Second week, second scrimmage

A few items of note from the second full week of the Colorado Buffaloes’ spring practices:

Second Scrimmage: Friday, March 21 brought the first day of spring and the team’s second scrimmage with another 80+ plays before the players departed for spring break.  While the offense got the better of the defense the first time around, they could not do much through the first seven drives of the session, including a snap out of the endzone for a safety, before Sefo broke out with four TDs, including a 51- yarder to R-Fr. WR Bryce Bobo and a 10-yarder to TE Sean Irwin.  His “competition” at QB, Jordan Gehrke, did not fare as well putting up very pedestrian stats with no scores.  Twelve different receivers had receptions, including Nelson Spruce and Keenan Canty with three each.  With a focus more on the short passing game, there was not a ton of rushing, with Malcolm Greer posting the best number with 4 carries for 32 yards. 

On defense, Addison Gillam (I hope no one is tired of writing or reading statements like this because this kid is the real deal) led the way again with 5 tackles, including two sacks and two third down stops.  Brady Daigh had six tackles, but redshirt sophomore Yuri Wright led the team with eight tackles (7 solo) and two passes broken up, which makes the secondary battles very intriguing, especially as I did not read much about newcomer Akhello Witherspoon.  Tupou, McCartney, Norgard, Henington (2) all had sacks, while S Tedric Thompson had a pick off Trent Sessions, and Richard Yates recovered a fumble caused by Josh Moten.

LB Woodson Greer blocked a Wil Oliver FG (never know if I should be happy or pissed at these) and Diego Gonzalez boomed a 50-yarder on his only punt attempt. New frosh WR Lee Walker had a 40-yard kickoff return (in addition to a couple of catches).

Coaches have started giving out Gold jerseys in recognition of “uncommon” plays and effort.  Coaches nominate and MacIntyre decides and presents it with the video of the play in front of the whole team; if you get it twice, you get to keep it. Sefo is one of the first guys to have earned one and wore it during the scrimmage.

The team expects to get RB Christian Powell, FB Clay Jones, CB Kenneth Crawley back from injury for the second half of spring ball after the break.

The Buffs, like me, are off until Monday, March 31, when they will resume two weeks of M-W-F morning practices with Friday, April 4 also scheduled to be a scrimmage. The spring game is set for noon on Saturday, April 12, and will be covered by 850 KOA and the Pac12 Networks.  They will have one last practice session on Monday, April 14.

Other roster and practice notes:

Rising sophomore LB Kenneth Olugbode continues to receive praise for both his intelligence and speed.  Although he is only around 210 pounds, coaches agree he can use his quickness to get around bigger and stronger guys, as well as track down speedy opposing RBs and WRs.  He actually played on defense in the last five games at a couple of different positions, including once when he came in and played the outside with no experience there whatsoever.  Ryan Severson, who was mostly known as a mediocre at best kickoff returner last year is also starting to learn the defense and turn some heads, but I think it’s going to be hard for him to get on the field outside of special teams.

Wide receivers coach Troy Walters likes what he has in his stable of pass-catchers and knows that it will be the group, not any one guy, that makes up for the loss of Paul Richardson to the NFL.  R-Fr. Bryce Bobo has been getting lot of attention from coaches and media, seemingly mentioned after every practice and in every interview.  He is just picking up where he left off on the scout team at the end of the season.  The Camera’s Kyle Ringo thinks he can have over 500 yards and 6+ touchdowns. We have hardly heard Elijah Dunston or even Devin Ross mentioned.

Sr. Wr Wes Christensen, who had a great set of August practices last year but was nowhere to be seen on Saturdays, was one of three other guys (plus Olugbode and Bobo) mentioned after practice last Monday by MacIntyre, along with Sefo for his improved accuracy, and DT Josh Tupou “should show up” and make big plays this year.

RB Philip Lindsay is another name that keeps popping up over and over again and I am pretty sure we will see him on the field, which makes me wonder if there is any room at all for senior Tony Jones in the rotation, or if they even care if Josh Ford is granted a 6^th year of eligibility.

