Russell encouraged by Buffs’ progress
The Colorado football team is just seven days away from being in the midst of game week for the first time in nearly a year and junior tight end Brady Russell is feeling good about the Buffaloes’ preparation.
“The difference in this team, from day one to now is pretty crazy,” Russell said Monday after the Buffs’ 15th practice of preseason. “The focus and the attention to detail I think is one thing that we’ve harped on a lot, especially as leaders and some of the guys like me and Nate (Landman), Mustafa (Johnson) and KD (Nixon). We’ve harped on the details and making sure that people understand how much those little things matter.
“All of us juniors and seniors, we’ve been through a few 5-7 teams now and we know that it’s just little details that could be the difference between a really good season and a 5-7 season like we’ve had.”
With only seven games scheduled this season, the Buffs know they won’t finish 5-7 for a fourth consecutive season. Most outside projections have the Buffs struggling to win more than a game or two, but Russell believes the Buffs are putting themselves in position to succeed.
“We think we’re going to go 7-0 and we believe we can go 7-0,” Russell said. “Us older guys know we have the talent and skill and everything to go 7-0. We know it comes down to mentally. It’s not a physical thing because we have everything; we have all the pieces we need. It’s just making sure we have the right mindset going into all of our games. We definitely think we can do some damage this year.”
In particular, Russell said the Buffs have a better mindset on offense, even though they haven’t announced a starting quarterback yet.
“We’ve been showing that we can move the ball in different ways,” he said. “I think it’s working well.”
Game time set
On Monday, the Pac-12 announced that CU’S opener against UCLA, on Nov. 7 at Folsom Field, will kick off at 5 p.m. Mountain time and will be broadcast nationally on ESPN2.
Throughout the season, the conference will announce kickoff times either 12 or six days before each game. ESPN and Fox both have two opportunities to use a six-day option during the final six weeks, but the games not considered for that option will be announced 12 days in advance.
Other kickoff times around the Pac-12 on Nov. 7 (all times MST): Arizona State at USC, 10 a.m. (Fox); Arizona at Utah, 2 p.m. (ESPNU); Stanford at Oregon, 5:30 p.m. (ABC); Washington at California, 8:30 p.m. (ESPN); Washington State at Oregon State, 8:30 p.m. (FS1).
Opportunity knocking
Two seasons into his college career, Daniel Arias has proven to be one of the Buffs’ top players on special teams, while flashing his potential as a receiver.
Entering his junior year, the 6-foot-4, 205-pound Arias could be poised for a breakout season, and he said being around former teammates Laviska Shenault and Tony Brown, who are now both in the NFL, has helped him progress.
“I’ve built my confidence way more this season, just being around Viska and Tony and just getting their advice and talking to them,” Arias said. “Learning from them and learning what they do and how they do it has built my confidence. This season I feel like I’m ready. I feel like this is my time to shine and I’m going to do what I can to help my team win. That’s my goal.”
Arias, who has four catches for 99 yards and two touchdowns in his career, said extra film and technique work has made a difference this year.
“I had to watch a lot of film after practice, coming after school at night, sitting down with coach and going over the playbook, going over the concepts, going over technique, footwork, all that stuff,” he said. “Just learning little things that people, when they turn on the TV to watch a football game, they might not notice, but my coach is telling me, ‘Look, where are your arms at? What foot did you plant with?’ Little stuff like that.”
Notable
Cornerbacks coach Demetrice Martin said sophomore Nigel Bethel, a transfer from Miami, is “getting more and more confident. … He’s getting to a point where he’s just reacting and that’s kind of letting his athleticism show, because he’s a kid that can run really well.” … The Buffs return to the field today for practice No. 16.