Colorado University Athletics
Woelk: MacIntyre Talks Rivalries, Redshirts And More At Colorado Springs Luncheon
July 10, 2018 | Football, Neill Woelk
COLORADO SPRINGS — It is a rarity that has flown under the radar for the most part — but it has certainly not escaped the notice of Colorado head coach Mike MacIntyre.
It something that will, however, no doubt draw more of the spotlight as the football season inches closer on the calendar.
MacIntyre, entering his sixth season in Boulder, is not a coach to look too far into the future. But when asked at Tuesday's Colorado Springs Sports Corp. annual luncheon whether he was looking forward to this year's game at Nebraska, MacIntyre did offer this:
"I'm not thinking about Week 2 right now," MacIntyre said. "But one thing I will say, I've never been around a program where the first two games are the biggest rivals in the school's history. How we manage that as a team and a staff is going to be very important."
Indeed. The Buffs' first two games this season — Aug. 31 against Colorado State in Denver and Sept. 8 at Nebraska — might be the most-anticipated first two games of the year in a long, long time for Colorado fans. Anyone looking for a season barometer will no doubt have a very good idea where the Buffs stand after those two games.
Opening the season with rival Colorado State is nothing new to the Buffs. CU has opened the season against the Rams 17 times since 1995, when they resumed the series on an annual basis.
But while the Buffs have followed up that opener with another quality opponent plenty of times in the past — including games with Michigan, Southern California and UCLA — it's been awhile since Colorado has faced two rivals in back-to-back weeks to open the season.
"I'm not sure I've seen it before," MacIntyre said. "But I know it's something our staff, players and fans are looking forward to."
The Colorado-Nebraska game was once an annual showcase in the Big 8 and then the Big 12. When the Big 12 was formed, the CU-NU game was moved to Thanksgiving weekend to give it the most exposure possible.
But the last meeting between the two programs came in 2010, as Colorado departed the Big 12 the following year for the Pac-12 in 2011 and Nebraska left to join the Big Ten.
But the Huskers will be back on CU's radar for the next few years. Nebraska will return the favor next year and visit Folsom Field on Sept. 7, and the two programs will have another home-and-home setup in 2023 and 2024.
The CSU game, meanwhile, will be the 90th meeting between the two schools — the most games against one opponent in CU history. The Buffs, winners of the last three in the series, hold a 65-22-2 all-time edge.
But even that annual meeting will come to an end soon. The two teams play again in Denver in 2019, then play in Fort Collins in 2020 — and that will be the last game between the programs for at least two more seasons. The next available opening on CU's schedule isn't until 2023, and there's no guarantee the series will be resumed then.
The Rocky Mountain Showdown has certainly been good to MacIntyre. He owns a 4-1 record against the Rams, including a 3-0 mark against current CSU coach Mike Bobo.
The Rams open their season one week earlier again this year, hosting Hawaii on Aug. 25.
"I like the showdown, our kids like playing in that game," MacIntyre said. "(But) I think there might be a situation where both schools might want to branch out and play some other games and then come back to it."
Along with the home-and-home series with Nebraska, Colorado has also added similar two-game sets with Air Force (2019 and 2022), Texas A&M (2020 and 2021), Minnesota (2021 and 2022) and TCU (2022 and 2023) in the near future. Further down the line, the Buffs will also play two-game series with Georgia Tech, Northwestern and Kansas State.
But for now, the only "future" date with which MacIntyre is concerned is Aug. 1. That's when the Buffs are scheduled to report for fall camp to begin preparation for that Aug. 31 season opener in Denver. MacIntyre will welcome a team that has 45 returning lettermen, including 11 starters (four on offense and seven on defense).
It is a team that still has plenty of players who were part of the Pac-12 South title squad of 2016 — but even more players who endured last year's 5-7 step back.
It's a direction they want to reverse quickly. This summer, MacIntyre said he's seen a different attitude in the weight room and locker room.
"Our message to our guys is to stay hungry, and they are," MacIntyre said. "Overcome all the obstacles that are ahead of them and be 'overcomers.' That's kind of what we've been talking about and doing because that's what they'll have to do"
The Buffs last season lost at least three games — at UCLA, home against Arizona and at Arizona State — that were decided by just a handful of plays. Those were the types of games they won two years ago, and MacIntyre has been stressing to his team that those handful of plays in key situations are what make the difference between going to a bowl game or going home for the holidays.
"College football comes down to one or two plays" MacIntyre said. "We have to find a way to finish those football games. … If we can find a way to do that in those games, make a play here or there — that's our goal, to make those plays."
MacIntyre appeared at the annual luncheon with Bobo, Air Force coach Troy Calhoun, CSU-Pueblo coach John Wristen and Northern Colorado coach Earnest Collins Jr.
INJURY UPDATE: MacIntyre said freshman defensive lineman Jalen Sami had offseason knee surgery and will miss the season. The Buffs should, however, still have plenty of depth up front on the defensive side. Along with returning starters Chris Mulumba and Javier Edwards, CU also has experience returning in Jase Franke and Lyle Tuiloma as well as redshirt freshman Terrance Lang and Mustafa Johnson, both of whom had outstanding springs. Also expected to vie right away for playing time is true freshman Israel Antwine, who is already turning heads in summer workouts. …
MONTEZ AT MANNING ACADEMY: MacIntyre said he received a solid report from quarterback Steven Montez on his time as a counselor at the Manning Passing Academy. Montez recently called it a "once-in-a-lifetime experience."
"He got a lot from Peyton and Eli, and meeting some of the other quarterbacks that were there," MacIntyre said. "The thing he mainly said he learned from Eli and Peyton were how detailed they were, how they studied film, how they embraced that side of it. He got a lot out of it."
NEW REDSHIRT RULE: MacIntyre said he and his coaching staff are still discussing all the situations that might arise with the new redshirt rule approved by the NCAA. The new rule will allow a player to appear in four games and still redshirt that season.
"When you first think about it, you think about guys getting injured or guys getting out for a game or two and you can put a kid in and play, especially in some special teams roles or some situations," MacIntyre said. "Then you hopefully win a few games and we're way ahead and you might be able to throw a quarterback in there. But you have to be careful with that because if it's really early in the season and you need him later on and you end up playing him four and a half games and he loses a redshirt. You have to look at that a little bit. As a coaching staff, we've talked about it, and we'll talk about it more this summer."
BOBO ON QB SITUATION: It might have been a little gamesmanship, but CSU head coach Mike Bobo hinted Tuesday that quarterback Collin Hill, who suffered a torn ACL in spring ball, "might" be ready to play in the season opener.
"He's ahead of schedule with everything," Bobo said. "… We're not ruling out Game 1, but he'll definitely be ready at some point this season."
As it stands now, the likely starter for the Rams will be Washington transfer K.J. Carta-Samuels.
But, Bobo said Hill will participate in fall camp practices and could be available for CSU's Aug. 25 opener against Hawaii.
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu
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