Offensive line coach Gary Bernardi said that OL Jeromy Irwin will be healthy by the time fall camp rolls around and that he is still expected to compete for a starting job, probably the left tackle.  Marc Mustoe is also not recovered from his injury and is not practicing.  The other candidate for the LT position is not practicing either, as JC transfer Sully Wiefels has not yet enrolled, although some, including myself thought/said/wrote that he was.  Nembot is even getting a little time there, but BoulderDevil still thinks that if Nembot hasn’t vastly improved his pass protection (MacIntyre has said he has improved but I don’t sense the confidence), he should move back to the d-line, so maybe both tackles are not even out there yet.  Meanwhile, Kawaii Crabb originally slotted into one of the interior positions, is getting the most reps at LT.

On Defense JC transfer CB Akhello continues to impress, which doesn’t bode well for the injured Kenneth Crawley.  Witherspoon is a little raw, having really only played football for two years, his senior year in high school and one year at Sacramento City College, where he refined his game and grew a little.  Now he has the the size and speed to be a prototypical big corner.  BG Brooks did wrote a great piece on him: http://www.cubuffs.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=600&ATCLID=209438187

Ringo also thinks that sophomore Tedric Thompson will win the starting safety job alongside Jered Bell, who most assume will keep his job as a senior since no one else seems ready to step up.

Defensive line is a position group in flux as many guys are switching positions inside and out.  I have mentioned numerous times that it makes me nervous how many “tweeners” this group has, but I put my trust in Coach Jeffcoat to turn this into a productive group.  Clay Norgard moved from pass rushing LB not to DE, but all the way down to DT.  Tyler Henington has slimmed down and is going to get a shot outside at end after two years inside.  And now, senior Juda Parker, who has never lived up to his four-star hype at DE, but who has put on weight and added strength, is moving inside to DT.  I don’t think this is the last of musical chairs we have seen here, with two guys focusing on academics (Kafovalu and Solis) and two more potential immediate players coming in August (Franke and Lopez).

The team picked up a preferred walk-on LB in Lance Cottrell (Plano, TX), who was rated three stars by Rivals and was originally an SMU commit.

There had been rumors of another new player or two joining the fold and Saturday afternoon it was announced that defensive lineman Leo Jackson will join the team as a late signee in the 2014 class.  He had been a full qualifier out of high school in Atlanta but played last year at Foothill College in California (had idea there were this many tiny small schools, but MacIntyre certainly knows them) and will join the squad this summer as a sophomore.  This can't be a good sign for Justin Solis and Samson Kafovalu, who are missing spring practices trying to focus on academics.

Other Buff notes: Shout out to the men’s team for making the NCAA tournament.  Congrats to the women’s basketball team for winning their first game in the WNIT against TCU, and good luck to the ladies tonight against Southern Utah (a team they crushed at the beginning of the season, but who beat little sister in moby gym Thursday night). 

Traitor report: Alex Lewis was sentenced to 45 days in jail, two years of probation, 100 hours of community service, and anger management and alcohol training for beating the crap out of a defenseless guy half his size.  Lewis will be able to finish out his semester in Lincoln, which I guess just adds to the punishment, before dealing with his time during the summer.

Go Buffs!

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!

Spring Preview

And BAM! Spring ball is upon us with the first practice yesterday morning, Friday, March 7.  They also did some team bonding Thursday that included a tug-of-war contest won by Andy LaRussa’s family group.  The first session was deemed a success by Coach MacIntyre.  Even though there was a little rust, most players appeared to have improved and worked on what coaches asked during the past couple of months.

