FORT COLLINS — Colorado State is one week into spring ball and while the Rams still have a long way to go, the offense is in a good position for only being four practices into a new system.
Now, obviously it’s a bit of a unique situation, considering 11 players followed Jay Norvell and his staff from Nevada to CSU. For a CSU team that has been unapologetic about the whole process — it’s a business and the players made their own choices after all — being able to hit the ground running with much of the starting offense already fluent in the Air Raid has been a huge advantage.
Clay Millen (RS Freshman), one of the transfers and CSU’s projected starting quarterback this fall, got to spend last year working with the coaches. He got to learn from Carson Strong as well. Both of those were big advantages that he spoke to following Tuesday’s practice.
Millen also talked about how it hasn’t just been an advantage for the guys that started their careers at UNR, though, it’s big for the entire team because Millen, Tory Horton, Melquan Stovall and Co. can essentially serve as extra coaches.
“I can go talk to all the quarterbacks and talk through the system with them, and help them,” Millen said. “Obviously we have coaches that do that too. But it’s the same thing with the receivers… I just think it really helps to give. You know, a new offense coming in and having players that have been running it and can answer questions for them.”
“We’re all still learning,” Horton later added. “We’re using some of the guys who are already familiar with the system to help out others and we are just moving fast. We’re developing really quick, so this first week was actually pretty good.”
Tory Horton lines up for a play during spring football practice on Tuesday, March 22, 2022.
PHOTO: Jon Austria | Fort Collins Coloradoan
Offensive coordinator Matt Mumme agreed that it’s been a big boost to have players assisting with the installation process. But he also added that a lot of the Nevada transfers took it upon themselves to be leaders through the transition long before spring practices even began.
In the offseason, when the staff wasn’t allowed to do football activities with the players yet, Millen, Horton and Stovall helped integrate the team on what they were going to do and what was going to be expected of them.
“I mean, that’s pivotal,” Mumme said. “It doesn’t put you at ground zero, it puts you at some level above. It probably gives us an opportunity to have a little more success than we necessarily did in our first year at Nevada.”
In addition to having veterans to help guide the way, Mumme also complimented the players from the old regime for being enthusiastic and willing to compete. The first-year CSU OC talked about senior wide receiver Ty McCullouch coming into his office and when Mumme asked him how he was doing, McCullouch got a really big grin on his face and replied, “coach, I’m doing really good.”
“I said, well you’re doing great out there,” Mumme said. “Dante (Wright) has been awesome. Ty has been awesome. Damir Abdullah has been awesome. These guys are really picking it up quickly. And to be where we’re at right now — still early in spring — it’s a lot of fun to think about.”
In a system that lives and dies by the deep ball, the success of the offense is definitely largely impacted by having a competent quarterback. They need a big arm and the ability to stretch the field. Accuracy and making the right reads are equally paramount, though.
According to Mumme, Millen is completing about 70 percent of his pass attempts, which is right where the staff would like him to be. Mumme even said that Millen is likely a little bit further along in his progression at this point of his career than Strong was after his redshirt year. Strong, of course, went on to throw for 9,368 yards and 78 touchdowns in his time at UNR. And he’ll likely be one of the top quarterbacks selected during the 2022 NFL Draft.
What’s stood out the most to Mumme about Millen so far has been his consistency. Oftentimes young players flash their potential but it’s usually a situation where they have a great workout and then follow it up with a poor one. That hasn’t been the case with Millen, though. He’s just been steady each and every day.
“He’s been pretty consistent all the way through, and you’re just like, man, this kid has got something to him,” Mumme said. “He’s doing a nice job.”
Quarterback Clay Millen attempts a pass during spring practice. PHOTO: Jon Austia | Fort Collins Coloradoan
As far as improvement goes, Mumme wants the game to slow down a little bit for his young quarterback. The arm talent is there, it’s clear he knows the system, but he’s still a little quick with his progressions. Fortunately, that’s extremely common. So, as he gets more comfortable running the show, Mumme just hopes to see Millen work through his reads, get the ball where they need it to go, and then just know when to check things down if things are covered downfield.
The Rams still have 11 practices this spring, two which will be scrimmages, so Millen and the offense will have plenty of time to continue working on the finer details. They have the entire summer and all of fall camp as well. We’ve really only just gotten started.
While it may be too early to start making bold proclamations about CSU’s possible win totals or anything like that, the one thing we know for sure is that the offense is going to be a hell of a lot more fun.
The 2022 season can’t get here soon enough. Neither can Clay Millen’s first touchdown pass in Canvas Stadium.
