Colorado takes first step towards upcoming season during Spring Game

Today’s game started out just like many have in the past. A beautiful Saturday in Boulder. Right before the official end of winter, the spring game proved insightful for the direction of the program and the 2017 season ahead. There was an hour of drills and one-on-one work before the team got together for a scrimmage.

In the drills that I watched, there were a few interesting tidbits I noticed. Number one, the JuCo newcomers are all as advertised. Javier Edwards takes up the center and both guards by himself, and when he gets in shape, he will be an absolute load for the opposing team to deal with. Chris Mulumba is a giant as well, and he will round into form. Dante Wigley already looks the part and plays a physical DB game, just like Coach MacIntyre likes. He won a few one-on-ones with the wide receivers. The quarterbacks all look the part. Steven Montez, Sam Noyer, and Tyler Lytle are all plus athletes and there have everything you want to see in a quarterback. The balls were flying off the hands with velocity and Montez has a cannon for an arm. During the Oklahoma drills, both lines seemed pretty evenly matched, and you can tell that the hogs have gotten bigger since the last time we saw them. Lyle Tuiloma looked large and in charge for a while doing the drills, and Leo Jackson seemed as solid as ever.

The latter half of the game was an actual scrimmage and pretty fun to watch. Steven Montez captained one team while Sam Noyer captained the other. Montez took the field first, and promptly threw an interception to my guy Nick Fisher. Fisher looked fluid and effective from the safety spot. After returning the ball to the 15, Team Noyer scored a quick touchdown. The next drive, Montez missed an open Ross and overthrew another receiver, and failed to move the ball again. It should be noted that Edwards was pushing the pocket pretty well and Julmisse was with Oliver as a CB. Noyer led the team to field goal, with good hard running from Beau Bisharat. Finally, Team Montez clicked. Michael Adkins ran very well today, which is a great sign going into the year. Montez starting using his legs to manufacture offense, and he looks much quicker than he did last year after losing some pounds. Montez scored on a QB keeper. Tyler Lytle took over for Sam Noyer, and he immediately flashed. He hit Dylan Keeney on a busted coverage down the seam for 36 yards on a pretty ball. He throws with velocity and accuracy, but as a freshman, he had more trouble with the offense. To be expected. Kabion Ento caught a pretty ball from Lytle in the corner of the end zone, and the news of him dominating spring ball looks to be legit. His lightbulb has turned on, which makes a deep WR even deeper. He and Bobo had good plays today, and Shay Fields caught an absolute dart from Steven Montez for a long touchdown.

Tyler Lytle hit Johnny Huntley in the corner of the end zone for a contested touchdown catch over Dante Wigley, and that was the end of the scoring for the Buffs. A few more things that I took away from the scrimmage:

• Anthony Julmisse blew up three screen plays thrown his direction. He punched the blocker and made the tackle. That’s very good to see from a young cornerback and something that is sure to endear himself to his coaches.
• Isaiah Oliver is very good.
• Chris Bounds is going to play a lot at TE for the Buffs. He moves well.
• The OL looked solid for the most part. Josh Kaiser looked decent at LT and Isaac Miller got some run.

This marks the end of spring football, which means the start of summer workouts. It’ll be a long wait until September.