Boulder – The season opener against Colorado State officially is in Colorado’s sights, and players couldn’t be happier.
CU coaches have begun their game-planning, and players are thrilled to have something to shoot for after the drudgery of training camp. The finishing touches won’t be inserted until next week – game week – but the bulk of CU’s preparation for the Sept. 3 opener against CSU will be implemented this week.
“I’d like to have a lot of it in by (the end of) this week,” Buffs coach Gary Barnett said Tuesday. “We’ll have two-thirds of it in by this weekend.”
CU players like having a game to look forward to.
“It doesn’t feel like camp at all right now,” senior quarterback Joel Klatt said. “Now, it feels 100 percent like a game week from my standpoint. We have some scout cards going up in practice. So the level of excitement, especially for the older guys, goes up a ton.”
Said junior center Mark Fenton: “You get stuck in that mode during camp, like, ‘What am I practicing for? I need something to look forward to.’ Now you feel the CSU game coming. It’s a bit different out there.”
There still are positions to be settled. Safety is one. Secondary coach Craig Bray said three players – J.J. Billingsley, Tom Hubbard and Tyrone Henderson – are in the mix, though the latest CU depth chart showed Billingsley and Henderson as starters.
The offensive line is expected to have Tyler Polumbus and Clint O’Neal as starters at tackle, Jack Tipton and Brian Daniels at the guards and Fenton at center. That unit has practiced together the majority of preseason camp.
“The five that have been playing are the five that have been playing the best so far,” offensive line coach Dave Bor- bely said. “The (line overall) is an explosive group. We’ve been able to do things right now that probably a year ago would take a couple of days for them to digest and understand.”
Colorado has closed practices to the public and media. The Buffs practice through Friday, will take the weekend off, then start game-week preparations full steam Monday.
Footnotes
Freshman Gardner McKay has risen to No. 2 behind Lorenzo Sims at cornerback. … Safety Dominique Brooks (ankle), whom coaches indicated would miss up to four weeks, said he would be back sooner and said he plans to start running by the end of this week. … Freshman Marcus Burton has risen to No. 2 behind Thaddaeus Washington at inside linebacker. … Stephone Robinson will handle punt and kick return duties. CU needs to add another player at kick return alongside Robinson.
Chris Dempsey can be reached at 303-820-5455 or cdempsey@denverpost.com.
