Sophomore quarterback JT Shrout being carted off the field with an apparent injury to his left leg was undoubtedly the big ticket news item of the day, as Colorado completed its first full fall camp scrimmage at Folsom Field Saturday.
But aside from that, there certainly were a number of additional happenings worth noting.
For starters, tight ends Brady Russell and Matt Lynch, senior ILBs Nate Landman and Robert Barnes plus junior OLB Carson Wells were notable non-participants in Saturday's scrimmage.
Karl Dorrell did not specifically address them afterwards as suffering from any ailments, so, for now, it's best not to start speculating that they could be injured. Most likely the whole lot of them were being rested after taking heavy practice reps through the first sight practices of camp.
Sophomore tailback Jarek Broussard looked every bit the Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Year we saw in 2020. His first two touches of the scrimmage, which came on different drives, went for 66 and 42 yards.
Fellow sophomore tailback Deion Smith also impressed. Smith, who's sporting a knee brace this camp, missed the entire 2020 condensed season due to injury. He took a good deal of handoffs with the first and second team offense and was efficient. He also appeared to be very fast, despite having the brace on.
Junior tight end Jared Poplawski, who hasn't played a game since 2017 due to multiple ACL injuries at CU, also stood out, recording a 19-yard touchdown reception from Brendon Lewis.
"With Jared Poplawski, he's a guy that tore his ACL twice and he's come a long way to get himself back so it was fun to see him get a score today," Dorrell said. "That gives him some confidence and some validation that he can play and be an effective player for us, so I think he's going to build on that. We've got a number of guys that were in that injury phase of things early on in the year when they had corrective surgeries and now they're getting themselves back."
With Russell and Lynch also out for the scrimmage, redshirt freshman Alec Pell got some extended reps at tight end, hauling in the first reception of the day as well as a 16-yard touchdown from Lewis later on.
At just 5-foot-10 and 160 pounds, freshman cornerback Nikko Reed likely feels like he has something to prove.
As camp has progressed, Reed's name has been on the mouths of a number of upperclassman cornerbacks, including Mekhi Blackmon.
"Heart over height," Blackmon said. "You couldn't tell that he's a freshman. He's come in, he's taken a lot of reps, his technique is there, his confidence is there — he's going to play this year."
Blackmon's compliment of Reed seemed to be echoed to an extent by CU's coaches. Reed was inserted into the scrimmage with the first team fairly early, where he took a few reps covering freshman Brenden Rice one-on-one.
Reed also had a terrific play later into things. On an island in the flats, Reed successfully wrapped up and brought down 5-foot-11, 230-pound tailback Jayle Stacks, who was attempting to turn upfield and most certainly would have scored if not for Reed.
"He's been playing that way really since he stepped on campus," Dorrell said. "He's flashed and made great plays with great coverage at times and obviously made a great tackle for in the coverage just him in space with a back. He's a very confident kid and I'm very pleased with where he's at."
Grad transfer Jack Lamb and junior Quinn Perry saw the lion's share of snaps at inside linebacker, with freshman Zephaniah Maea also seeing some action and recording a four-yard TFL in the scrimmage.
In terms of the offensive line, CU's first-team unit looked like this from left to right: Chance Lytle (LT), Kary Kutsch (LG), Colby Pursell (C), Kanan Ray (RG) and Jake Wiley (RT).
The second unit of o-linemen inserted into the game was comprised of Josh Jynes (LT), Edgar Amaya (LG), Noah Fenske (C), John Dietchman (RG) and Gerad Christian-Lichtenhan (RT).
Rice, Dimitri Stanley and Daniel Arias were grouped together quite a bit at wide receiver, with freshman Chris Carpenter making a few nice catches on the day.
.....
Alex Fontenot had a couple of nice rushes and receptions, while Ashaad Clayton I'd say didn't exactly do anything too flashy. It's frankly tough to look past the Shrout injury but until we know specifically what he's dealing with, we can only hope for the best.
