First full week of Spring practices in the books

A few items of note from the first week of the Buffaloes’ spring practices:

First Scrimmage: Friday, March 14, brought the first “abbreviated” scrimmage of the spring, a “50 on 10” with all 12 drives starting at midfield. The team ran 71 plays and the offense, given the field position advantage, did well and scored half the time, 5 TDs and one FG.

Players of note: Both QBs Gehrke and Sefo had good days throwing to WRs Nelson Spruce and R-Fr. Bryce Bobo, who were singled out for some nice catches; RB Philip Lindsay, who is determined to get on the field this year, ran well but had a fumble, Tony Jones was solid, Donta Abron had a short TD, Terrence Crowder even had a few carries, while Michael Adkins sat out after tweaking an ankle earlier this week; LB Addison Gillam had a big day with lots of tackles again (ESPN Pac12 blog did a nice piece: http://espn.go.com/blog/pac12/post/_/id/70292/gillam-buffs-eye-improvement?ex_cid=espnapi_public ; could he be a sophomore captain?), Kenneth Olubode “is really freaking good” according to MacIntyre, and his competition, transfer Deaysean Rippy is starting to pick it up; DEs Juda Parker (is this finally his breakout year?) and Derek McCartney both had some big stops. CB Kenneth Crawley smashed up some fingers in practice before the scrimmage and did not play, but I didn’t read anything about how the secondary played otherwise.

Next Friday, March 21 is scheduled to be a fuller scrimmage, as well as probably April 4. The spring game is set for noon on Saturday, April 12, and will be covered by 850 KOA and the Pac12 Networks.

Roster and practice notes: According to Adam M at Buffstampede, Sefo is looking improved in his footwork (his primary focus per the coaches the past few months), is throwing crisper short balls and is much more accurate on long balls.  All of this bodes well obviously, assuming continued improvement by him, but also the offensive line.

Kawai Crabb, who could end up starting at any of four positions, is getting lots of reps at left tackle since both Jeromy Irwin and Marc Mustoe are out for the spring, and he is supposedly looking pretty good there.  R-Fr. Jonathon Huckins, the most praised of the redshirt freshmen lineman, is getting his look at center and guard.

A few different media members have reported that JC  transfer CB Akhello Witherspoon looks the part and will certainly challenge for playing time; Witherspoon expects himself to win the starting job from Kenneth Crawley, who would likely become the dime back at best, competing with the likes of Josh Moten and Yuri Wright for playing time.  I fully expect Chidobe Awuzie to be back at the nickel.

Clay Norgard has switched positions yet again, having spent his first year at fullback, last season at LB and now is moving to defensive tackle, where the team really needs some bodies since it was announced that both Samson Kafovalu and Justin Solis are missing the spring practices to focus on academics.

And even with the lower number of DTs, it is possible that Tyler Henington will play defensive end now.  Sometimes a “tweener” can create some mismatches, but you don’t want all of your defensive linemen to be “tweeners” and I am a little concerned about how many of these guys have jumped back and forth between in and out. It’s looking more and more like not just one, but both big true freshmen DTs coming in, Eddy Lopez and Jase Franke, are going to be called upon right away for a little depth in the middle.

Other Buff notes: CU’s pro timing day was last Wednesday and long snapper Ryan Iverson made a very good impression. Didn’t hear much about Chidera Uzo-Diribe, who was considered best draft prospect as a pass rush specialist after P-Rich, who did limited work after performing well at the combine a couple of weeks ago.  Gus Handler pulled a hammy, while Parker Orms, Derrick Webb and Nate Bonsu desperately tried to keep the dream alive; Doug Rippy also gave it one last shot, as did Travis Sandersfield, who has been gone for two years. 

-Paul Vigo is going into the Army with a goal of joining Special Forces.

-Kyle McCall is following recruiting for the Camera (it is more in the online blog and through twitter than in print) and is showing a lot of offers to some intriguing 2015 prospects, especially a bunch in California.

ICYMI-Traitor Alex Lewis is running with the first team o-line at nebraska, even though his legal troubles have not yet been settled. Typical corn.  Also, Bo Pelini was signed to an extension, which means he is under contract through 2018, when Colorado and their former “rival” complete their scheduled home and home series.  What are the odds that Pelini actually coaches both games?  I’m saying less than 50% as he has made enough bonehead moves to show he will do it again, and I just don’t think they are going to really compete in the Big Ten.

Go Buffs!