The team will continue to go at it 8:30-11:30 AM Monday-Wednesday-Friday for the next two weeks and the first two weeks of April, taking a week off for Spring Break in between. Scrimmages are tentatively scheduled for Fridays March 21 and April 4, with the Spring Game on Saturday, April 12 at noon at Folsom Field, coverage on the Pac12 Networks and 850 KOA; the team will wrap up spring ball with a practice on Monday, April 14 to review some things from the scrimmage and set up what the players can work on during unsupervised summer workouts.  The general focus of the fifteen sessions will be improving everywhere on defense, preparing Sefo for a full season running the offense, developing a more consistent run game, and especially looking to improve in the red zone, where the team left a lot of points on the field last year.

Here’s a quick synopsis of each position group with speculation as to the projected starters and probable contributors.  For a more in depth look, check out Stuart’s comprehensive position previews at: http://www.cuatthegame.com/2014/spring-forward-3/

Just for kicks, and since everyone always starts with the offense, let’s look at the defense first:

Cornerbacks:  We know that (yes he is a) senior Greg Henderson will line up on and lock down one side this year.  The question is who will line up opposite him?  Can an improved but still vulnerable Kenneth Crawley hold on to the spot, or will Chidobe Awuzie or Yuri Wright grab it from him?  What about JC transfer Akhello Witherspoon?  Third place is the Nickel slot, and at least five CBs will play fairly regularly. Can anyone else like, Josh Moten recovering from an Achilles, or So. John Walker, factor into the battle?  Jeff Hall is likely off the team.

Safeties:  Jered Bell, sigh, probably holds on to his spot because of his experience (it’s certainly not his speed), at least for now. Marques Mosley has never been able to quite put it all together, but he definitely has the speed to help this defense.  Likewise for Tedric Thompson, who showed some flashes as a true frosh last season.  The wild card here is senior Terrel Smith, who redshirted last year to repair a chronic shoulder, and who has always found a way to get his big-hitting, little body onto the field.  These four all need to show their stuff because a lot of people are very high on incoming frosh Evan White.

Linebackers:  This group is a little deeper than many might realize.  Addison Gillam will lead the way, hopefully to an all-conference year (again) but the supporting cast is muddled with many bodies vying for two spots, one of which all but disappears against many Pac12 offenses when D goes full-time nickel/dime.  So the two big questions are: 1) Who grabs the other middle spot (that won’t play much against some teams) between Sr. Brady Daigh (who might be the best run-stopper on the team) and sophs Kenneth Olugbode (played for Webb at end of season), Ryan Severson or Clay Norgard? 2) Can Sr. Woodson Greer hold off sophomore transfer Deaysean Rippy?

Defensive Line: Jim Jeffcoat seems to be pretty pleased with his group of lineman, even though many are critical of both its (lack of) talent and depth.  Three starters are penciled in: juniors Josh Tupou and Justin Solis at tackle, plus senior Juda Parker at one end.  The battle for the other starting end position will be one of the most interesting of the spring and fall as there are many players in the running starting with sophomores Jimmy Gilbert, who had a great freshman campaign improving and seeing the field more as the season progressed, and De’Jon Wilson (has also played tackle), who has been excellent in practice but has yet to do much on gameday; Sr. Kirk Poston could get some time here and there, but three redshirt frosh-Markeis Reed, Derek McCartney and Tim Coleman-will get a chance to show their stuff.  Two more juniors, Justin Solis and Samson Kafovalu (although he has played some end as well), are slated to back up inside, but both will miss spring ball while focusing on academics. All of the names listed will probably see the field this fall, plus one or two true frosh.  Jim Jeffcoat and his graduate assistant JB Hall have their work cut out for them as this group is probably the most crucial as to how far this defense can go.

Offensive Line: The line is also the most important group on this side of the trenches as well.  Three guys also have jobs secure here, although which job each holds may not be solidified yet.  It is expected that Jr. Stephane Nembot (although some fans have called for the passive giant to move back to the d-line where he started) will be the right tackle, though he will get a look at the left side; seniors Daniel Munyer and Kawai Crabb will man two of the interior spots, with one probably ending up at center, and Alex Kelley taking the last guard slot; another option is both could end up flanking fellow junior Brad Cotner at center, though the former scenario is more likely with Crabb the early frontrunner at center.  Unfortunately, the last position you want to be the unknown wild card is left tackle, where two more juniors will compete-Marc Mustoe and JC transfer Sully Wiefels will likely rotate to start the spring while So. Jeromy Irwin continues to rehab from complications to his bizarre off-field yard work incident.  R-Fr. Jonathon Huckins would be the most likely of last year’s recruits to break into the lineup, and will likely be in the two-deep next season.

