Lots of spring notes

The Colorado Buffalo football team resumed practices on Monday, March 31, after taking a week off for Spring Break.  Sessions are again running Mon-Wed-Fri 8:30 AM through next week, with today, Friday, April 4 scheduled to be a scrimmage.  The Black and Gold Spring game will be at noon on Saturday, April 12, covered by AM 760 and the Pac12 Networks.  They will play four 12-minute quarters, using a running clock, except for the last two minutes of each half, where they will presumably get some two-minute work in.  The annual Healthy Kids Day will follow, beginning about 1:30 PM. The team will then have one last practice session on Monday, April 14.

Roster and practice notes:  Three key players, plus another with lots of game experience returned to practice after the break, after having sat out due to injury:  Jr. RB Christian Powell missed the first half of spring after undergoing minor knee surgery but is expected to be a “full go” in the second half.  So. CB  Kenneth Crawley suffered a hand injury early on in spring drills, but is expected to participate (albeit with a hand cast) in the remainder of spring practices. Sr. S Terrell Smith underwent surgery last September for a chronic shoulder injury and was listed as “probable” for the start of spring practices before being sidelined with an ankle injury. He is expected to participate more in the second half of the spring and snagged a nice interception in the first practice. Lastly, Sr. WR Tyler McCulloch probably hurt his chances the most by missing all of the first half of spring practices with an injury, but may be available for practices in the second half, but I don’t think it matters at this point as the talent around has done well and I just don’t see many plays and catches in front of him.

Addison Gillam, Daniel Munyer, Woodson Greer and Nelson Spruce have been spotted sporting the Gold “Uncommon” practice jerseys for their efforts in practice. Sefo, I believe, has earned himself a permanent one.

No player however, not even Sefo, is getting the amount of press and praise as R-Fr. WR Bryce Bobo.  Every website and newspaper has done a piece on him, and coaches and media members can’t stop mentioning him when they ask who sticks out at practice.  It sounds like he might have the line on the spot opposite “Mr. Dependable” Nelson Spruce, with DD Goodson and Devin Ross in the slot, leaving the rest of the bunch-Srs. Tyler McCulloch and Keenan Canty, R-Fr. Elijah Dunston, newcomer Lee Walker- to fight for the back-up spots out wide with incoming freshman Shay Fields.  The seniors could be left out of the party completely when it is all said and done.

Sefo is getting some nice reviews around the web.  He has put on ten pounds, appears to have more zip in his throws, has improved accuracy especially on longer throws and seems to be in charge of the offense.  He is developing great relationships with his receivers and appears on all accounts to be ready to take the next step.  A fairly easy opening schedule should help boost his confidence early.  There is no reason to think that Gehrke is challenging for the starting position, even if coaches are saying that he is.  At the same time, MacIntyre has also said that Sefo has done nothing to lose the job, which to me really means Gehrke hasn’t done anything to seize the opportunity.

The RB group is sneaky deep now (even after having had three guys leave in the last year or so) and competition for carries will be fierce.  MacIntyre said that Christian Powell will definitely line up some at fullback this season and the two-back set could be a very interesting formation in this offense.  Michael Adkins is “stronger, more flexible” and Philip Lindsay also continues to progress and has earned himself some carries this fall. I have a very hard time seeing Donta Abron or Malcolm Creer, and maybe even senior Tony Jones earning much PT in this crowded , talented backfield.

At tight end, MacIntyre cited the play of Sean Irwin, who has learned the pass routes and is developing into a receiver, not just a good blocker.  He also said that senior Kyle Slavin is doing “good” but it did not sound like a ringing endorsement.  One of the true frsoh will certainly still get some playing time this year.

