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In the five months that Mel Tucker has been on the job as Colorado's head football coach, he's talked time and time again about how important it will be for the Buffs to be physical and practice with good tempo.

Following Wednesday's practice, the Buffs' 8th of spring football, Tucker liked how his squad got after it in those two aspects.

"I thought we had a more physical practice today than what we had on Monday," Tucker said. "That was the emphasis for today -- to get more physical on both sides of the ball. Especially early in the practice, I thought we were really physical. We had good tempo. We weren't as physical towards the end, so we have to work on our conditioning ... I thought we made progress today in terms of being physical."

Not being a physical football player simply won't cut it for Tucker and Co. He stated plainly that if the player isn't physical, they won't play.

"We have to be physical," explained Tucker. "The players that step on the field will be physical players. We won't put any players on the field that won't play physical ... There's only way to play the game of football, and that's just all out physical football."

*** Tucker hasn't been surprised by what his players have shown him this spring.

"They've worked the way they worked in our fourth quarter offseason program," Tucker said. "I know these guys are going to work hard. I know they're very coachable. They want to get it right and want to always please the coaches, which is always great to see."

*** The Buffs are just past the halfway point of spring ball with the spring game on April 27 on the Pac-12 Networks. Tucker is content with how Colorado has dealt with installing its schemes

"I've been pretty pleased so far, but you're only as good as your next play though," said Tucker. "We have to get the film watched and find a way to get better (for Friday's practice)."

*** On Friday morning, the Buffs will have its first spring scrimmage (closed to the media). Tucker is looking forward to seeing his players in a more game-like environment.

"I want to see who can take it from a practice setting to a live a scrimmage, in terms of being able to play fast, execute your assignment, be physical, sustain, strain, who can win the one-on-ones, and then we'll go from there," he said.

*** Tucker had high praises of how assistant coach Ross Els is leading the special teams units.

"I think Ross Els has done a great job organizing our special teams. We're very efficient and effective when we work. We devote a lot of time to it in the meeting room and on the field."