Buffs Get Physical In First Scrimmage Of Camp

Photo by: Brendan Mackey

August 13, 2016 | Football, Neill Woelk

MacIntyre likes what he sees in Saturday workout

By: Neill Woelk, Contributing Editor

BOULDER — If there were any scouts from opposing teams in the Folsom Field stands Saturday, they were treated to a large helping of vanilla from the Colorado Buffaloes.

The Buffs, hosting their first major scrimmage of fall camp, worked out in front of several hundred fans at Folsom, the final "open" practice of camp. And while head coach Mike MacIntyre said he was pleased with the overall effort and enthusiasm — "I saw a lot of aggression" — MacIntyre and his staff also made quite sure that the Buffs showed only a small portion of what they've been working on in camp thus far.

"Overall, I liked the effort," MacIntyre said. "There were a lot of good hits out there. I like the physicalness of our football team."

Indeed, if there's one very noticeable difference between the Buffs this year and those of 2015, it is they they are indeed a much more physical team — beginning up front and continuing through just about every position.

"Not even close," said offensive line coach Klayton Adams. "When you look at this team, we're head and shoulders more physical than we were a year ago."

Part of that is due to experience — the Buffs have 18 returning starters from last year, plus 13 more with significant starting experience, and every one of those players has a year of maturity under their belts.

But it's also due to competition in camp. All that returning experience on both sides of the ball has created some fierce battles for playing time, leading to a heightened competitive atmosphere.

Both the offense and defense had their moments on Saturday, beginning with goal-line drills. The offense reached the end zone on its second play from inside the 3-yard line when Phillip Lindsay hammered in for a score before the defense came up with back-to-back stops.

"I was pleased with both sides there," MacIntyre said. "The offense scored on the second play and the defense stopped them on the next two. That was great by the defense, not hanging their head."

The No. 1 offense moved the ball well on occasion behind quarterback Sefo Liufau, particularly in a two-minute drill, when the offense moved down the field quickly in time to set up for a field goal. Included on the drive was a key Liufau completion to Jay MacIntyre on third down when Liufau kept the play alive by scrambling to the outside.

"I thought the two-minute drill, when we were in jam there, that was a good play we made," MacIntyre said. "I thought we had some rhythm to it. And I thought the defense stepped up and made some plays in different areas.

"Overall, I liked the effort. There were a lot of good hits out there."

The defense did indeed come up with some stops, including an interception from senior cornerback Ahkello Witherspoon on a deep Liufau ball intended for Devin Ross.

"Ahkello made a great play," MacIntyre said. "Ahkello should do that a lot, as long and big as he his. That's what we want to see."

Offensive coordinator Brian Lindgren said he was pleased with what he saw — but added he needs to see much more improvement before the Sept. 2 opener vs. Colorado State.

"I liked the two-minute drill," Lindgren said. "We went down the field and executed, and the last couple of years we've struggled in that situation. It was good to see Sefo have good command in that setting. Jordan Gehrke also made some plays, which was good to see — an experienced guy make some good throws and good decisions."

Indeed, Gehrke had the two biggest offensive plays of the day. The senior backup quarterback tossed an 83-yard touchdown pass to true freshman Anthony Julmisse and also threw a 50-yard scoring pass to Kabion Ento (complete scrimmage statistics were not released).

Julmisse turned plenty of heads in the stadium, as he continued to play both wide receiver and cornerback, something he's been doing in camp for the last week. Along with his long touchdown pass, he also played well on defense, knocking down some passes.

"We're going to keep using him both ways for a while," MacIntyre said. "We'll decide which side he'll emphasize, but I think we'll probably keep him on the other side and still practice him there in case we have some injuries. He makes plays on both sides of the ball, we've just got to figure out where he'll play the most."

But, MacIntyre added, it's quite likely that Julmisse will see some playing time somewhere.

"I don't know what capacity at the beginning, where he'd be," MacIntyre said. "But he's definitely an athlete we're going to find a way to get on the field at times, especially as the year goes along."

Defensively, the Buffs rested some of their regulars, or played them sparingly. But players standing out on the defensive side included junior college transfer linebacker Drew Lewis, returning starting linebacker Rick Gamboa, true freshman linebacker Akil Jones and starting safety Tedric Thompson.

LEWIS MAKES PLAYS: Lewis, a transfer from Coffeyville CC in Kansas, saw plenty of playing time at inside linebacker. Regular Addison Gillam sat the scrimmage out (it was his scheduled day off from contact) and starter Kenneth Olugbode played sparingly, leaving plenty of snaps for Lewis.

"We wanted to play Drew a lot," MacIntyre said. "He played second team and first team some. I thought he made some plays. He lined up wrong a few times when he got tired, but that's a process of him getting the reps. He did fly around a few times and made a couple plays sideline to sideline."

OFFENSIVE LINE PROGRESS: Offensive line coach Klayton Adams said his group has made progress in "leaps and bounds," but allowed that they still have a long way to go.

"In terms of where we expect to be and the standard we expect to play at, we're not there yet," Adams said. "The guys know that and I'm very up front with them about that. We expect excellence with that group. We don't expect to be average. We still have a long way to go and thank god we have another week of practice ahead of us next week because we need it."

RB BATTLE: While Phillip Lindsay still seems to have the edge on the top spot at running back, fellow junior Donovan Lee is pushing him. Meanwhile, running backs coach Darian Hagan said not to count sophomore Kyle Evans out of the mix. The 5-foot-6, 180-pound Evans has had an outstanding camp and had some big plays Saturday.

"Overall, we had an OK day," Hagan said. "At times they were explosive, at times they were a little hesitant. But overall, I'm happy with the group we have. I think we're going to do some really good things this year."

As for determining any kind of rotation, Hagan said it's still too early to determine.

"Right now, it's a great competition between all three of those guys," Hagan said. "At this point, it's a coin flip. All three of them have been doing some good things."

KICKERS ON TARGET: Both CU field goal kickers, Diego Gonzalez and Chris Graham, were perfect for the day, hitting all of their field goal and PAT tries.

"I was really pleased with the way our field goal kickers kicked," MacIntyre said. "We were bringing pressure every time on it. I was real pleased with that."

SCRIMMAGE TIDBITS: Along with the long touchdown passes and Lindsay's run, other scoring plays included a 4-yard pass from Steven Montez to Brian Boatman, a 1-yard Donovan Lee run and a 5-yard Lindsay run. … The Buffs' defensive line continues to impress, particularly with big man Josh Tupou at nose tackle. "I still have stuff to improve," Tupou said. "We're getting better, but we have to keep improving." When CU's line consists of Tupou, Jordan Carrell and Samson Kafovalu, it's a front line that averages roughly 300 pounds per player up front. There's also some depth there, with Leo Jackson III, Timothy Coleman and Jase Franke all getting significant playing time. … Safety Afolabi Laguda delivered one of the big hits of the day, a beautiful open-field tackle of Lindsay. … Along with his long touchdown catch, Julmisse also had a pass breakup on defense in the end zone. … A total of 16 players caught at least one pass i the scrimmage. … Daniel Talley also recorded an interception. … The scrimmage included 104 total plays.