henderson also had an interception and
Samson Kafovalu and Tyler Henington each had 2 sacks. Never-used So. LB Lowell Williams led team
with eight tackles.
The kickers Castor and
Oliver were both perfect, although they didn’t take any long kicks. O’Neill and Wilhelm both had 2 nice punts. There
was very little talk about the return game so I am not sure if they were live
for returns.
QB Battle: In the scrimmage Webb was 5-of-11 for 98 yards and
the two TDs, Hirschman was 4-of-7 for 61 and 1 TD, Wood was 3-of-6 for 59 yards,
Dillon was 4-of-9 for 56 (with the only interception of the frontunners), Stevie Joe Dorman was 10-of-14 for 79
yards, running an efficient two-minute drill, and John Schrock was 7-of-9 for 54 yards and a pick. They also wanted to get everyone a few drives
so no one has a huge sample size.
All three 0f
the returning guys are acting as if they plan on winning the job. Most are still betting on Shane Dillon
beating them all out. The three “vets”
are all playing for the chance to be the back-up, if Sefo doesn’t beat them
all.
WR Paul
Richardson, who will be the winner’s favorite target, said it was too early to
know who the QB will be, that they are all competing. No matter who wins, P-Rich still thinks this
team has six wins and a bowl game in it and will surprise a lot of people. He also said he has moved on from Embree,
even though many were shocked and bitter at first, and that he thinks MacIntyre
came at the “perfect time”, inheriting a hungry, under-rated group. "I
feel incredible. I know I'm more
explosive than I was before. I know I'm faster than I was before. I'm more
mature. I'm stronger. I'm a better leader. Conceptually, I'm grasping the
offense and I'm able to pull guys along with me."
Position changes: Surprisingly, from what coaches said
going into the spring, we haven’t heard much yet about other players working
out at more than one position.
Injuries: WR Jeff Thomas and CB Yuri Wright have
been held out of practices because of nagging leg injuries and may not practice
until after spring break. No other
reported injuries out of practice or the scrimmage.
Totally
unrelated to practices, DB Sherrard Harrington, who has never gotten on the
field due to hip and knee injuries, won’t be playing in 2013 because of the
hip, and maybe never. He first announced
via twitter Monday that he was retiring from football, but now it is being
reported that he will take a medical redshirt.
This is certainly not great for a 20-year-old and wish him all the luck
getting back on the field.
Here’s the remaining Spring
practice schedule, most sessions 3:45-6:15PM on the lower Boulder Creek fields.
Tuesday, March 19 Practice
Thursday, March 21 Practice (no tackling)
Friday, March 22 Practice (scrimmage)
Spring Break
Tuesday, April 2 Practice
(no tackling)
Thursday, April 4 Practice
Friday, April 5 Practice (scrimmage)
Tuesday, April 9 Practice (no tackling)
Thursday, April 11 Practice
Thursday, April 4 Practice
Friday, April 5 Practice (scrimmage)
Tuesday, April 9 Practice (no tackling)
Thursday, April 11 Practice
Saturday,
April13 Spring Game, 10:30AM, televised
on Pac-12 Network
Tuesday,
April 16 Final
practice (shorts/helmets only)
Former players in
attendance at the scrimmage: Former CU linebacker Ron Woolfork ('93), now an assistant
to former CU coach, Bob Simmons,
at Boulder High School and former safety Marcus Washington ('97) is now the defensive coordinator at Aurora
Hinkley.
Another
off the field issue? Not
yet, nor any further updates on RB Davien Payne (no football activities
indefinitely) or DE Samson “Kool Aid” Kafovalu (who has participated fully in the first few spring
practices).
Other
Buff Notes: So fitting
to read that the bohnhead is the lowest paid AD in the Pac-12.
Congratulations to the CU
Ski team which won its 19th National Championship!
Also to both the men’s and
women’s basketball teams for the NCAA berths!
CU
Pro timing day for 2013 draft eligible players Wednesday was the day scouts are on
hands to time and observe all 6 draft eligible players (plus two 2011 grads),
whether they went to the combine or not.
Nick Kasa, who pulled his
hamstring at the combine run, but still ran a scout-pleasing 4.7 said at
Tuesday’s practice that he wouldn’t run the 40 again, and only caught some
basic passes. Kasa has said he has been
told 2nd (yeah, right) to 6th (much more likely).
David Bahktiari got himself
over the “300” plateau (he only weighed 299 at combine). Bahktiari has been given a similar range to
Kasa, although he must feel he is on the high end since he came out early, to
which he said he has no regrets.
Those are the only two with
chance of being drafted.
Jon Major ran a 4.82 40 and
Wil Pericak a 5.01, with 24 reps of 225 pounds, but probably did not help
themselves and will be hoping to be signed to a undrafted free agent contract.
Eric Richter, who never
really did anything on the field, defensive or offensive line, but was always
“the strongest guy on the team”, benched 48 reps of 225 pounds.
Others to work out for the
27 scouts from 23 teams were Ray Polk and Doug Rippy, along with 2011 graduates
and still trying to live the dream, Tyler Hansen and Ryan Deehan.
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