CU’S Johnson motivated for senior year
Defensive end is one of the team’s leaders
Mustafa Johnson has made a lot of big plays during his two seasons on the Colorado Buf faloes’ defensive line.
He’s quickly realized, however, under first-year defensive line coach Chris Wilson, Johnson’s past success doesn’t matter.
“He has a cer tain 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 of fseason.
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 of fseason, 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 secondar y, 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.”
Hagan adapts
Running backs coach Darian Hagan, who starred as an option quarterback with the Buffs from 19881991, is entering his 16th season on the CU staf f. During that time, he’s worked in various roles for head coaches Gary Barnett, Dan Hawkins, John Embree, Mike Macintyre, Mel Tucker and, now, Karl Dorrell.