K Diego Gonzalez did not take the “normal” route to playing Division I football having grown up in Mexico.  But he certainly has the leg to be a big-time American football kicker and after sitting out a redshirt year due to bizarre transfer rules, he is ready to compete, not just content to learn and wait his turn.  Anyone who has seen him kick or heard tale of his booming leg, has expected him to handle kickoffs this year as he can clear the end zone quite easily I guess, and especially since Wil Oliver struggled with that aspect, which also likely hurt his regular place-kicking duties as well.  For now, the main placekicking duties are still Oliver’s to lose, but Gonzalez is not conceding anything (I guess neither is Jordan Gehrke at QB) and wants to challenge for both parts.  At Monterrey Tech he was also the punter and is even working out there now also.  The most likely scenario is that he handles kickoffs and long field goals, while backing up both Oliver and Darragh O’Neill; however, I could see him handling all of kicking and punting duties the following two years.

WR Lee Walker has been mentioned as a possible kick returner, as well as RB Philip Lindsay.

I am really curious as to how the defensive line is going to shake out, given all the movement, two guys with academic problems, a new late signee.  Jim Jeffcoat and graduate assistant JB Hall have their hands full with a group that is pivotal to the team’s defensive and overall success.  I will definitely spend some time watching this group when I head up to practice next Friday and at the Spring Game.

The defensive secondary has gotten some good reviews as well as they return a lot of experience for the first time in years, newcomer Akhello Witherspoon adds some size to the group and a few younger players may be ready to step up.  Only negative is Josh Moten going down with another (as of yet undisclosed) injury. This is a group I really want to focus on next week.

With the latest announcement that the Buffs have once again signed a late recruit to their class in the form of DL Leo Jackson (whose commitment to SMU somehow fell through), the Buffs (according to a few reports-I haven’t done the math myself) will be four bodies over the scholarship limit come August as the roster currently stands with the expected incoming freshmen.  It is widely expected that CB Jeff Hall will be one to lose his spot, freeing up one scholarship.  It was also recently announced that DL Kirk Poston, who wasn’t really expected to garner much playing time, is going to graduate in May and will not play his last season of eligibility.  But what about two more still?  Will one or both of Samson Kafovalu (who also has other incidents on his record) or Justin Solis, both of whom could be counted on to start on the d-line, not be back due to their academic troubles?  I haven’t heard of any other recent problems, so is there someone else or even two more guys who could lose their scholarship? 

2015 Recruiting: The Buffs do already have one commit (LB NJ Falo, San Jose) for the next recruiting cycle, but this is the year for MacIntyre and his staff to make an impact and it starts with in-state prospects.  ESPN had this little ditty: http://insider.espn.go.com/blog/ncfrecruiting/on-the-trail/post?id=53335&ex_cid=espnapi_public

Other Buff notes: The season opening game against csu has been moved back one day to Friday so that this huge rivalry game will be played on national TV (either an ESPN or Fox channel).  There will only be three other games that night, and none are any national interest-BYU at Connecticut, Bowling Green at Western Kentucky and UNLV at Arizona.  It will also give the team an extra day before their longest road trip of the year, to Massachusetts the following week.  I wonder if I can already call in a sub?

The Folsom renovation plans are slowly moving forward, helped in part by an “internal” $10 million donation from the CU Foundation in January.  That supposedly got them over the halfway point toward the goal or raising the first $50 million privately for the project.  The Foundation says it used money from interest on long-term investments to make the donation.  It is a nice gesture but was kinda covered up, seeing as it was not reported for two months and Rick George was vague in talking about how much had been raised so far recently and for some, this kinda falls in the gray area for private funding.  It is still a long way to go and I am not sure they will be able to do any kind of groundbreaking in conjunction with the Spring Game.

One last, cynical question:  Are MacIntyre and his coaches embarking down the road of not honoring a scholarship to an upperclassman in order to open up a slot for a younger, more talented player, as is commonplace in the SEC?  Is Poston one of those instances?  It certainly feels a little like a few years ago when Embree flat out announced that a few would-be-fifth-year-seniors would not be coming back.  At least CU is letting guys graduate.

Go Buffs!

FYI- I have a new blog up on our preparation for and travel to the World Cup of the other football in Brasil this summer (link below).