Tight End: It would be fabulous for Brian Lindgren and Sefo if someone could step up at this position, but we might still be a year or two away from the TE being a focal point of the offense.  We all wish that maybe as a senior Kyle Slavin would have the big year we always expected, but that is probably not going to happen, even though he is the likely starter.  Sean Irwin is the next guy and that’s about it.  The wild card is 6’8” Connor Center, a late recruit last year who redshirted since he had never played football before.  One of the true frosh (Dylan Keeney more likely than Hayden Jones) will certainly play in the fall and could end up starting and being the most productive by season’s end.

Wide Receiver: Obviously, this group has the biggest void to fill, but they also might be the biggest surprise when it is all said and done. Nelson Spruce will be a senior and lead the squad, with big things expected from DD Goodson in the slot.  A lot of people are talking about Tyler McCulloch, but I just don’t see it with so much fast, young talent around him, starting with Soph. Devin Ross, who more than a few players, including Sefo, think is ready for a breakout year.  His redshirted classmates, Bryce Bobo and Elijah Dunston, have both received praise from coaches.  The unknown is Lee Walker, the virtual greyshirt, who is enrolled and in camp now.  And when Shay Fields shows up in the fall, he is expected to earn playing time, if not a starting job.  That’s eight guys total, and not all of them can play regularly, so this will be a group to watch in practice.

Running Back: The group returns everyone from last year and will add Philip Lindsay to the mix.  The trio of Christian Powell (announced that he will miss at least the start of spring practice with minor knee surgery), Michael Adkins and Tony Jones all expect be a big contributor this year.  They still have some more depth with Malcolm Creer, who should be 100% this year.  The hope is that Adkins takes the reins and the others are role players; I personally just don’t see Powell as an every down back, and Tony Jones is fine, but limited.  The even bigger hope would be for redshirt frosh Lindsay to blow everyone away-if he hadn’t been just off knee surgery, he might have been in there instead of Adkins last year.  I still haven’t heard anything about Josh Ford’s appeal for another year.  The team did not use the fullback very much last year, but moved true frosh LB George Frazier to the position and redshirted him; however, he too had some knee surgery and will miss all of the spring.

Quarterback: There is not a whole lot of intrigue here as Sefo Liufau is the starter, although coaches would like us to think there is competition with Jordan Gehrke, the de-facto backup since no one else stuck around to claim it-Hirschman, Dillon, Dorman, Wood, all bailed on the program when they each could have been one play away from leading a Pac-12 team.  Now, former equipment assistant Trent Sessions is only two snaps away from being number one. (Although the team announced that QB Ty Grangi will join the team as a preferred walk-on in the fall, as will former Air Force QB Jaleel Awini to go along with recruit Cade Apsay.)

Special Teams: The Buffs are set at kicker and punter, with senior incumbents Wil Oliver and Darragh O’Neill, plus they have strong-legged Diego Gonzalez ready to join the competition and who will almost assuredly handle kickoffs.  The return game is another story and I don’t think we have any idea who will be lining up to receive kicks and punts.  A ton of guys on the roster have had minimal success in this area, so it could end up being a true freshman.

Go Buffs!

Pre-spring notes

With Signing Day behind us, Spring practices are less than a week away.  Here are some noteworthy items with a more complete positional preview coming soon.

Spring schedule: The first of 15 practices (half before spring break and half after) is March 7; the Spring game is at noon on Saturday, April 12 and will be televised on Pac12 networks; the last practice will be a post-spring game session on Monday, April 14, just as they did last year to go over what they should be working on during the unsupervised “offseason”.  A full schedule has not been released yet, but most practices will be run in the morning and open to the public.