There weren't many explosive plays through the air, some of that being by design but also due to good coverage by the cornerbacks. I mentioned Reed, but both Blackmon and Christian Gonzalez were also pretty sound during their time on the field.
But aside from that, there certainly were a number of additional happenings worth noting.
For starters, tight ends Brady Russell and Matt Lynch, senior ILBs Nate Landman and Robert Barnes plus junior OLB Carson Wells were notable non-participants in Saturday's scrimmage.
Karl Dorrell did not specifically address them afterwards as suffering from any ailments, so, for now, it's best not to start speculating that they could be injured. Most likely the whole lot of them were being rested after taking heavy practice reps through the first sight practices of camp.
Sophomore tailback Jarek Broussard looked every bit the Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Year we saw in 2020. His first two touches of the scrimmage, which came on different drives, went for 66 and 42 yards.
Fellow sophomore tailback Deion Smith also impressed. Smith, who's sporting a knee brace this camp, missed the entire 2020 condensed season due to injury. He took a good deal of handoffs with the first and second team offense and was efficient. He also appeared to be very fast, despite having the brace on.
Junior tight end Jared Poplawski, who hasn't played a game since 2017 due to multiple ACL injuries at CU, also stood out, recording a 19-yard touchdown reception from Brendon Lewis.
"With Jared Poplawski, he's a guy that tore his ACL twice and he's come a long way to get himself back so it was fun to see him get a score today," Dorrell said. "That gives him some confidence and some validation that he can play and be an effective player for us, so I think he's going to build on that. We've got a number of guys that were in that injury phase of things early on in the year when they had corrective surgeries and now they're getting themselves back."
With Russell and Lynch also out for the scrimmage, redshirt freshman Alec Pell got some extended reps at tight end, hauling in the first reception of the day as well as a 16-yard touchdown from Lewis later on.
At just 5-foot-10 and 160 pounds, freshman cornerback Nikko Reed likely feels like he has something to prove.
As camp has progressed, Reed's name has been on the mouths of a number of upperclassman cornerbacks, including Mekhi Blackmon.
"Heart over height," Blackmon said. "You couldn't tell that he's a freshman. He's come in, he's taken a lot of reps, his technique is there, his confidence is there — he's going to play this year."
Blackmon's compliment of Reed seemed to be echoed to an extent by CU's coaches. Reed was inserted into the scrimmage with the first team fairly early, where he took a few reps covering freshman Brenden Rice one-on-one.
Reed also had a terrific play later into things. On an island in the flats, Reed successfully wrapped up and brought down 5-foot-11, 230-pound tailback Jayle Stacks, who was attempting to turn upfield and most certainly would have scored if not for Reed.
"He's been playing that way really since he stepped on campus," Dorrell said. "He's flashed and made great plays with great coverage at times and obviously made a great tackle for in the coverage just him in space with a back. He's a very confident kid and I'm very pleased with where he's at."
Grad transfer Jack Lamb and junior Quinn Perry saw the lion's share of snaps at inside linebacker, with freshman Zephaniah Maea also seeing some action and recording a four-yard TFL in the scrimmage.
In terms of the offensive line, CU's first-team unit looked like this from left to right: Chance Lytle (LT), Kary Kutsch (LG), Colby Pursell (C), Kanan Ray (RG) and Jake Wiley (RT).
The second unit of o-linemen inserted into the game was comprised of Josh Jynes (LT), Edgar Amaya (LG), Noah Fenske (C), John Dietchman (RG) and Gerad Christian-Lichtenhan (RT).
Rice, Dimitri Stanley and Daniel Arias were grouped together quite a bit at wide receiver, with freshman Chris Carpenter making a few nice catches on the day.
.....
Alex Fontenot had a couple of nice rushes and receptions, while Ashaad Clayton I'd say didn't exactly do anything too flashy. It's frankly tough to look past the Shrout injury but until we know specifically what he's dealing with, we can only hope for the best.
There weren't many explosive plays through the air, some of that being by design but also due to good coverage by the cornerbacks. I mentioned Reed, but both Blackmon and Christian Gonzalez were also pretty sound during their time on the field.
