Ah, Colorado in the springtime. After the snow forced the team indoors for the team’s second scrimmage Saturday, CSU was able to get back outdoors Tuesday and should be able to do so for the rest of the week.
The Colorado State offense had their way with the defense on Saturday. On Tuesday, head coach Mike Bobo was happy with his team’s performance as a whole.
“Overall it was a nice practice by everybody,” Bobo told the media after practice. “The defense probably had the upper hand, but I thought today was one of our better practices this whole spring. I think that says a lot for where we’re trying to go. Last year we were like dentists out here trying to pull teeth to get them to go.”
With two practices remaining before the annual Green and Gold Game this Saturday, players have just a few chances left this spring to make an impression with the coaches and show that they deserve a role on the team. All spring long, everyone involved with CSU football has emphasized a desire for competition, consistent play and depth at every position.
Solid performances like today are exactly what the coaching staff are looking to see this spring.
“We’re banged up a little bit more than we were last year,” Bobo said of injuries. “We don’t have as many numbers, but the guys came out and worked. I believe we got better today as a group, and challenged them to get better on Thursday.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n9m64oC4coA
After the scrimmage Saturday, Bobo mentioned that he likes the depth the team currently possesses at offensive line and at quarterback, but that his squad is especially thin defensively, especially among the defensive front seven. In the eyes of the coaching staff, nothing is permanent, and nearly every position is open for the taking.
Although the majority of the team’s practices are closed to the media, from what we have seen, the players are really buying into what the coaching staff is preaching. Players are battling and giving it their all this spring on the field, and now have a deeper understanding of the playbook in general.
“When you’re talking and you see guys looking at you in the eyes, and see guys nodding, and see them understanding. Where last year it was like, ‘What are these coaches doing? They’re crazy. They’re too tough.’ (Now) I think that guys understand what I expect. There is a lot of ways to do things, but this is the way we’re going to do it,” Bobo explained.
Nolan Peralta recently told BSN that he expects the team to compete for a Mountain West Championship, which is the same goal we’ve heard from many players and coaches since last year. The work the team has been putting in is the groundwork for that lofty goal. It takes a special mindset to compete at the highest level; one that means there is no real off-season.
Teams will lose games, that is just part of any season, but teams that give everything have on a weekly basis are generally not the ones which pile up a lot of “Ls.” Bobo is trying to create the correct mindset within his team this spring, so that by this fall, the team will already be in a position to compete.
The truth is most positions will not be decided this spring. Most battles will be decided in the weeks leading up to the Week 1 match-up with CU. But the initial impressions made this spring will be in the back of the minds’ of the coaching staff come August. Players that give it their all year-round are the kind of guys that make a difference on game day.