Injuries: Although the list appears quite long at first, there are only two players who are definitely out-CB Jeffrey Hall, who had hip surgery to mend a chronic issue (and based on his recent arrest and tweets, he may not be long for Boulder anyway-the team technically has three more players than scholarships when everyone gets here in the fall), and OL Jeromy Irwin is still recovering from a broken bone, well actually a second fracture in his foot from an offseason mishap last year.  

There are also a couple of “questionable” players who could miss sometime at the beginning: DE Jimmie Gilbert had surgery for chronic shoulder and little used DE Andre Nichols had a herniated disk repaired. 

Both TB Michael Adkins and ILB Addison Gillam had post season arthroscopic surgery to mend chronic knee issues are “probable”, along with OLB Woodson Greer who missed last four games with a neck stinger, CB John Walker (leg contusion), FB Clay Jones (neck), DB Josh Moten who missed last season after Achilles surgery, OT Marc Mustoe (broken fibula in October), and S Terrel Smith who underwent surgery for his chronic shoulder in September and redshirted. 

The only ones to be concerned about are Irwin and Gilbert, who are both being counted on to contribute.

New faces:  A few new players will join the fold this spring.  LB Deysean Rippy (cousin of Doug) is the biggest name who is expected to make an impact.  JC transfer Wyatt Smith will likely come right in and be the team’s long snapper the next two seasons.  The other JC transfer, cornerback Athello Witherspoon, will certainly compete in a crowded (though I am hesitant to use the term “deep”) defensive secondary, bringing some size and experience.  The last JC transfer, Sully Wiefels who wisely switched commitments from csu, is also listed on some sites as on campus, could also be competing for immediate playing time; WR Lee Walker is an early enrollee although, since he didn’t qualify for Arizona last year he just sat out and worked on test scores, he is basically a greyshirt, like OL John Lisella, who has been training with Matt McChesney. 

Former CU team equipment manager and high school QB Trent Sessions will officially join the team as a walk-on and will essentially be another arm to toss reps in practice-I doubt he will ever be used in a game as true frosh Cade Apsay will join the team in the fall, as well as former Air Force QB Jaweel Awini.

The team will also welcome the partially “new” faces of some guys that redshirted last year, either for freshmanness, including some linemen, RB Philip Lindsay, and raw TE Connor Center, or others for injury, such as DBs Terrel Smith (shoulder) and Josh Moten (Achilles), and possibly RB Josh Ford, if he is granted a 6^th year.

Position moves: I am not aware of any planned position moves for players, but there will certainly be a few experiments in the spring.  There are still a few defensive linemen that are tweeners and we will have to see where Coach Jeffcoat ends up slotting everyone.

Other Buff Notes: P-Rich had a great combine, posting a 4.4 in the 40, a top ten standing vertical, and maybe most importantly since his weight and durability have been questioned, has already put on 14 pounds.  He also has been working on his kick and punt returns and is definitely willing to do either in the NFL, having only been kept from it by CU coaches to prevent injury.  Overall, he did well for his draft stock, probably solidifying a third round selection and maybe even second, but this is the deepest draft in years for receivers.

*Nice recognition of Wil Oliver and his 15 point day vs. little brother as the ESPN Pac12 blog reviewed some of the bests of the season: http://espn.go.com/blog/pac12/post/_/id/69366/top-2013-performances-will-oliver?ex_cid=espnapi_public

*DD Goodson gets some hype as a player that could step up next year:

http://espn.go.com/blog/pac12/post/_/id/69653/offseason-spotlight-colorado?ex_cid=espnapi_public

*Sefo has high expectations: http://espn.go.com/blog/pac12/post/_/id/69631/liufau-expects-himself-buffs-to-improve-in-2014?ex_cid=espnapi_public

*OT Ryan Miller signed a contract with the Broncos.

 Go Buffs!