Colorado Daily – Georgia Tech Week

September 1st

… CU in a few minutes … 

**Coach Prime meets with the media before leaving for Atlanta**

From YouTube, courtesy of BuffsTV …

Will practicing against the “Go-Go” offense help prepare CU’s defense for Georgia Tech?

From CU Buffs.com … Every day of fall camp, Colorado’s defense lined up against the strangest offense it will see all year.

That was the plan.

“As a coach, you always want to give your players the hardest thing first, and it’s just a blessing to have Brennan Marion’s Go-Go offense, because that’s one of the more unusual offenses you’re going to face,” linebackers coach Andre Hart said. “I’m not going to say any offense is simpler — it’s not that it’s simple, but there’s not so many variations. I think it makes it easier to get the information across to the players. So, yeah, I love that we did the hardest things first.”

Ask the players who have chased Marion’s shifts, motions and option looks around the practice field since spring, and they describe the same finishing school.

“Coach Marion challenges us every day,” fifth-year linebacker Tyler Martinez said. “Like, he comes out in the most exotic looks you’ll ever see, and it challenges you to communicate with the defense and just do your job — versus trying to be a superhero and making every play you can. We’re finally going to get to go against somewhat of a normal offense.”

“Going against an option offense tests every single rule of your defense,” fifth-year linebacker Gideon Lampron added. “You get so many exotic looks, so they definitely help us prepare for anything that we could see.”

The timing could not be better. The Buffs open Thursday, Sept. 3 at Georgia Tech (6 p.m. MT, ESPN) against a team built on a physical, quarterback-inclusive running game — the exact stress the Go-Go applies daily. Fourth-year linebacker Liona Lefau has spent all camp fitting runs where the quarterback is a live threat.

“Anytime you practice fitting in a plus-one run game — which is when you account for the quarterback as well — it really helps,” Lefau said. “It really challenges your rules at times. So just having the quarterback accounted for in each of our run fits, it helps when we prepare for a team like Georgia Tech, who also runs their quarterback.”

Hart sees the film-room carryover, too. Studying his own offense, it turns out, doubles as an early scouting report.

“You seeing some really funky looks, and how they’re getting people in positions for mismatches, and you get to teach to that,” Hart said. “It’s going to be kind of similar to what Georgia Tech does, in a sense of how they move around. To be able to see that through the summer and through the spring, and now in the fall, I think it just makes us that much better.”

None of it works without the connective tissue. Hart’s stated keys for Thursday — “elite communication and smooth operations” — have been rehearsed the hard way. The defense hasn’t practiced with the green-dot helmet communication yet, and Hart wouldn’t have it any other way.

“I love that we’re not practicing with the green dot yet, because now it makes everybody accountable,” Hart said. “Don’t just rely on the green dot. Make sure you’re communicating with the people on your side you need to communicate with.”

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August 30th 

… CU in a few minutes … 

Projected CU starting lineups for season opener at Georgia Tech

From Brian Howell at BuffBlitz.com

Projected depth chart for Colorado football offense

Position1st team2nd team3rd team
QuarterbackJulian LewisKaneal SweetwyneIsaac Wilson
Running backDeKalon TaylorJaQuail SmithBryce Hicks
Running backMicah WelchDamian Henderson IIRichard Young
Wide receiverDeAndre MooreDanny ScuderoKam Perry
Wide receiverJoseph WilliamsErnest CampbellQuentin Gibson
Tight endZach AtkinsFishier ClementsCharlie Williams
Left tackleBo HughleyXavier PayneJayven Richardson
Left guardChauncey GoodenPhillip HoustonHudson Steber
CenterSean KinneyDemetrius HunterYahya Attia
Right guardJayvon McFaddenYahya Attia
Right tackleLarry Johnson IIILeon BellAndre Roye Jr.

Projected depth chart for Colorado football defense

Position1st team2nd team3rd team
Defensive endToby AneneLamont Lester Jr.Domata Peko Jr.
Defensive tackleSantana HopperDylan ManuelSedrick Smith
Defensive tackleTyler MooreSamu TaumanupepeQuency Wiggins
Defensive endKylan SalterImmanuel EzeoguYamil Talib
LinebackerGideon LampronRodney Colton Jr.Bo LaPenna
LinebackerTyler MartinezGage Goldberg
LinebackerLiona LefauCarson Crawford
CornerbackCree ThomasMakari VickersRJ Johnson
CornerbackBoo CarterJason StokesJustin Eaglin
SafetyRandon FontenetteJah Jah BoydPaul Omodia
SafetyNaeten MitchellBen FinnesethBraylon Edwards

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August 29th

… CU in a few minutes … 

ESPN “SportsCenter on Campus” to be at Georgia Tech game

… The show will air at 3:00 p.m., MT … In advance of the “White Out” game for the Yellow Jackets (it’ll be interesting to see what style/color uniform CU players will wear … 

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August 28th

… CU in a few minutes … 

OC Brennan Marion: “If you’re not violent, then you just can’t be on our offensive line”

From BuffInsider.com

Offensive line expectations

The Go-Go offensive requires active bodies up front, and Marion is confident that his line will meet expectations.

“In the trenches, it has to be nasty,” Marion said. “There’s only one way that it can be up there. You can work on all the cute stuff — your footwork, your pass set — but if you’re not violent, if you’re not attacking off the ball, if you’re not trying to take another man against his will and take his soul, then you just can’t be on our offensive line. Everybody who will go out there will have that mentality. We won’t put anybody out there that does not have (the mentality of) I’m trying to maul and crush the guy in front.”

Julian Lewis confirmed as starting quarterback

Although it was largely expected, Marion confirmed that Georgia native Julian Lewis will make his third career start next Thursday in Atlanta. He’ll be operating in a new offensive system, but Marion is confident that Lewis can be a winning quarterback.

“For Ju, he has high expectations of himself,” Marion said. “Obviously, he knows the type of player he can be, the caliber of player that he’s been in the past from the high school level. And then obviously going back home, I know he wants this game. The thing that we’ve been proud of him the most is he’s learned how to practice at a high level and not just play at a high level. You saw in the games that he played in last year, he played good enough for them to win the game from the standpoint of in the way that he didn’t lose the game for the team. He was a quarterback who was moving the ball down the field, completing passes and not putting the ball in jeopardy. He understands how to win a football game.”

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