Junior linebacker Jonathan Van Diest prepares for a snap during a spring scrimmage on April 9. (Photo Courtesy of CU Athletics)
As the University of Colorado Buffaloes football team fell short to the Texas Longhorns in the 2020 Alamo Bowl, Colorado looks to prepare itself for a redemption year. On Friday, the Buffaloes held an intrasquad scrimmage for the first time during the spring practice season.
Prior to the scrimmage, head coach Karl Dorrell described mixed results during the practices leading up to Friday.
“I wish it was better coming off the weekend, we had a great first week,” Dorrell said. “I thought (practice) got a little sloppy at the end. I don’t know if guys are tired or lost a little bit of focus, but these are things that we can fix, for sure. There are no days off, there are no lowered expectations given how much work they’ve put in.”
Dorrell emphasized how focus and fatigue played a factor in the two practices that had taken place prior to Friday’s scrimmage. After a strong first week of spring practices, Dorrell appeared displeased with the outcome of the second week.
“We need to get it fixed and I think they realized that too,” Dorrell said. “It’s not the end of the world but it is something that I’m going to really stick with day in and day out about how we do our football and what it should look like each and every day.”
After two less than optimal practices during week two, Colorado’s defense set the tone to open up Friday’s scrimmage.
“I think our defense is making some really positive strides, they’re coming together and they’re getting better. This defense is challenging the offense on every single snap.” Dorrell said. “Offensively we weren’t at our best today, but I think there’s a lot of things we need to continue to fix and work on.”
As Colorado’s defense surges, the offense looks to improve within certain aspects before spring practices end in late April. Dorrell highlighted the performance of a few key offensive players during the spring including sophomore tailback Jarek Broussard. He built himself a heavy resume through his first season as the starting tailback in 2020 by earning the Pac-12 Player of the Week three times, becoming Colorado’s Offensive Player of the Year, and being named a Mayo Clinic Comeback Player of the Year. He also garnished First Team All-Pac-12 honors.
“I thought Jarek looked good today,” Dorrell said following the scrimmage. “He got a couple carries and he popped through there (the end zone) a few times. It was good to see him do what he did all of last year.”
Dorrell also mentioned the quarterback competition between sophomore transfer J.T. Shrout from Tennessee and freshman Brendon Lewis. Upcoming sixth-year senior Sam Noyer led the offense last year but is recovering from a shoulder surgery this spring.
“We just have to continue to get better and get our quarterbacks more familiar and more comfortable with what we’re doing,” Dorrell said. “I think B-Lew (Lewis) has done some positive things, I think J.T. has done some positive things too.”
With his second season at CU approaching, Dorrell said there is still a lot of work needed to prepare for the fall.
All in all, I’m pleased where we are after six days (practices),” Dorrell said. “We still have a tremendous amount of work to go, but we have nine practices to go which leaves us plenty of time to fix it.”
Of the nine remaining spring practices, CU will have three more scrimmages with the second one coming on Friday.
Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Brett Polley at brett.polley@colorado.edu.
