DE Mustafa Johnson motivated for senior year with Buffaloes
BOULDER » Mustafa Johnson has made a lot of big plays during his two seasons on the Colorado Buffaloes’ defensive line.
He’s quickly realized, however, that under first- year defensive line coach Chris Wilson, Johnson’s past success doesn’t matter.
“He has a certain way that he wants it done and he’s going to get it that way,” Johnson said this week. “Whether you do it or not, it’s either you do it right or the next man is up and he’s gonna do it right. It creates a lot of competition, a lot of intensity between the group.”
If Johnson needed any extra motivation, he’s getting it from Wilson. Yet, Johnson, a 6- foot- 2, 290- pound senior, has had plenty of motivation all offseason.
Even when players were sent home and the CU football facilities were shut down because of the coronavirus pandemic, Johnson kept working.
“I’m a ball player,” he said. “I don’t really have nothing much else to do except play ball. When we first went home, I ended up going to Arizona and trained with my older brother … just to leave the state of Colorado, kind of get a new view and kind of just get away from being in Boulder so often. When I came back, I linked up with some of my teammates, like ( Terrance Lang) and the rest of the D- linemen and we just went ran sprints and did D- line work. So, I never really got away from football.”
Johnson admitted he also improved his video game skills this offseason, but his main priority was football.
While outside expectations for the Buffs are low, Johnson sees great potential, especially on defense.
“We have a lot of experience,” he said. “We don’t have as many young guys in the secondary, so I think that builds a lot of confidence. We’re getting after the quarterback a lot more, so we don’t have to put so much pressure on our DBs to guard for so long and cover for so long, so we’re definitely more confident in that aspect as well.”
CU is slated to open its season on Nov. 7 against UCLA at Folsom Field ( 5 p. m., TV: ESPN), and Johnson hopes the entire team can take Wilson’s philosophy of simply getting the job done.
“We have to go out there and set a tone, be physical and let them know what Colorado football is about,” he said. “We’ve got to set an example and let them know that we are no joke. We need to get rid of that stigma of Colorado’s weak. We’ve got to go set the tone and play ball.”
Boulder County Public Health OKs Buffs’ protocols for football opener.
On Thursday, CU announced that Boulder County Public Health has approved the university’s game day protocols for COVID- 19 mitigation during the Buffs’ opener Nov. 7 against UCLA.
The protocols in place for coach Karl Dorrell’s debut include mandatory face coverings, physical spacing, and a no- tailgating mandate surrounding Folsom Field. Fans will not be allowed at any Pac- 12 Conference event until at least Jan. 1, but CU will be allowed to host up to 920 family members of the players and staffs from both teams.
Per NCAA guidelines, the players in uniform on both teams will receive four complimentary tickets. Pac- 12 guidelines require at least 400 of the 920 seats be designated for the road team. That means about 43 percent of the crowd, such as it is, will be allotted for the Bruins on Nov. 7.
The ability to host even that many fans for CU’s other two scheduled home games — Nov. 21 against Arizona State and Dec. 11 against Utah — will be determined at a later date.
Those 920 fans will be divided into pods of 175 or fewer, with each pod being assigned its own restrooms and concessions.