NOTEBOOK: Buffs gearing up for Colorado State
With nine days left until Colorado opens the season against Colorado State, the Buffs are gearing up for the big season opener in Denver. Get the news and notes from Wednesday's practice below.
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BUFFS GAME PLANNING FOR RAMS
Colorado head coach Mike MacIntyre has previously said that CSU has an advantage in that they get to play a game before the Buffs get to open their season against the Rams.
However, this could be a good thing for the Buffaloes as the CU staff gets to see a full game from the 2017 Rams' squad while the CSU coaches don't get to see the 2017 Buffs on tape.
The Colorado coaching staff has already dissected film from the 2016 Rams and will use the CSU-Oregon State game tape wisely.
"We'll gameplan off of last year," MacIntyre said. " Their offense last year was scoring at will the last six games of the year, and defensively, they got better and better. Against Boise State, I think they might have shut them out in the first half. We watched every game [from last year] and of course we'll see this next game [against Oregon State] to see if they changed anything.
"Everybody changes a little bit, but I'm pretty sure that as well as their offense was clicking, I don't know how much they'll change. They moved the ball on everybody that they played."
MOELLER SHOWS OFF VERSATILITY
Ryan Moeller was a star running back at Rifle High School as he ran for 3,002 yards and 43 touchdowns as a senior. His rushing yards ranked seventh in the country in 2012.
When Moeller joined the team as a recruited walk on in August of 2013, he practiced as a defensive back and whatever else the coaches asked of him on the scout team.
"A lot of great linebackers and safeties were high school running backs because they know where the guy is going to cut and have an innate instinct," MacIntyre said, referring to Moeller.
"When we put him on special teams, he would do that running down, and I said, 'This guy could be a great safety.' I thought he could be a really good running back, but I thought he could be a great safety."
Moeller has certainly exceeded all expectations placed on him during his fantastic Colorado career that has made him a fan favorite.
Could it be possible that Moeller would exceed as a college running back?
"He asks me all of the time, but no," MacIntyre said with a laugh. "He's just goofing off. I think he realizes that the position he's playing now - he's so valuable.
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REDSHIRT DECISIONS
Most players who redshirt are freshman, but there are instances where older guys redshirt. There are a couple of players that still have a redshirt year available, most notably senior wide receiver Kabion Ento, that are lower on the depth chart but could be No. 1 guys next year.
MacIntyre was asked about redshirt decisions on Wednesday.
"We haven't made any decisions on that yet," he said. "Honestly, we'll go into the first few games, and if we're thinking about that, we might not play those guys. But somebody could go down at any time, and if there's an opportunity for that guy to get in and play during that game, then we'll play them.
"We're looking at all of that and preparing for different scenarios. Some of those will come to fruition and some of those won't because of injuries and different things."
FINAL NOTE
* Defensive back Jaisen Sanchez missed the 2016 season due to injury and will be out this year as well. MacIntyre said that Sanchez could get a waiver for a 6th season at Colorado if Sanchez chooses to.
