Buffs Coaches Pleased After First Major Spring Scrimmage
March 10, 2018 | Football, Neill Woelk
BOULDER — Saturday's first major scrimmage of the spring produced — for the most part — what Colorado coaches were looking for: big plays on both sides of the ball, along with signs that both sides have also made progress halfway through spring drills.
Saturday's workout was the eighth of the spring, with seven remaining. The Buffs will scrimmage again next Saturday at Folsom Field in the "Spring Showcase," set to begin at 1 p.m.
"Both sides made plays," Colorado head coach Mike MacIntyre said. "We had touchdowns, we had interceptions, we had good tackles, we had good runs. You don't want to see one side completely just dominate the whole time. It means the other side might not be what you want. It looks like there's a lot of spirited competition out there."
Some scrimmage highlights:
OFFENSE: The No. 1 offense recorded its longest play of the hour-long scrimmage on its first series when quarterback Steven Montez stepped up in the pocket and found a wide-open Laviska Shenault Jr. for an 83-yard touchdown.
Montez also had a 20-yard scoring pass to running back Alex Fontenot while Sam Noyer threw a beautiful short scoring strike to Tony Brown on a slant across the back of the end zone during red zone work.
"I saw some good things," co-offensive coordinator Darrin Chiaverini said. "For the first spring scrimmage you want to see if they can operate the offense. I thought we did a good job of operating the offense. I thought we were doing a good job of establishing some tempo early in some of those drives and I thought we hit some balls early on to kind of get it going. That's the key, if you can get those drives moving, get some first downs early on, then the tempo starts to get going."
Fontenot, a redshirt freshman, had a solid day, recording a couple of long runs as well as his touchdown catch.
"It's exciting to see what I saw from Steven, what I saw from Laviska," Chiaverini said. "The offensive line did a good job and Alex Fontenot has a bright, bright future at Colorado. (He) did a really good job today."
Colorado also continues to use sophomore K.D. Nixon in multiple ways, and he had yards both receiving and rushing Saturday.
"We have some dynamic playmakers and my theory is get your best players the football," Chiaverini said. If we can do that consistently, we'll be able to move the ball and score points. That's our job. We have to score points."
Overall, Chiaverini said he likes what he's seen from the offense, both as a unit and in individual development. Veterans from last year are improving and some youngsters are also having an impact.
"Laviska Shenault has made a huge jump," Chiaverini said. "I think K.D. Nixon has made a huge jump. I've seen strides from Maurice Bell, I've seen strides from Alex Fontenot and Will Sherman. Brett Tonz has gotten a lot better. Colby Pursell has made strides. I think Steven has gotten better as far as his awareness operating the offense. Sam Noyer making that throw today in the red zone, that's a big time play in the red area."
Receivers Kabion Ento and Juwann Winfree also had multiple catches in the scrimmage.
DEFENSE: Coordinator D.J. Eliot continues to mix and match combinations at almost every position on defense, creating some good competition at each spot.
The Buffs are definitely developing some depth at linebacker and on the defensive line.
At linebacker, Drew Lewis was in on plays all day, including a tackle for loss and a couple of third-down stops. Nate Landman and Akil Jones also produced some big stops, Dante Sparaco had a sack and Carson Wells had an interception.
Up front, freshmen Terrance Lang and Jalen Sami came up with big plays behind the line of scrimmage and Mustafa Johnson continues to show signs of being a solid run defender. A slimmer, more fit Javier Edwards is also playing well at nose tackle.
"We have some freshmen that we redshirted last year — Terrance, Jalen, who just got here, Mustafa, a junior college player who just got here — and they've made some big strides and they've done some good things this spring," Eliot said. "They're going to add a lot of depth to our D-line."
Among those making plays in the secondary were safety Isaiah Lewis, who came up with a fumble recovery on the goal line; and cornerback Ronnie Blackmon, who had a pair of pass breakups.
"Did some good things," was Eliot's overall assessment. "We had some guys that made some plays. Went back and forth, so that's good to see for our team. Plenty of things we can improve on, but I was excited to see some of the strides we've made on defense and some of the guys that stepped up and made some plays."
SPECIAL TEAMS: Kicker James Stefanou, the sophomore from Australia, appears to have already taken a step forward from last year, when he hit 17 of 22 field goal tries in his first season of American football. Stefanou was perfect on the day, including a 50-yard field goal.
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu
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