Waiting on photos and video interviews from after the spring showcase to be sent out, so I will get those posted as promptly as possible this afternoon but for now, a couple thoughts on the spring game itself.
In terms of game MVPs, I'd say on the defensive side of the ball, junior ILB Jon Van Diest earned my vote. He had five unassisted tackles on the day, a team-high, and his name was called quite a bit throughout the scrimmage.
Many question marks linger around the inside linebackers room: specifically, when Nate Landman is going to return to the fold and how effective he'll turn out to be coming off of his Achilles tear and secondly, how Notre Dame transfer Jack Lamb is going to factor into the equation.
We can let all of that play itself out in due time. For now, Van Diest has had the kind of spring that at a bare minimum earns him a spot in the thick of the competition come fall camp. I wager he will begin August as the No. 1 inside linebacker next to Robert Barnes until or if someone manages to dislodge him.
As for offense, I'd go with frosh QB Brendon Lewis.
Ultimately, junior JT Shrout was in for more plays (17 for Lewis, 23 for Shrout) and had a slightly better stat line (Lewis was 8-of-9 for 62 yards; Shrout was 9-of-13 for 77 yards and a touchdown) but Lewis started the day going a perfect 8-of-8 with his arm before a near-completion to Dimitri Stanley on the right sideline was ruled out of bounds.
Lewis was accurate and looked good in the pocket.
The play of the day had to be Vontae Shenault's spin-around one-handed reception in the flats, which he turned upfield for 22 yards. Shenault finished the day with a team-high 38 yards of receiving on three catches.
Also registering three catches were Montana Lemonious-Craig (37 yards), Dimitri Stanley (26 yards) and Keith Miller III (30 yards).
Daniel Arias made the first catch of the day for eight yards but that was his only reception. Perhaps somewhat ominously, before the scrimmage started, the Buffs did a few 1-on-1 drills.
Arias drew freshman corner Christian Gonzalez and went down the left sideline on a deep route. Now, I will say here and now that from my vantage point, I couldn't 100% tell if Gonzalez got a finger or so on the ball, but Arias had the separation, was in the end zone and the ball literally bounced off his left arm and shoulder pad. When I saw the play happen in real time I immediately thought, "drop."
For Arias' sake, I hope Gonzalez did register the PBU. If not, that'd be disappointing to have seen.
But moving on, it was a busy day for the tailbacks, as well. Jarek Broussard did not participate in the scrimmage, and freshman Ashaad Clayton led the team with 40 yards on five carries. Joe Davis was the first tailback to take the field and had a team-high six carries for 25 yards.
Alex Fontenot looked the part, too rushing five times for 21 yards. And shoutout to walk-on Charlie Offerdahl, who is quite the scrappy player. He took five carries and gained 20 yards.
Clayton claimed the longest run of the day, a 24-yard burst that saw him shake a few tacklers before he was brought down.
Colorado's banged-up offensive line looked like this, from left to right, in terms of the first-team unit: Gerad Christian-Lichtenhan, Kary Kutsch, Colby Pursell, Jake Wiley and Josh Jynes.
As has been the case this spring, with Terrance Lang out due to injury, opposing the o-linemen in the trenches were Jalen Sami, Janaz Jordan and Na'im Rodman.
Joshka Gustav, who had a team-best two sacks in the scrimmage, saw the most action at OLB aside Carson Wells. Mark Perry and Isaiah Lewis were the primary duo at safety and Tarik Luckett, who missed last year with an injury and who had been limited this spring, saw a good amount of snaps at corner.
Overall, I thought the spring showcase frankly was less flashy than some of the previous scrimmages we in the media got to see over the last month. Sure, there were some nice plays, but Dorrell controlled the offensive drives in a manner that didn't allow for the offense to march downfield for a 70-plus yard drive.
The drives were all cut off at the 50-yard line and reset. Not that that is a bad thing, but in terms of generating highlight reel material, there wasn't all too much to write home about aside from some aforementioned individual performances.
Dorrell has said it many times, but this was a month to establish some depth and get younger players some meaningful reps. I think that was accomplished over the 15 spring practices.
Must be nice for these guys to have even completed spring ball, given the rollercoaster that the last year has been with the pandemic and them not even getting to do this last year when the lockdowns first started and whatnot.
