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8/8/ Practice Report

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Hasta la Viska
Club Member
First off I wanna say there was some major bs going on at today's practice. About 3/4 of the way through practice we were notified they were writing parking tickets. Supposedly the meter maids were sent down there with the sole purpose of writing tickets ($$). Total bs and a lot of fans were pissed and a lot got tickets. Pretty ridiculous that this was even an issue. Now to practice. Today was the first day in pads. You could tell the players were excited to hit and the coaches had to hold them back a bit.
QB's: Hansen and Hirschman really struggled in the 11 ons. More so with Hirschman, he looks good in drills but struggled in live action. Schrock seems to be ahead of Dorman
RB: Bieniemy really gets after his RB's. He constantly gets on Speedy to, "stop dancing" and to "get upfield." I think EB's favorite phrase is, "you have got to be sh****** me." No one appears to be ahead for the #2 spot. D.D. will probably be #4 tho. The funny thing is all our RB's look pretty much exactly the same. All short 5'7 guys. Harrington still looks good at FB. He can catch the ball and get upfield.
WR's: Richardson is a beast. He can run, catch, jump. He can do it all, but he is still really thin so hopefully he holds up. Toney looked better pass catching today. Canty reminds me of that Banks guy from KSU. But, him and Vincent were in Kennedy's dog house today. McCulloch was running in the top 5 WR's imo
TE: DaVaughn is a horse out there. He can catch the ball but he got absolutely beasted on by Kasa during blocking drills.
OL: They still seem to have trouble in pass pro during 11 ons. We should hope to God we don't have to use much of our 2nd team OL
DL: As I said earlier Kasa looks much improved. He destroyed Thornton. Obi still looks amazing out there. He was a force to be reckoned with on goal line situations. Chidera isn't just a pass rusher, he can stop the rush now too. Nembot looks like a gentle giant. Ideally he needs a redshirt year. Tui was working extra with Richter
LB's: Webb really flies around out there. He seems to be a playmaker like Terrel Smith. Rippy is looking good with Major. That's my guess for starting LB's as of right now. Daigh made a nice play in pass coverage with the 2nd teamers. He is big, but physically not quite there yet. Still needs some bulk
CB's: Still musical chairs with the CB's. Henderson had an outstanding INT to finish of the 11 ons. He'll play a lot. Josh Moten actually impressed me a today. He was physical and was fighting a lot with Toney over the ball. Vigo looks like it's all there, but he hasn't put it all together yet. Deji acts like a leader of the D. Him barking out orders to seniors was kinda funny. No one has really put together a string of good practices here. Orms was still resting his "calf" but he got up for a bit and took off his wrap and ice.
S: Terrel is still flying around making plays. Polk is a leader on the D with Perkins. He points out guesses on Offensive plays and shouts out orders. Hopefully that's an indication that Safety has become more instinctual for him, because it is certainly all there physically.
K: Castor appears to be #1 K. What Oliver lacks in leg he makes up in form. His balls really go end over end every time
P: Uhhh... maybe I shouldn't comment on this one for my sake:lol:

After stretching the players went right into a drill kinda like that Senior Hit Day youtube vid I've seen from the past. Basically they line up and players get after eachother and whoever pushes their opponent back wins. Us fans could barely see as the players were huddled around but from what I saw, Rippy, Deehan, and Kasa were the most impressive players here. I was kinda hoping the punters would get in there:nod:. Still working a lot on ST's. The punts got pretty bad once pressure was applied. And I have to say our player's general knowledge of ST's is pretty bad (The Riddler strikes again) Brookhart was really getting after guys for running into the endzone, not looking for the ball etc during punting drills. They cleaned it up a lot tho after a couple rounds. These coaches are serious bidness. If you don't run off or on the field "like you want to play" the'll either make you do it again or start running. Embree even made Grossnickel start running for jogging off the field. I'll post more if I forget. Go Buffs
 
Just thought I'd bless you guys with some Melanie! But I forgot a couple more tidbits. Kyle Washington was playing some Safety today. I get Brad Cotner confused with Iltis(same #). He looks physically ready for a freshman. Sherrard still MIA
 
Here's my take on practice today:

I arrived with them running a passing drill of 1-on-1 with receivers against a DB or a TE on a LB. The highlight of this drill for me was Moten covering Clemons. Clemons got a bit open and caught a pass, but Moten went after the strip, which eventually came loose. They then fought over it for probably 20 seconds. It was a dog fight that the coach’s let continue for quite some time. Not even sure who came up with it finally but Moten showed me something there as Clemons is pretty strong.

This is a drill that puts a lot of pressure on the DB as he has no help and no pass rush. I thought they did a pretty good job in general.

