The
Buffs completed their first of two-a-day practice sessions as well as CU Media Day. Here are a few quotes and items that came up:
Offensive
Notes
§
QB battle:
*Embree
accidently opened his news conference saying the team had a quarterback controversy, before correcting himself
to say competition. He did say he
would like to know as soon as possible so the team knows who is leading them
against CSU and can prepare, and that he would like to know now so he could
sleep at night.
*He
said that Wood has the strongest arm but can be erratic and needs to improve
his accuracy, that the team seems to gravitate toward Hirschman who needs to
improve on the “mental aspect”, and that Webb shows his experience, doesn’t
have the biggest arm but throws a “catchable” ball, and also that reminds him
of Koy Detmer (not sure how I should feel about that).
*Connor
Wood said that he didn’t think anyone felt any tension in the competition.
*Hirschman
is focusing on himself and not worrying so much about the other guys and the
competition. “You want to focus on
yourself, making the right reads and right decisions. If you can do that,
everything else will work itself out on its own.”
§
Embree said that Donta Abron and Terrence
Crowder are a little bit ahead of fellow freshman Davien Payne and in the
running to help backup Tony Jones at RB, along with Jr. Josh Ford, So. DD
Goodson and Malcolm Creer.
§
Jones is one of many players who have credited
Malcom Blacken for their strength and conditioning. He has put on 12 pounds and increased weight
room numbers across the board. He has carried numerous chips on his shoulders
that motivate him to improve: He was always considered too small, he struggled
academically early in high school, and because of those two factors, no other
upper division schools offered him a scholarship. His “personal goal
is to get over 1200 yards this year and to help us win a bowl game.”
§
Embree also had a lot to say about the FBs:
Christian Powell has lost weight and is “ripped…can lift the world, is
physical...athletic…fluid…good hips…can run routes…Bienemy is excited.” Norgard stood out in a blocking drill against
d-linemen and linebackers. Fellow frosh Clay Norgard has “made
improvements.” He also mentioned Alex
Wood.
§
LG Alex Lewis said that the offensive line is a
much more cohesive unit this year, communicating with each other and developing
a “camaraderie.”
§
At WR Embree gave props to R-Fr. Nelson Spruce,
So. Tyler McCulloch and T-Fr. Gerald Thomas who “made
one guy miss him twice on the same play...He has it…When he turns up the field,
he explodes. He just goes.”
§
After sitting out a year as a redshirt,
especially after almost playing early in the season, Spruce is excited to play
and thinks the entire offense is way more familiar with the playbook and
coaches’ expectations. He adds that the young Thomas duo are both “stepping it
up”.
§
Embree wouldn’t commit to much about Paul
Richardson, only that he is doing well, helping the younger receivers, “still
progressing.” P-Rich himself said much
of the same, that he is progressing, helping with the younger players who are
not timid, entered camp with attitude and confidence and will make some
contributions to the team.
§
TE Nick Kasa is enjoying tight end, being a
leader and also thinks a lot of the freshmen who are competing in his unit and
across the team.
Defensive
Notes
§
No surprise that Embree highlighted the
linebackers, specifically the 3 starters, Major, Rippy and Webb, as well, yet
again, as So. Brady Daigh, who will be very hard to keep off the field this
year.
§
DT Nate Bonsu has lost 30 pounds Jon Woods of
Ralphie Report wrote: “Embree never
thought he'd use the word athletic when describing Nate, but he is now.” Also that
DE Wil Pericak, who had already been one of the bright spots on the D coming in,
“has worked really hard” and is “night and day better.”
§
Pericak reiterated the common themes of a bowl
game goal, that the frosh are pushing everyone and that Malcolm Bracken has
pushed the team in its strength and conditioning work.
§
Bonsu is rooming with T-Fr. Tyler Henington and
he is mentoring him.
§
Embree is also very pleased with the depth the
freshmen are providing on the D-line. He
compared this group to “the class when we had [Justin] Bannan and [Tyler]
Brayton.”
§
We again heard, as we have recently and we saw
last year, that the team always does seem to be a little better when Parker
Orms is in the game. IF he can stay
healthy, and especially since Crawley and Wright seem to be as advertised, it
would take some pressure off the young line and the defense has a chance to be
very good.
§
Orms said he has played 5 complete practices at
safety for the first time since high school and is starting to feel more
comfortable. He likes the secondary’s
depth and versatility.
§
Embree also mentioned all the freshmen DBs and
said that “they get it. From the jump, it all makes
sense to them. It’s all natural for them. For now, it’s all technique and
little things for them.”
§
Terrel Smith, who is back at his more natural
position of safety, has “grown and matured.”
Special
Teams Notes
§
Overall, Embree said that special teams are
still “a work in progress” but he had good things to say about all the kickers:
“[Will] Oliver has picked up where he left off.
Justin Castor has become more consistent. I can see us using him in long field
goals or as the kickoff guy. Darragh [O’Neill] has become stronger, more
consistent with his hang time. Zach [Grossnickle] is competing and pushing
them…Our kicking game is expected to improve from last year…We’ll be better in
the return and in the cover game due to the fact that we have more speed and
more athletes. We’ll see, we practice it a lot. It will not be from lack of
practice.”
Other
Team Notes:
§
Embree repeated the season goal and carrot: a
bowl game. He said he was impressed with
level of “retention” by the returning players and the “assimilation” of the new
players into the program and playbook. One important Embree quote: "This year we have depth, this year we
have players who are at their natural positions."
§
He said
freshmen “are going to have to play
everywhere. Defensive backs, d-line, receivers, running back, maybe as
returners…Make sure you get a program.”
He realizes he needs to be patient but has set the bar high for his team
and expects a high level of effort and to “play to the whistle.”
§
Embree has established
a 14-player leadership council with all classes represented to help the team
know each other better, truly respect each other, and create that close-knit
“chemistry” that every team is seeking.
§
The first scrimmage is next Saturday and could
go a long way towards determining who starts, plays or redshirts at various
positions. The coaching staff hopes
that some guys, specifically at QB, on the d-line and in the secondary, step up
and make the decisions easier.
§
Jon Woods wrote: “I really got a different vibe from the players this season. They seem
upbeat, excited and optimistic about the year. It could just be the guys I
talked to, it could be the relative youth of the team, but I like the direction
this program is taking as it moves further away from the Hawkins era.”
§
Kyle Ringo reported he asked ten different
players who was the team leader and got eight different answers, and then
Embree said that was good and it meant a lot of guys were “stepping up”.
§
Disappointing Sr. Eric Richter will live out the
remaining year of his scholarship and anonymity on the offensive side of the
ball, moving back to his original position on the second day of camp, when he
realized there was no way he could compete with the freshmen on the defensive
line. This does at least confirm that
those frosh on the d-line are doing very well, but I don’t see Richter ever
cracking even the two-deep on the o-line either.
§
Frosh CB John Walker has a finger injury and
will redshirt.
§
CU debuted the new, supposedly very impressive
new video boards at Folsom and I can’t wait to see them in action for the
Ralphie intro video on Sept. 8 for the first home game against Sacramento
State!
I
like “Ribs and Whiskey”’s post on NetBuffs.com analyzing the schedule: “
§
CSU notes:
The Lambies had their first scrimmage and the defense didn’t absolutely kill
the offense as they did in the spring.
Coach McElwain thinks his team has come a long way, which is good
because they have a really long way to go to get back even into the picture in
the Mountain WAC. The team has three
mediocre kickers vying for FG and kickoff duties and none seemed to have done
that well with a missed PAT and numerous missed FG, including one that was
blocked.
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