Practice Report: Evans Awarded Scholarship; Defense Has Good Day
August 15, 2016 | Football, Neill Woelk
Buffs back to work after day off
BOULDER — When Colorado coach Mike MacIntyre called his five team captains in front of the entire team Monday, players weren't sure what to think.
When MacIntyre then called sophomore walk-on running back Kyle Evans to the front and said he'd received a letter concerning Evans that he wanted Evans to read in front of the team, eyebrows were raised.
Then, when MacIntyre walked away and said, "Read it out loud and accept the consequences," all eyes were on Evans.
Players know those kinds of circumstances usually don't bode well for the player in the spotlight.
"I thought I was in trouble at first," Evans later confessed. "I thought Code of Conduct caught me doing something bad. I knew I didn't do anything bad, but who knows? Then I started reading the sheet …"
And seconds later, he was mobbed by his teammates. The letter, from MacIntyre, informed Evans that he was being placed on scholarship immediately, and the Buffs were quick to offer their congratulations to one of the most popular players on the team.
THAT MOMENT WHEN YOU'RE GIVEN A FULL-RIDE SCHOLARSHIP! Congrats, @chocodrop22! #GoBuffshttps://t.co/OrLPazxXk7
— Colorado Buffaloes (@cubuffs) August 16, 2016
Twenty minutes later, the 5-foot-6, 175-pound Evans was still beaming as teammates and coaches continued to stop by and offer their congratulations.
"It was surreal," Evans said. "I wasn't really ready for it, but I'm really happy. I almost couldn't believe it. I have to go call my mom. She's going to be happier than I am, if that's possible."
Evans has had an outstanding camp. He entered the fall listed fourth on the depth chart, but with junior Michael Adkins hobbled by a sore hamstring, Evans has seen plenty of snaps with the No. 1 and No. 2 offensive units.
He's also made the most of those snaps, breaking off several big runs as well as catching some big passes — including a long touchdown pass in Monday's team drills.
"It was pretty special," MacIntyre said of Monday morning's announcement. "He's earned the right and he's going to play a lot of football for us."
MacIntyre described Evans, one of the strongest pound-for-pound players on the team, as a player "in between a Tony Jones and an Eric Bieniemy (former Buffs)."
"I'm not saying he's Eric Bieniemy, but he's built like that and he moves like that," MacIntyre said. "He's lived in the weight room. You can ask any player on our team, he just keeps improving and improving. He's made play after play in spring ball and in camp. He's an excellent student and he's earned the right. I look forward to watching him play."
Running backs coach Darian Hagan has constantly mentioned Evans throughout fall camp as a back who has been making a strong impression.
"He's just special," Hagan said. "He's one of those guys that you know what you're going to get from him. He goes 100 miles per hour. His vision is outstanding and he's a guy that can make a cut without slowing down. That's special."
MacIntyre said Evans "will play a lot for us at running back and special teams. It's hard to tackle him. He's really powerful and he's quick and athletic. He's doing a lot of good things."
SCRIMMAGE THOUGHTS: After spending the weekend watching film of Saturday's first scrimmage of camp, MacIntyre hadn't strayed much from his first impressions.
"I saw aggressiveness on both sides of our line of scrimmage, up front on our offensive line and on our defensive line," MacIntyre said. "I thought it physical. I thought our offensive line made a jump from the spring. The quarterback wasn't affected that much and our defensive players were coming after him. Other guys made plays on both sides of the ball, but I was impressed with our physicalness on both sides of the line."
That increased "physicality" has been a theme thus far in camp, with coaches on both sides of the ball saying this year's squad has improved significantly in that area compared to a year ago. The results should show this season, MacIntyre said.
"We can control the line of scrimmage better, give our quarterback a little bit more room to throw, bust a run when we're tired," MacIntyre said. "Defensively we're able to be more physical and we have enough guys that we can rotate guys in that are stout on the defensive line, which helps your linebackers roam free a little bit. You can also push a tackle or a guard or a center back into the quarterback and the ball sails high. Those type of things make a big difference in a game and I see that with this team, more than we've had ever in the past."
DEFENSIVE IMPROVEMENT: Defensive coordinator Jim Leavitt said he continues to see improvement in his group — but in typical Leavitt fashion, he's far from pronouncing the Buffs ready to play.
Instead, Leavitt said, the Buffs have progressed at about the pace he expected.
"We have a chance to be decent, but they've got to understand they have to stay on edge," Leavitt said. "That's really true. If we flatten out the rest of camp going into our first game, we'll probably be a pretty average group to below average."
Leavitt knows the CU defense is expected to be a strength of the team this year. After taking some big steps forward a year ago, the defense has most of the starting lineup back, as well as some major contributors who didn't play last fall.
"We have a chance. A chance," Leavitt said. "But they know we have to win as a team. We have to win with everybody together. It's not going to be one group or the other being all-world. It's going to be all of us being all-world together. That's the only chance we have."
CHEERING FOR COBURN: The entire team gathered Monday morning to watch former Buff Emma Coburn claim an Olympic bronze medal in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. The team watched in the team dining hall, and MacIntyre said the cheers were loud as Coburn moved from fourth into third — and almost into second — over the last few laps.
"It was great," MacIntyre said. "I think everyone was really into it. She's someone we've all seen training here and it was great to watch."
PRACTICE VISITORS: The Pac-12 Network was on hand Monday for practice as part of the conference's fall camp tour. The show was scheduled to air Monday at 10 p.m. Also in attendance Monday at practice was former CU head coach Gary Barnett, who will be part of the Buffs' KOA radio team this year, as well as former CU broadcaster Larry Zimmer — the man Barnett will be replacing this fall.
PRACTICE TIDBITS: While many of the team drills have been fairly even thus far in fall camp, the defense had the upper edge in Monday morning's 11-on-11 work. The defense got some good pass rush pressure from outside linebackers Derek McCartney and Jimmie Gilbert and interior linemen Samson Kafovalu and Jordan Carrell, and CU's defensive backs were outstanding in pass coverage. … The offense did, though, make some plays. Wide receiver Bryce Bobo had the catch of the day, a one-handed grab in the end zone on a pass from Sefo Liufau, and Liufau also had a touchdown pass to Shay Fields. Liufau kept the play alive by moving to his right, then threw back across the field to his left to a streaking Fields. … Evans had a touchdown pass out of the backfield on a nice wheel route. … True freshman wide receiver/defensive back Tony Julmisse continues to make plays on both sides of the ball. … Defensive backs Isaiah Oliver and Afolabi Laguda both had nice pass breakups in the end zone.
SCHEDULE: The Buffs were scheduled for another workout Monday night and will have one practice Tuesday, a full-pads affair. The last two-a-day session of camp is set for Wednesday.
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu
