Brooks: 'Mac' Likes Scrimmage But More Polish Needed

BOULDER - After 15 practices that included a pair of full scrimmages, Colorado coach Mike MacIntyre probably knew this question was coming: "Is your football team where you want it to be?"

MacIntyre's answer was every bit as predictable as that of any coach in America in mid-August: "Of course not."

The good news for MacIntyre is that after Saturday morning's scrimmage at Folsom Field, his players have another 14 practices before opening the 2013 season against Colorado State on Sept. 1.

The good news for his players is that Sunday is a day off - their first since beginning preseason camp on Aug. 6.

"I think I can speak for the entire team," junior quarterback Connor Wood said. "We're ready for a day off."

Added senior linebacker Derrick Webb: "I've been waiting for this day (Sunday) since the first day in pads. We've been going hard for two weeks. Our bodies have been kind of dinged up, but for the most part guys have been healthy and holding up. I'm just happy to have a day off."

The day before the day off was successful on several fronts - the first being it ended injury-free. "That was our No. 1 goal; we wanted to come out with no injuries and we had zero," MacIntyre said.

Following that, he said he and his staff wanted to scrutinize execution and substitution on both sides of the ball without the coaches being on the field. "And 99 percent of the time we were able to do it," he said, adding that on a couple of field goal attempts there was some disruption because players on that special team were coming onto the field from opposite sidelines (offensive and defensive).

But, said MacIntyre, "The timing of the offense, getting lined up and getting the plays called was very, very good."

Wood, who entered August camp as a penciled-in starter at QB, played only three series - usually an indication that the offensive staff is trying to identify the two players behind him in backup and No. 3 roles.

MacIntyre appeared pleased with the overall quarterback play of Wood, junior college transfer Jordan Gehrke, sophomore Stevie Joe Dorman and freshman Sefo Liufau. All except Wood tossed a touchdown pass, but Wood directed an impressive scoring drive during situational work in the two-minute offense.

The morning's work produced four touchdowns: A 64-yard pass from Liufau to Paul Richardson, a 25-yard pass from Gehrke to D.D. Goodson, a 1-yard toss from Dorman to Jordan Murphy, and a 15-yard run by Donta Abron to cap off the march directed by Wood.

Kickers Will Oliver and Justin Castor each were successful on short and long field goals, both hitting from 46 yards.

The day's QB play, said MacIntyre, will be evaluated on tape, taking into account "on some plays the receiver might have gone the wrong way, you don't know until you watch. Some of the quarterbacks had pressure, some didn't . . . but they all made some plays."

While Wood called his work "pretty limited," he said he thought he was effective in moving the first offense. He wouldn't offer a guess as to when a starter will be named or what his coaches are thinking: "I only know what the coaches are saying," he said. "I know I'm going with the 'ones' every time we practice, and that kind of shows you what's going on. They'll make a decision when they make a decision."

The ultimate decision and timing is up to MacIntyre, but offensive coordinator/QB coach Brian Lindgren conceded the ideal scenario for naming a starter would be as soon as Monday, giving the No. 1 two weeks of reps with the first offense before the opener. Also, added Lindgren, it would "solidify the roles of the other guys, too, and start pushing them toward more reps."

Lindgren said he saw "good things" from all four of his quarterbacks on Saturday in their turns with the No. 1 offense. But, he added, "Overall, we've got to throw more completions. Our completion percentage - I don't know the exact numbers - but just from watching there are some passes we missed that we have to make on third down. As a unit we have to improve as a whole."

Both MacIntyre and Lindgren said Liufau has been impressive in camp.

"He's done well; he's got a lot of tools to be a good football player," MacIntyre said. "I'm excited about him."

"He's learning every day," Lindgren said. "I'm more pleased with him and his progress than any young guy I've been around."

Lindgren said Liufau is a quick study in a fast-paced offense against a defense "that's moving quickly and giving us a lot of looks. He's handling it well . . . there's definitely times when you'd like him to make that play, but then you realize he's a true freshman. But he's done a nice job of not making the same mistake twice."

