The Maturation of the Buffs

BOULDER – If you add up the players on the opening camp roster for the Colorado Buffaloes, they have collectively played in 1,019 games (the third-most by a returning team in school history), with 320 starts (fourth most).

Both all-time highs for any returning Colorado team occurred last year: 1,072/412.

That is a stark difference between the first three years in the Mike MacIntyre era at CU.

The numbers in MacIntyre's other seasons: 824/327 (2015), 904/314 (2014) and 896/268 (2013).

Colorado's 2016 Pac-12 South championship squad did not start a single true freshman. The last time the Buffs did not start at least one true freshman was in 2001, a year that by no coincidence featured CU's last 10-plus win team.

MacIntyre's first year at CU in 2013, he had 29 starts by true freshmen. That went down to 17 in year 2014 and six in 2015.

Of the 27 players returning this season who have started at least one game, 24 of them are juniors or seniors. The three that are not are Aaron Haigler (seven starts), Tim Lynott (14 starts) and Steven Montez (three starts).

Colorado's most experienced players (sorted by number of career starts):
WR Shay Fields –34 starts
OL Jeromy Irwin –26 starts
ILB Rick Gamboa –25 starts (all consecutive)
OLB Derek McCartney –24 starts
OL Gerrad Kough –23 starts

Colorado's most experienced players (sorted by number of games played):
TE/DE George Frazier – 39 games (every game of last three seasons)
RB Phillip Lindsay – 39 games (every game of last three seasons)
WR Bryce Bobo – 38 games
WR Shay Fields – 38 games
WR Devin Ross – 37 games

Did You Know?
That Colorado is one of just three Pac-12 schools that return three or more players who have made at least 25 career starts. Joining the Buffs on that list is UCLA (Bruins actually have four with over 30 starts) and Washington State (three with 28 or more).

Most Starts By Pac-12 Returnees
34 – WR Shay Fields, Colorado
34 – RB Royce Freeman, Oregon
34 – OL Cole Madison, Washington State
33 – OL Jacob Alsadek, Arizona
32 – DL Tashon Smallwood, Arizona State
32 – OG Viane Talamaivao, USC
32 – DL Eddie Vanderdoes, UCLA

MONDAY'S PRACTICE NOTES: RB Kyle Evans, who dislocated his hip in the first scrimmage of spring ball on March 4 and had surgery two days later, returned to practice for the first time Monday. He now begins his NCAA mandated five-day acclimation period. He will be practicing with just a helmet Monday and Tuesday, can go in shoulder pads and helmets Wednesday and Thursday before being able to fully suit up on Friday in time for the scrimmage the Buffs are holding that evening. … CU held its first weekday practice since summer school ended last Friday. Even with more time that can be devoted to football, the schedule for the Buffs has not altered all that much asides from the start time of practice moving back one hour. "Since it is such a long camp, I'm still giving them a break in the afternoon to rest and then we'll come back and we'll meet just a little bit longer and have a little bit longer walkthrough at night," MacIntyre said. "I still want them to have that down time when our coaches watch all the film and be prepared to have a really good meeting later that night." … Two-way player George Frazier has been for the most part switching days practicing on both sides of the ball. There are times, like on Monday for example, where he works at both tight end and defensive end in the same practice. One minute on Monday he was at tight end doing 7-on-7 passing simulations with the first-team offense before going over to work on pass rushing with the defensive lineman. … MacIntyre ended Monday's practice with a bonus period, where he worked to simulate late fourth quarter conditions. The high-tempo team drill moving the ball up-and-down the field focuses not only on conditioning, but being able to execute and make plays when you are tired. … Sophomore DB Lucas Cooper's interception in the team portion of Monday's practice (link to the video is at the top of the page) was one of two interceptions the Buffs made Monday. The other came via freshman linebacker Carson Wells.

Players Mentioned

Bryce Bobo

Lucas Cooper

Kyle Evans

Shay Fields

George Frazier

Rick Gamboa

Aaron Haigler

Jeromy Irwin

Gerrad Kough

Phillip Lindsay

Tim Lynott

Derek McCartney

Steven Montez

Devin Ross

Carson Wells

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