Buffs Prepping For UMass, Working On Run Defense

BOULDER – After receiving two days without practice, the University of Colorado football team returned to the practice fields Monday morning in preparation for Saturday’s matchup with the Massachusetts Minutemen (1:00 p.m. MST, ESPN3).

The Buffs will be looking to pick up their first win of the season after falling short against in-state rival Colorado State in the season opener last Friday. Monday’s practice was geared toward correcting the mistakes coaches found after reviewing film over the weekend.

Most of the glaring errors came from the rush defense which allowed the Rams to accumulate 266 net rushing yards.

“We need to run-fit better,” head coach Mike MacIntyre said. “We’re working on it, we have to figure it out and do it during the course of the game.”

The majority of the damage caused by CSU on the ground came in the second half when they piled up 185 yards on 6.2 yards per carry.

“We did really well in the first half and didn’t do very well in the second half,” MacIntyre said. “We just need to coach them better on technique and having their eyes in the right place.”

Although MacIntyre agreed the solution to fixing the run defense issues may seem simple, the challenge he said is, “You have to go do it.”

UMass accumulated 55 yards on the ground in their season opener this past weekend, a 30-7 loss to their in-state foe, Boston College. According to MacIntyre’s assessment, however, the final score was not as indicative of the Minutemen’s performance.

“I thought they played extremely hard,” MacIntyre said of the UMass players. “They have some guys that can make some plays and do some things. They had a couple long passes that if they would have hit, but were just barely over thrown, they could have had a couple more touchdowns.”

MacIntyre is excited to bring his team across the country to play in front of alumni on the east coast, as well as for the select players from the east coast that will be playing in front of friends and family for the first time since high school possibly.

“I think it is good exposure for us to play out east,” MacIntyre said. “Our name will be out there in the papers more, so to speak.”

Due to the long travel required, the team will depart on Thursday instead of the Friday as typical per road games.