SAN ANTONIO – Linebackers coach Andre Hart was in midseason form Tuesday morning as his players went through individual drills.
The Colorado assistant was on his players as they worked out at the UTSA football facility for the first time this week in preparation for Saturday’s Valero Alamo Bowl against BYU (5:30 p.m. MT, ABC).
“I needed to make sure they understood just because we’re in Texas, we’re gonna coach like we’re in Colorado,” Hart said. “We’re gonna get our job done today.”
After reaching a bowl game for the first time since the 2020 Alamo Bowl, the Buffs are intent on doing all they can to come away with a win. Tuesday wasn’t the best start in Texas, though, according to Hart.
“I don’t think the energy or the focus was to our standards, to be honest with you,” Hart said. “We want high standards, and we have a ceiling. So whatever you expect to get out of this bowl practice, if it’s not our standards, it’s not enough.”
Fortunately for the Buffs, there’s still more practice before Saturday’s game.
“Just keep pushing them, to make sure we get the very best out of them,” Hart said. “I think that’s what you have to do to be a good coach. Give them the praises on the things they do right, but always find something that you can correct and get better at. So the energy was not there to where we needed to be (Tuesday), and tomorrow we’ve got to come out a lot sharper.”
While Tuesday may not have been up to CU’s usual standards, head coach Deion Sanders had been pleased with the bowl preparation leading up to the flight to San Antonio on Monday, calling it “great.”
CU certainly can’t blame the facilities. The Buffs enjoyed their first look at the RACE (Roadrunner Athletics Center of Excellence) facility at UTSA, a $40.4 million venue that opened in 2021.
“I like what we had, as far as the space they gave us, the locker rooms opening up,” Hart said. “We really appreciated that. And then also the field, you know, having a grass and a turf field to work back and forth on gives you the space, and letting us use their equipment. That’s really big. I’ve never been to UTSA’s facility, but it’s a really nice facility. I mean, I was really impressed.”
So was senior defensive end BJ Green, who also enjoyed being away from Colorado’s elevation.
“I’m really appreciative of UTSA allowing us to use their facilities,” Green said. “The turf and the grass is really, really nice. It’s also cool to be below all that altitude. I can breathe. It’s great.”
Although Tuesday wasn’t CU’s best practice, Green is confident the Buffs have come to San Antonio with the right mentality, led by a veteran coaching staff.
“Even though the team doesn’t have as much bowl experience, we have a lot of people on staff who have (experience in) bowls, Super Bowl experience,” Green said. “So just having those types of people on staff, they know what the expectation is, and they implement that for the guys who don’t know what it looks like. So for the guys who do know it looks like, we carry it along as well.”
Green is one who knows what bowl prep looks like. In 2021, he went to the Las Vegas Bowl when he played at Arizona State. It took a while to get back to a bowl, though, and the process to get here and the reward of being in San Antonio isn’t lost on Green.
“It’s a blessing,” he said. “I’ve only been to one bowl game in my college career. So just take it all in. Winning is hard, so being at this point, getting as far as we did when people said we wouldn’t is a blessing. And being at a prestigious bowl like the Alamo Bowl is a blessing.
“Even night one (on Monday), just seeing all the festivities and stuff, was just something we had to just take in. We’re all happy to be here.”
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