With Colorado’s Sept. 23 Pac-12 showdown against defending conference champion Washington looming on the horizon, Mike MacIntyre understands the fears from fans and the media that the Buffaloes could overlook FCS foe Northern Colorado in the first matchup between the two schools in 83 years.
MacIntyre, though, maintained Tuesday that the emotions involved in facing an in-state opponent eager for the opportunity to knock off the state’s flagship football program should minimize any chances of the Buffs taking Saturday’s noon matchup at Folsom Field for granted.
“I want to see us put together a full game in all phases,” McIntyre said during his weekly press conference. “That’s sort of a cliche, but it’s also true. We want to see good rhythm everywhere and everybody doing well. But you can’t get away from it (the Washington game) because everybody is asking our guys about it. We’ll find out (Saturday). I sure hope not. If we do (overlook UNC), we don’t have the team I think we have.”
So far this week, MacIntyre said, he has seen the proper intensity level in practice indicating the Buffs are taking the Bears seriously.
“I’m seeing more competition and guys wanting to stay out afterwards and do a little extra,” MacIntyre said.
CU running back Phillip Lindsay’s younger brother Zachary, a redshirt junior, plays the same position for Northern Colorado. He rushed for 87 yards in the season opener a season ago and played primarily on special teams in 2016.
“This is an emotional game this weekend. A lot of our kids know a lot of their kids,” MacIntyre said. “Many of the folks coming the game are really excited about Northern Colorado playing us. It puts a little extra incentive into it and you have some extra energy as opposed to just playing another team. It makes a big difference.”
MacIntyre is taking every precaution to make sure his team takes Northern Colorado seriously. The Buffs watched film of Sacramento State’s 30-28 upset win over CU in 2012, the year before MacIntyre took over the program.
“Our kids know what’s at stake and what can happen,” MacIntyre said. “You have to always come to play.”
MacIntyre expects redshirt junior running back Kyle Evans to make his season debut fpr the Buffs on Saturday. Awarded a scholarship prior to last season, Evans was CU’s third leader rusher in 2016 with 346 yards on 84 carries. He suffered a dislocated hip in March during the Buffs’ first major scrimmage of the spring, underwent surgery two days later and has been working his way back ever since.
Evans will likely begin Saturday’s game as CU’s fourth option at running back behind Phillip LIndsay, Michael Adkins and Beau Bisharat and see action on special teams.
“We’ll throw him into the mix on special teams and we’ll throw him in there at running back,” MacIntyre said. “We’ll see how it all works out. Michael has been playing well, Beau has been playing well. Fortunately, everybody has stayed healthy (to this point), but running backs get nicked up. So, we’re going to need all those guys at different times during the season. You just have them all prepared to go.”
Offensive tackle Jeremy Irwin and tight end/defensive lineman George Frazier are also expected to make their debuts after serving suspended for the first two games of the season for undisclosed reasons. Isaac Miller played the majority of snaps at left tackle in the first two games, so Irwin’s return should bolster Colorado’s depth along the offensive front.
“We’ll mix them around,” MacIntyre said. “It gives us more options on our offensive line. We’re able to have more depth, which should keep us fresh. Jeremy played guard a lot during the spring, so he can play there too. We have multiple things we can do there. We have flexibility. We always want to get our best five out there in different ways and rotate a couple of guys in. It creates a lot of competition.”
MacIntyre said the Buffs know who the best seven or eight offensive linemen are, but have yet to settle on a final five.
Northern Colorado had an unexpected weekend off when their Week 2 game at Florida was cancelled due to Hurricane Irma. As a result, they have played just one game, a 41-14 victory over College of Idaho in Greeley on Sept. 2.
In that game, UNC quarterback Jacob Knipp, a redshirt junior from Arvada, Colo., engineered four early TD drives to give UNC a 28-0 first-quarter advantage. Trae Riek ran for three of those scores. By halftime, the Bears led 35-7, and they cruised in the second half.
“I have been impressed with their quarterback,” MacIntyre said. “He can really throw it. They have two receivers that are really fast. Their offense has the ability to score and throw over the top of us. Defensively, they’re older at the corners and they have a good pass rusher off the edge that has made a lot of good plays for them.”
UNC made the jump to FCS from Division II about a decade ago.
“It takes a while to build it up,” MacIntyre said. “Coach (Earnest) Collins had a good year last year. They had a phenomenal quarterback. This year, they’re 1-0. It seems like they have turned the corner. Now I’m sure they want to climb to the top of the Big Sky Conference. They beat some of those teams last year and every year their talent is getting better.”
Former UNC QB Kyle Sloter signed an undrafted free agent contract with the Denver Broncos in April and started the team’s final preseason game against the Cardinals. He threw for 220 yards and 1 touchdown on 15-of-23 passing. However, he was cut after the Broncos signed Brock Osweiler.