If the staff judges Liufau to be capable of helping the Buffs win this year, Lindgren said there be no hesitancy to use him in whatever role: "If a true freshman gives us best chance to win the game and he needs to play, we're going to play him. He knows that. Ideally you'd love to redshirt him and let him develop, get stronger and develop in your offense. But if he's the No. 2 guy he's got to be ready to go."

The Buffs are attempting to pick up their offensive pace this season, but Lindgren said Saturday's work was a "tweener" between fast and slow. "There will be times during the season where we'll go faster, and there'll be days when we'll slow it down. A lot of it will be determined by the opponent, who we're playing. It's kind of a whole team decision. We have the ability to go fast or slow it down. (Saturday) was a little in-between."

IT'S CALLED TACKLE FOOTBALL: One of camp's points of emphasis on defense has been better tackling. Both MacIntyre and defensive coordinator/linebackers coach Kent Baer said improvement was shown Saturday but more is needed.

During a tackling period last week, MacIntyre had his defensive players run the same drill three times before he was satisfied they had done it right. "There's a lot of teaching periods in practice," Webb said. "We don't do a lot of tackling (to the ground) in practice, it's more of keeping your feet and 'thud' work, but it was all live today.

"In practice you really don't know if you'd have made that tackle or not if the running back made a quick move on you. I had a situation today where I had Tony Jones in the hole and I had to leave my feet and grab his ankles. That's the kind of tackle you have to make sometimes."

MacIntyre said he liked his defense's "aggressiveness . . . we're getting more physical, tackling better."

Said Baer: "I think we are tackling better. We've only one full scrimmage (prior to Saturday) and a couple of partials, but we're getting better. I saw improvement today."

Another of Baer's pre-camp concerns was overall consistency - or the defense making a play, then waiting another couple of snaps to make another. That, he said, is what gets a defense hammered.

"We're getting more (consistency)," he said. "I saw some really good things (Saturday), but then I saw some things that aren't so good and we have to work on. There are some things kids should know, they just didn't react."

Baer's defense got a couple of fumbles in Saturday's work, but missed two opportunities for interceptions due to dropped balls. "We're working on (turnovers)," he said. "It's a point of emphasis; we'll be better at it. We work on it every day."

Webb said the defense competed on Saturday, which left him with a good feeling. "The offense always comes out and does their thing, plays hard," he said. "We had a couple of drives where we were three and out; I'm feeling good about that. They threw the ball over our heads a couple of times, but aside from that I think we did a good job as a whole."

NOTABLE: MacIntyre liked Saturday morning's heat, as well as Friday afternoon's high temps. "The first two days (of camp)," said MacIntyre, "they must have had the right prayer lines, because it was nice weather. The last two days have been great; I like the heat, it's made them push through that." . . . . The Buffs got in ample special teams work Saturday. "We got in every phase in the kicking game; we got a lot to coach off of," MacIntyre said. The kickoff return team recorded a pair of long sideline returns - one by sophomore Marques Mosley, the other by freshman Devin Ross - but MacIntyre noted, "You're not going to get to bounce the ball outside like that (in a game)." But, he added, the returners exhibited good vision on both . . . . Lindgren called CU's running game "a work in progress. I'm not overly satisfied with where we're at." The first offense had seven or eight consecutive early running plays and recorded a couple of first downs, but Lindgren noted, "We'd like to finish (the drive) off." . . . . On the other hand(s), Richardson and the receiving corps gave Lindgren reason to be happy. "I'm thrilled with Richardson; he's a tremendous talent," Lindgren said, adding the Nelson Spruce, Tyler McCulloch and Goodson "will be contributors and take some of the pressure off of Paul. And I like how they've all handled man coverage." . . . . Sunday's day off, said MacIntyre, is well-deserved: "They've gone 15 practices in a row without a break. They've done a good job. We've gone in pads every time we could go in pads after the first two days in shorts. They've been working hard." . . . . The Buffs must enjoy their off day thoroughly and quickly. It's back to two-a-days on Monday.

Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU