Colorado University Athletics
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Brooks: Buffs Hope Focus Makes ‘Big House’ Atmosphere No Big Deal
September 13, 2016 | Football, B.G. Brooks
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Coaches Want Players To Concentrate On Their Jobs, Not Environment
BOULDER – Darrin Chiaverini admits to experiencing a certain amount of awe on his first trip into the University of Michigan's iconic Michigan Stadium, aka the Big House.
It was 1997 and Chiaverini was a University of Colorado football player. Almost two decades later, he's a CU assistant coach, having just entered his first season on Mike MacIntyre's staff as co-offensive coordinator/wide receivers coach.
The '97 Buffs and the future "Coach Chev" didn't fare too well on CU's most recent visit to Ann Arbor. Ranked No. 8 in Rick Neuheisel's next-to-last season as head coach, the Buffs lost 27-3 to the No. 14 Wolverines, a team that featured Brian Griese at quarterback and eventual Heisman Trophy winner Charles Woodson in the secondary.
And that Michigan team would finish 12-0, defeat Washington State in the Rose Bowl and share the 1997 National Championship with Nebraska (Michigan was the AP champ, Nebraska the Coaches' Poll champ).
Chiaverini has told his CU players what to expect in the Big House, which officially seats 107,601 but can have attendance figures that top 110,000. The school has had 267 100,000-plus crowds, a streak that stretches from Nov. 8, 1975 to this season. The Wolverines' record at Michigan Stadium: 414-127-15.
But of more importance than the numbers and what the Buffs can expect in their first 2016 road game is what Chiaverini expects of his players.
"I told them it would be a great college football environment," he said. "You're going to have a 100,000-plus people in the stands but at the end of the day we're playing football and it's about Colorado football, about what we're doing on offense. Enjoy the environment but go out there and play football – and have fun doing it."
Like the rest of the Buffs players, junior receiver Bryce Bobo will make his first trip to the Big House. He plans to follow Chiaverini's advice to "just be us, don't worry about what Michigan is doing. Go out and execute and control the tempo. It's always cool to go into a place that seats 100,000 people. That kind of college environment is a good experience to have and the whole team is looking forward to it."
Fact is, these Buffs aren't strangers to big houses. That's lower case for a reason. This is a predominantly veteran team that has played in the Rose Bowl (UCLA), in the Los Angeles Coliseum (USC), and in other noisy, well-populated arenas throughout the Pac-12 Conference.
MacIntyre said his players have "been through the hype of going to a place to play before and not playing good because they thought they thought they'd just be excited about playing. Now they understand it's the work ethic that goes into it and being prepared. They're a mature enough team now that they understand that. I don't think those are just words, I think they truly get it."
Another observation: Because of its expanse and configuration, the Big House won't be the noisiest stadium the Buffs visit this season. Yes, it will be loud but the decibels aren't trapped in the Big House as they are elsewhere. Big stadiums with steeper stands tend to trap more crowd noise than UM's.
Still, Michigan Stadium undoubtedly has an aura about it. But the Buffs believe the day's outcome won't be decided by the venue, the attendance figures or the noise generated.
"We preached (focus) all camp," Chiaverini said. "This is about Colorado football. It doesn't matter what jersey (opponents) are wearing, what helmet, we're going to run our offense, execute our offense and it's going to be about what we're doing. If we can do that at a high level and play at tempo, then we're doing what we're supposed to do – and that's to move the football and execute and score points. We're going to keep doing that."
Still on that theme, quarterback Sefo Liufau said "focus, locking in and staying consistent" were the keys to for him and his offense to cope with the setting. They've averaged 50 points and 587.5 yards in total offense in two opening wins, utilizing their up-tempo, no-huddle offense. How much it might be disrupted by the noise is really up to the Buffs.
"When you go into a big environment like that it's easy to lose focus and to be in awe of the spectacle of how big the place is," Liufau said. "I'm not worried about the offense, we've been practicing on it twice this week already and we'll be ready for whatever big scene they have for us."
Defensively, CU's method of coping mirrors what Liufau and his offense have in mind.