Now, finals start at CU. After that, the players will have earned a few weeks with their families before returning to campus to start summer conditioning.
In terms of game MVPs, I'd say on the defensive side of the ball, junior ILB Jon Van Diest earned my vote. He had five unassisted tackles on the day, a team-high, and his name was called quite a bit throughout the scrimmage.
Many question marks linger around the inside linebackers room: specifically, when Nate Landman is going to return to the fold and how effective he'll turn out to be coming off of his Achilles tear and secondly, how Notre Dame transfer Jack Lamb is going to factor into the equation.
We can let all of that play itself out in due time. For now, Van Diest has had the kind of spring that at a bare minimum earns him a spot in the thick of the competition come fall camp. I wager he will begin August as the No. 1 inside linebacker next to Robert Barnes until or if someone manages to dislodge him.
As for offense, I'd go with frosh QB Brendon Lewis.
Ultimately, junior JT Shrout was in for more plays (17 for Lewis, 23 for Shrout) and had a slightly better stat line (Lewis was 8-of-9 for 62 yards; Shrout was 9-of-13 for 77 yards and a touchdown) but Lewis started the day going a perfect 8-of-8 with his arm before a near-completion to Dimitri Stanley on the right sideline was ruled out of bounds.
Lewis was accurate and looked good in the pocket.
The play of the day had to be Vontae Shenault's spin-around one-handed reception in the flats, which he turned upfield for 22 yards. Shenault finished the day with a team-high 38 yards of receiving on three catches.
Also registering three catches were Montana Lemonious-Craig (37 yards), Dimitri Stanley (26 yards) and Keith Miller III (30 yards).
Daniel Arias made the first catch of the day for eight yards but that was his only reception. Perhaps somewhat ominously, before the scrimmage started, the Buffs did a few 1-on-1 drills.
Arias drew freshman corner Christian Gonzalez and went down the left sideline on a deep route. Now, I will say here and now that from my vantage point, I couldn't 100% tell if Gonzalez got a finger or so on the ball, but Arias had the separation, was in the end zone and the ball literally bounced off his left arm and shoulder pad. When I saw the play happen in real time I immediately thought, "drop."
For Arias' sake, I hope Gonzalez did register the PBU. If not, that'd be disappointing to have seen.
But moving on, it was a busy day for the tailbacks, as well. Jarek Broussard did not participate in the scrimmage, and freshman Ashaad Clayton led the team with 40 yards on five carries. Joe Davis was the first tailback to take the field and had a team-high six carries for 25 yards.
Alex Fontenot looked the part, too rushing five times for 21 yards. And shoutout to walk-on Charlie Offerdahl, who is quite the scrappy player. He took five carries and gained 20 yards.
Clayton claimed the longest run of the day, a 24-yard burst that saw him shake a few tacklers before he was brought down.
Colorado's banged-up offensive line looked like this, from left to right, in terms of the first-team unit: Gerad Christian-Lichtenhan, Kary Kutsch, Colby Pursell, Jake Wiley and Josh Jynes.
As has been the case this spring, with Terrance Lang out due to injury, opposing the o-linemen in the trenches were Jalen Sami, Janaz Jordan and Na'im Rodman.
Joshka Gustav, who had a team-best two sacks in the scrimmage, saw the most action at OLB aside Carson Wells. Mark Perry and Isaiah Lewis were the primary duo at safety and Tarik Luckett, who missed last year with an injury and who had been limited this spring, saw a good amount of snaps at corner.
Overall, I thought the spring showcase frankly was less flashy than some of the previous scrimmages we in the media got to see over the last month. Sure, there were some nice plays, but Dorrell controlled the offensive drives in a manner that didn't allow for the offense to march downfield for a 70-plus yard drive.
The drives were all cut off at the 50-yard line and reset. Not that that is a bad thing, but in terms of generating highlight reel material, there wasn't all too much to write home about aside from some aforementioned individual performances.
Dorrell has said it many times, but this was a month to establish some depth and get younger players some meaningful reps. I think that was accomplished over the 15 spring practices.
Must be nice for these guys to have even completed spring ball, given the rollercoaster that the last year has been with the pandemic and them not even getting to do this last year when the lockdowns first started and whatnot.
Now, finals start at CU. After that, the players will have earned a few weeks with their families before returning to campus to start summer conditioning.
