Day 3 Camp Notes: So much smoke, Gonzo shouts out Vontae and some linemen are back in action

BOULDER — Three practices down, 22 to go!

We’re still in the early stages of Colorado’s 2021 fall camp, but we’re inching closer and closer to full pads, a decision on the starting quarterback and, eventually, an actual football game.

A reminder: media isn’t allowed to watch practices, so I don’t have a first-hand account of what happened on the field today. However, I heard from head coach Karl Dorrell and spoke with safety Mark Perry and cornerback Christian Gonzalez after practice.

Here’s what I learned.

The smoke steals the show

For all of you out-of-towners who may not have heard: The smoke is unbearable in Boulder.

Yesterday, Utah moved practice indoors because of the smoke. The Pac-12 policy is for games to be canceled if the Air Quality Index is above 150 (shoutout to Brian Howell of the Boulder Daily Camera for that tidbit). In Salt Lake City, the AQI was 300. Yikes.

Boulder wasn’t quite that smoky on Saturday, but it was still really smoky. Karl Dorrell said after practice that the AQI was around 100 when practice started but crept up to “120 or 130.”

“I was concerned whether we were going to get through today but we had a nice breeze and I think it helped,” Dorrell said. “I saw how gray and I can even smell the smoke today more than the other days that we’ve had to this point.”

When I left Boulder after media availability (which was moved inside because of the smoke), the always-reliable Apple Maps had the API over 150. Don’t be surprised if Colorado has to push practices indoors in the coming days, which would confine the Buffs to one practice field instead of the three that they typically use during camp.

In terms of on-field impact, there was a split in opinions. Christian Gonzalez said he didn’t have any trouble breathing but he heard other players talking about having some trouble.

“It was crazy. It was crazy walking outside this morning seeing it,” Gonzalez said. “You don’t see that in Texas.”

Mark Perry said the smoke made it a little tougher to breathe.

“Just a little bit,” he told DNVR. “It was kind of smoky going out there, but as practice went on it kind of got worse.”

Hopefully Colorado isn’t forced to play inside in the next couple of days.

Gonzo shouts out Vontae

With no pads yet, the best battles will be out on the perimeter.

I asked Christian Gonzalez who the toughest receiver to cover has been so far during camp.

“I would always say, like I said last year, I probably say Vontae,” Gonzalez said.

La’Vontae Shenault, the redshirt-freshman brother of CU great Laviska Shenault, could be poised for a breakout campaign this season. He was second on the team in receptions and yards last season, despite not playing in the team’s bowl game. He tied for the team lead in third-down receptions.

“He gives you the most wiggle at the line, he’s fast and I say he’s the best overall route-runner,” Gonzalez said.

Shenault figures to be a key piece of Colorado’s receiving corps again this season, along with Dimitri Stanley and Brenden Rice. When I asked Stanley at Pac-12 Media Day which receiver he thinks is most likely to break out, he also named Shenault.

“Definitely a dog on the field,” Stanley said. “Dude has unbelievable hands, he’s up there, routes are crazy. He’s just a dog. He loves to compete and it’s going to be fun to watch him.”

When asked if there would be a deep rotation at receiver, Stanley was skeptical.

“We’ll see,” Stanley said. “We’ve got a lot of talent in the receiver room. We’ll see for sure.”

The top three may be separating themselves from the rest of the group.

The defense picks off a pair of passes

Back in spring camp, one point of emphasis was playing top-down defense. Essentially, the coaches wanted to make sure there was somebody behind the receivers in case of a tipped ball or an overthrow.

One of the interceptions was a tipped ball. Dorrell couldn’t remember who tipped the ball but Steele Dubar picked it off. Dubar, a walk-on, blew up a screen pass in the spring showcase, his claim to fame so far in his career.

Play 𝗕𝗜𝗚 @steeleedubar 😤

📺 @Pac12Network pic.twitter.com/giKYpfEi5y

— Colorado Buffaloes Football (@CUBuffsFootball) April 30, 2021

The other interception came from junior, walk-on safety Anthony Lyle.

But don’t panic: Dorrell didn’t blame the quarterbacks.

In fact, Dorrell was happy with his quarterbacks again on Saturday.

“I thought the quarterbacks looked pretty impressive,” Dorrell said. “Both of them making good decisions—I didn’t see any poor decisions today—good throws.”

The big men are on their way back

Colorado was down to nine offensive linemen at one point during spring ball, which meant they didn’t even have enough for two full units.

Now, some of the depth is returning.

According to Dorrell, Chance Lytle, who started three games at guard after Colby Pursell went down, is back practicing.

“He looks good,” Dorrell said. “He’s still probably not 100% but he’s cleared to practice and we’re going to be really smart with his reps as we go forward.”

Casey Roddick, the starting center, is easing his way back, too. He isn’t doing team drills yet but he is doing individual work and working with the strength coaches.

“Casey missed most of the spring because of the COVID issue and then things he was dealing with from that standpoint,” Dorrell said. “He just was cleared the day prior to camp, so it took that lengthy time to get cleared.”

The other outside linebacker job is up for grabs

Last season, Colorado split the reps at outside linebacker across from Carson Wells virtually evenly between Joshka Gustav, Guy Thomas and Jamar Montgomery.

Dorrell said Saturday that a similar split could be on the way, though somebody winning the job outright is very much on the table.

“It is a challenging and very competitive situation for them because if they want the job they’ve gotta be consistent—much like Carson is—and really compete within that group,” Dorrell said. “All three of those guys were counting on playing but none of them has separated themselves enough to warrant for him to be the mainstay.”

The lack of separation sounds like a symptom of a bunch of good players, not general disappointment.

“They’ve all gotten better,” Dorrell said. “Joshka and Guy. Guy is healthy. He’s back from his surgery and he’s getting transitioned and he’s getting reps. Jamar had a really good spring. He got a little bit dinged toward the end of spring with a concussion but he was having a really good spring. So all three of those guys have great qualities but no one’s taken the job yet.”

The playbook is THIC

At Pac-12 Media Day, Karl Dorrell mentioned that last year’s playbook was cut down significantly because of the lack of practice time before the season.

On Saturday, he expanded on that comment by saying that the playbook was about 30-40% of the original size.

This season, the full playbook is back. Dorrell was asked whether the team is having an easier time picking up the playbook in Year 2 and he said no because of its size.

“Now that we’ve had a full offseason—we had training, we had spring, we had summer—we’re throwing the whole enchilada at them,” Dorrell said.

The good news is that things seem to be going well in terms of learning the full playbook.

“It’s definitely not easier but these guys have a great feel for what our system feels and looks like,” Dorrell said. “I think they’re digesting the information as we move forward and they’re doing a pretty good job.

A big day tomorrow

Full pads aren’t schedule to make an appearance until Tuesday, but Dorrell said the team will wear shoulder pads for Sunday’s practice.

“We’ll get a little more banging,” Dorrell said. “Hopefully these guys will just continue to try and take care of each other from a health standpoint.”

And shoulder pads aren’t the only big news.

Both quarterbacks, Brendon Lewis and J.T. Shrout, will talk to reporters tomorrow for the first time since the spring after practice.

Stay tuned to DNVR for all of the info you need about Buffs camp.