Witnessed my first full go 9-on-7 drills. The intensity for this was very high. Higher than I’ve seen ever at a Buff practice by a large factor. To me that is the difference out here. Intensity. I’ve read others who say everything is different and more crisp etc. I think we want to see everything is “better” now. Hawkins practices were prompt, scripted, and moved quickly. So are these. There’s more competition, intensity and screaming. And yes, that's a big improvement.

The defense was pretty much sticking it to the offense at this point.

Near the end of the drill the offense seemed to start to assert themselves. Speedy broke one of for a long TD.
Making a plant and getting upfield is something you will hear about out there if you are a RB. There are two directions, north and south. If you choose a 3[SUP]rd[/SUP] option, you will be running laps.

They then ran a “backed up” scrimmage situation with the ball starting on our own 3. First snap, Bahktiari jumps. Coaches go ballistic, and Bahktiari hits the sideline for a lap around and is replaced by his backup. Mental mistakes are greeted this way. They moved it back to the 1.5. Next play, Speedy took it 98.5 yards for a TD.

They also ran a few punts from deep in their own territory. The defense was getting in there so there wasn’t much to really conclude from the punters.

Random comments and observations:
Speedy is clearly #1. He is explosive. Tony Jones is running with the 2’s. B-Lock right after that. Speedy had all the best runs (3 longer ones) and TJ had one. Not seeing much of the freshmen at this point at RB.

Pericek is a tough stop for our OL. He’s actually running with the 2’s. It seems they have Obi/Cunningham together and Pericek/Bonsu paired up. I think it only means they will go 4 deep and rotate them in continually if I were to guess – this pairing may create the most balance in skill sets. Pericek was disruptive today. So is Uzo-Diribe. This guy has some moves and Harris had his hands full. Uzo-Direbe could easily be a major breakout player for us. This would be a welcome situation as a little more pass rush could be a big help.

There’s a lot of guys who have a lot of experience that we all know well, so I tried to look for the new faces and who seems to be getting some work from the newcomers.

DBs: Washington, Harlos, and Henderson are getting a lot of work right now. Washington at both safety and corner… Washington looks a lot better just since last week. I think all these guys will play on special teams.
Other freshman getting good time are LaMar (snapper), DD Goodson (return) and Juda Parker (special teams and DE).
Tight Ends: man we need some bodies here. This is a really important position in this offense and 2 guys will be on the field a lot of the time. Can Nick Kasa catch?

WR mix: Clemons and Richardson and then a host of guys trying to get some playing time. Gray, Cefalo, McCulloch, and Darden seem like the guys in consideration.

It’s difficult to know where we are at until we play someone else. Our offense returns all the key guys really, but they are in a totally new system. The fullbacks look good, but I’m concerned they are both seniors. I think the defense is just ahead of the offense at this point in the season but the offense seemed to close that gap a bunch today with the pads on for the first time.

I admit to being nervous as to what sort of offensive coordinator Bienemy would be. I’m not concerned now. He’s got at least 3 former OC’s on staff and he seems to really know what we are trying to do on every single play. These are tried and true offensive plays. I always felt that Helfrich and later Kiesau were trying to create an offense that had never been done before.

Backup QB is a concern to me. I don’t want to say too much here, but this offense looks a lot like the offense run here under Barnett. Think about some of those throws the QB had to make. It didn’t require a gun, but a cool demeanor and a little touch/accuracy. Hirschman does some things very well, but he is not a finished product yet and I am concerned. He bluntly had some awful looks today.

The defense is pretty solid. The front 7 is 2 deep and is pretty far along. Safety is also probably 3 deep, if not spectacular, at least solid. Corner is the key. Chapelle and Brown are hard at work.
 
The parking tickets were garbage. i got one, im furious about it. on to football

Punting... Darragh was the best one out there today. they did a placement and coverage drill, and darragh did the best. Brundage was awful.. zach was ok. kicked some out the back. but yes, once they pinned the punters deep in the endzone they struggled. grossnickle had a terrible boot. shanked it 25 yards... then Embo made him run after because he walked off the field. After Darragh kicked embo went and talked to him for a little.

Speedy got reemed out in the 9 on 7 drills. then he had a 92 yard TD run in 11 on 11. Embo was furious at the D. in 11 on 11s the Offense was dominant at the beginning but the last couple drives the defense stepped up a lot.
EB was as usual very entertaining today.. otherwise slicer got most of went down today.
 
And why can't Bohn call off the meter maids from 8:15-11:45. It's not like there's anyone else using these lots since school is not in session? Bad deal.
 
O'neill did look good in that coffin-corner drill, but it was without a pass rush. Kid is athletically gifted and will be a player for us sooner or later.

