Buffs Report: Tucker Pleased With Opening Workout, But Stresses Improvement A Must
August 01, 2019 | Football, Neill Woelk
BOULDER — Colorado head coach Mel Tucker saw what he wanted to see in the Buffaloes' first practice of fall camp Thursday.
Now he wants to see improvement on Friday.Â
Tucker's Buffs hit the practice field in shorts and helmets for their camp opener, the first time CU's head coach and his staff have seen the team in a practice situation since the end of spring ball in April.Â
Suffice to say there was no gentle "break-in" period. The Buffs hit the ground running, and the emphasis on tempo that began in spring ball only increased. CU coaches made sure the Buffs were on the run not only during their drills and team work, but also when they moved from station to station.
That pace was apparent Thursday on a warm but not-too-hot Boulder morning. A Tucker staple is making sure every player "finishes" every play, and he exhorted the Buffs to "play to the echo of the whistle."
 "I was pleased with what I saw today," Tucker said. "We had a really good summer and players worked extremely hard in strength and conditioning. We're bigger, we're faster, we're stronger and it showed up today. We're able to have very good tempo, our transitions were good, so we really picked up where we left off in the spring, so that was exciting."
Tucker has a long list of priorities for fall camp, including — in no particular order — bumping up the level of leadership from players, establishing more depth (particularly in the trenches) and seeing his offense make a jump in consistency and ball security.
After one day, CU's new head coach saw some promising signs in those areas, beginning with quarterback Steven Montez.
The last time Tucker saw Montez in a helmet, the CU senior had an up-and-down spring game that included two touchdown passes and two interceptions.
"Steven was very sharp mentally today at quarterback," Tucker said. "I really liked his command of the offense. He was really good with his checks, threw the ball on time."Â
Montez was sharp with his throws, connecting on a number of timing routes with his receiver, as well as some long balls, including a beautiful deep ball to K.D. Nixon, who gathered in the pass despite tight coverage from cornerback Delrick Abrams Jr.
Also getting his share of receptions was wide receiver Laviska Shenault Jr. Because Shenault had surgery after last season and missed spring ball, it was Tucker's first opportunity to see CU's star receiver in a full-speed practice situation.
"Great to see Viska out there," Tucker said with a smile. "He's back to form. That was my first time really able to see him live and full speed, and I was impressed, to say the least. That's a very good sign."
And, Tucker saw some growth in the leadership department — another area he has stressed with his players.
"Nate Landman on defense really stuck out as a leader for us," Tucker said. "Not only does he make the calls and get guys lined up, he also leads by example. Guys respect him, they listen to him, (and) he helps with our tempo in holding guys accountable, which we talked about over the summer."
The fact that Thursday's standouts were veterans is a good sign, Tucker said.
"That's what I expect from those guys that have played a lot of football," Tucker said. "They know it takes what it takes. Leadership from your best players is critical. Leading by example and being able to make plays. We saw that today."
But the key, Tucker said will be if the Buffs can return to practice Friday and show improvement — a trend he has to see on a consistent basis. The Buffs now have 24 practices remaining until their Aug. 30 season opener against Colorado State in Denver (8 p.m. ESPN).
After noting that some of the newcomers — players who were not here last spring — are a bit behind in some areas, he said that will change.
"Guys will rise to the occasion," he said. "I expect to see huge improvement tomorrow. I think we're going to make the most improvement from the first practice to the second practice."
PRACTICE REPORT: Newcomer Arlington Hambright, a grad transfer from Oklahoma State, lined up at left tackle on Thursday, a position he has played throughout his college career. That put sophomore William Sherman, who started nine games last year at left tackle, on the right side. The rest of the first group included Tim Lynott and Kary Kutsch at the guard spots and Colby Pursell at center.
It is a rotation that no doubt could change, said O-line coach Chris Kapilovic. The Buffs actually spent most of last spring with Lynott at center while Pursell played guard early in the session before being sidelined by an injury. But Kapilovic wants to establish an early baseline before he experiments with some different rotations.
"We'll get started and then hope that after the first big scrimmage or so we start rotating some guys," Kapilovic said. "Maybe we have three tackles that look really good, so maybe you can slide one of those tackles to guard because he'd help you more. What's important is that there's some guys right now that have to play two positions to give us a chance." …Â
One spot that has considerably more depth this fall than in the spring is the defensive line, where the Buffs added six players in the last recruiting class. Five of those players reported this summer.
"We have more depth than we had, obviously, in the spring," Tucker said. "We have bigger bodies. We're able to two-spot in some of our drills and split the squad and split the coaching staff so we can all get more reps in the same period of time. We need to have depth on our defensive line. We want to be able to keep guys fresh on both sides of the ball in the trenches. The new faces that we have there, the big bodies, it's much needed. We addressed it in recruiting and it's going to pay off for us."
The Buffs' No. 1 group for the spring and in Thursday's first practice consisted of Mustafa Johnson at DT, Jalen Sami at the nose and Terrance Lang at DE. Newcomer Jeremiah Doss was also getting some work Thursday with the top group, and newcomer Lloyd Murray Jr. — a true freshman — also showed some power inside Thursday. …Â
Speaking of newcomers, Tucker's staff is quickly making it clear that the fresh faces will get their chances to earn playing time. Already picking up reps with the top defense on Thursday were cornerback D.J. Oats and safety Mark Perry. Also getting some time at corner was sophomore Chris Miller, who missed the spring with an injury…Â
Along with Nixon's nice catch of a long ball and Shenault's catches, a number of other receivers made nice grabs, including Tony Brown and Daniel Arias. … Abrams is showing the ability to run deep with CU's speed wideouts as well as work well in press coverage, as he came up with a couple of nice pass breakups. … CU's running back rotation will no doubt take a while to be settled, as several backs got their reps with the No. 1 and No. 2 units.
SCHEDULE — The Buffs will be back on the field in shorts and helmets on Friday, then put on shells (shorts and shoulder pads) for Saturday's workout in Folsom Field. That practice will be open to the public, and is scheduled to begin at approximately 8:50 a.m.
The Buffs' first practice in full pads is tentatively set for next Tuesday.
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu
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