"The key is to block out all of the distractions," senior safety Tedric Thompson said. "That's the main thing, especially going to a stadium like this. I've never been before but you hear about how big it is and how loud it is. As long as we can block out the distractions then we'll be fine."
Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU
It was 1997 and Chiaverini was a University of Colorado football player. Almost two decades later, he's a CU assistant coach, having just entered his first season on Mike MacIntyre's staff as co-offensive coordinator/wide receivers coach.
The '97 Buffs and the future "Coach Chev" didn't fare too well on CU's most recent visit to Ann Arbor. Ranked No. 8 in Rick Neuheisel's next-to-last season as head coach, the Buffs lost 27-3 to the No. 14 Wolverines, a team that featured Brian Griese at quarterback and eventual Heisman Trophy winner Charles Woodson in the secondary.
And that Michigan team would finish 12-0, defeat Washington State in the Rose Bowl and share the 1997 National Championship with Nebraska (Michigan was the AP champ, Nebraska the Coaches' Poll champ).
Chiaverini has told his CU players what to expect in the Big House, which officially seats 107,601 but can have attendance figures that top 110,000. The school has had 267 100,000-plus crowds, a streak that stretches from Nov. 8, 1975 to this season. The Wolverines' record at Michigan Stadium: 414-127-15.
But of more importance than the numbers and what the Buffs can expect in their first 2016 road game is what Chiaverini expects of his players.
"I told them it would be a great college football environment," he said. "You're going to have a 100,000-plus people in the stands but at the end of the day we're playing football and it's about Colorado football, about what we're doing on offense. Enjoy the environment but go out there and play football – and have fun doing it."
Like the rest of the Buffs players, junior receiver Bryce Bobo will make his first trip to the Big House. He plans to follow Chiaverini's advice to "just be us, don't worry about what Michigan is doing. Go out and execute and control the tempo. It's always cool to go into a place that seats 100,000 people. That kind of college environment is a good experience to have and the whole team is looking forward to it."
Fact is, these Buffs aren't strangers to big houses. That's lower case for a reason. This is a predominantly veteran team that has played in the Rose Bowl (UCLA), in the Los Angeles Coliseum (USC), and in other noisy, well-populated arenas throughout the Pac-12 Conference.
MacIntyre said his players have "been through the hype of going to a place to play before and not playing good because they thought they thought they'd just be excited about playing. Now they understand it's the work ethic that goes into it and being prepared. They're a mature enough team now that they understand that. I don't think those are just words, I think they truly get it."
Another observation: Because of its expanse and configuration, the Big House won't be the noisiest stadium the Buffs visit this season. Yes, it will be loud but the decibels aren't trapped in the Big House as they are elsewhere. Big stadiums with steeper stands tend to trap more crowd noise than UM's.
Still, Michigan Stadium undoubtedly has an aura about it. But the Buffs believe the day's outcome won't be decided by the venue, the attendance figures or the noise generated.
"We preached (focus) all camp," Chiaverini said. "This is about Colorado football. It doesn't matter what jersey (opponents) are wearing, what helmet, we're going to run our offense, execute our offense and it's going to be about what we're doing. If we can do that at a high level and play at tempo, then we're doing what we're supposed to do – and that's to move the football and execute and score points. We're going to keep doing that."
Still on that theme, quarterback Sefo Liufau said "focus, locking in and staying consistent" were the keys to for him and his offense to cope with the setting. They've averaged 50 points and 587.5 yards in total offense in two opening wins, utilizing their up-tempo, no-huddle offense. How much it might be disrupted by the noise is really up to the Buffs.
"When you go into a big environment like that it's easy to lose focus and to be in awe of the spectacle of how big the place is," Liufau said. "I'm not worried about the offense, we've been practicing on it twice this week already and we'll be ready for whatever big scene they have for us."
Defensively, CU's method of coping mirrors what Liufau and his offense have in mind.
"The key is to block out all of the distractions," senior safety Tedric Thompson said. "That's the main thing, especially going to a stadium like this. I've never been before but you hear about how big it is and how loud it is. As long as we can block out the distractions then we'll be fine."
Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU
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