Grossnickle hits the best and the worst punts.
Brundage seems the most consistent and handles pressure well.
O'neill is most improved and is much better than last spring already.

This will be interesting how it shakes out, but all 3 options are much better than where we were at 12 months ago.
 
You guys that received a ticket might want to email Bohn. It might not help you but maybe they will be smarter in the future. It's so stupid that they would write tickets in that lot at that time.
 
Ya despite our CB's the D has been pretty much dominating the O so far. It seems like our D has some swag
 
Who's the dip**** who sent the parking nazis down there to write tickets? Honestly. That's just moronic. Doesn't anybody around that place think about what they're doing?
 
buffaholic said:
And why can't Bohn call off the meter maids from 8:15-11:45. It's not like there's anyone else using these lots since school is not in session? Bad deal.
Click to expand...

it would make sense, but after over a decade on CU's campus i can tell you....different entities like Parking and Transportation and the AD, or whoever....do not communicate at all. it's kind of ridiculous.
 
Mick Ronson said:
it would make sense, but after over a decade on CU's campus i can tell you....different entities like Parking and Transportation and the AD, or whoever....do not communicate at all. it's kind of ridiculous.
Click to expand...

Yep, one of our shuttle vans mistakenly parked in a meter that wasn't for government vehicles. The meter he was supposed to park at was right next to it. Parking services wrote a ticket which ended up being paid by our department. So CU ticketed CU and was paid by CU. That's government in action!
 
In town an extra day and caught my first practice. The reports above were great so I'll just add my random observations.

1. EB is always on, he even ripped the coaches once for not having the right personnel ready for the next play.

2. As mentioned above, EB is stressing guys getting downfield and not dancing which is a problem because our backs do a lot of dancing.

3. Hirscmann had a rough day, but the guys behind him were scary bad.

4. When Embree sent Grossnickle to run a lap for not hustling off the field, it took him about about 20 minutes to make it around the field. Probably an exageration, but the handful of reporters standing next to me were joking that they could walk faster than he ran.

5. Diribe really looked like a player, I'm excited to see this kid play.

6. Jones definitely appeared to be ahead of Lockridge today.

7. I'm pretty sure I saw PRich and DD fielding punts.

8. Obi appears to have become more of a leader out there.

I missed the first hour so I'm sure there was more but it was just great to see intensity, accountability, and tempo being dictated by the coaching staff.
 
SINKRATZ said:
3. Hirscmann had a rough day, but the guys behind him were scary bad.

4. When Embree sent Grossnickle to run a lap for not hustling off the field, it took him about about 20 minutes to make it around the field. Probably an exageration, but the handful of reporters standing next to me were joking that they could walk faster than he ran.
Click to expand...

The QB situation is downright scary. I hope our offensive line is very good at protecting Hansen. Oh and keep GiA away.

Sounds like Grossnickle might need a little more encouragement.
 
sackman said:
Who's the dip**** who sent the parking nazis down there to write tickets? Honestly. That's just moronic. Doesn't anybody around that place think about what they're doing?
Click to expand...

I was at practice today and was warned by CU personnel that the ticket guy was making the rounds. They saved my arse.....thanks guys.
Somebody needs to whisper in Bensons ear that a few donor$ were rousted out of practice because of the ticket Nazis. I mean seriously, would this ever happen at Texas ,Oklahoma, Auburn or even Oregon? Hell they would have the director of parking enforcement dragged out of town behind a horse! The enforcement dude said he was told to go down there and write tickets.... Pure BS if you ask me.
It would be a hell of a lot easier to support the team if the ticket Nazis looked the other way just during practice.
 
Yeah the CU official was trying to warn spectators to move their car, so I think he saved a handful of people. There was a photographer next to me that had to drag his huge camera and all his bags to avoid the ticket.

Also, the reporters were joking not to quote EB during practice because all he seems to do is swear - even when he's happy about something. Oh and Plati is a very large man.
 
to be fair to the "we are persecuted at CU" and places like UT or Auburn have free run. i'm seeing a girl who lives in fam housing right there on the practice fields, and both Sat and Sun they were blasting hip-hop at 8 AM. earlier sometimes this summer. honestly, if i have kids or babies i'd be sort of pissed off about that. there is no other place in town or on campus you could do that.

i don't get the parking thing other than CU Parking saw a quick rev boost....people park in that dirt lot all the time. sorority gals going to work out, a 11-11:50 class...etc.
 
I haven't seen Harrington at all, not sure if he's there, not dressing, not ready to play or what. I wasn't really looking for him and it just occurred to me when I was writing this up that the other two Corners are getting a lot of looks but no Harrington.
 
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