Here's what we learned from Steve Addazio about CSU's first scrimmage of 2021

FORT COLLINS, Colo. — Colorado State held its first scrimmage of the 2021 season on Saturday, and according to head coach Steve Addazio, things went relatively well. 

The second-year Rams coach explained that the team got off to a bit of a slow start. “A little herky jerky in the very, very beginning,” Addazio told a group of local reporters. “But I thought a lot of good things happened on both sides of the ball, special teams, we got a lot of work done.”

Coming into the scrimmage Addazio expressed a desire to see his team play in a full contact situation as the opportunities are rare in training camp. He also admitted that the risk of injury is naturally unnerving, especially this close to the regular season. Addazio brought up the potential of injury again following Saturday’s intersquad exhibition, and he explained that the team didn’t do quite as much hitting as he would have hoped for because they were a little bit banged up. But the amount of work they got in was enough to satisfy the staff as a whole. 

According to Addazio there were some situational reps that were not up to standard, which is something that’s expected in the first scrimmage of fall. The important thing overall, though, is that the team was able to work in a scenario that replicates a true game. The NFL has the preseason in addition to training camp. College teams only have these scrimmages to play in a game-like environment, so they’re obviously extremely important. They allow the team to get better by getting the coaches off the field and forcing the players to think, react, then execute. Scrimmages also help the coaches evaluate the team as a whole and see what needs to be finetuned before the regular season opener. 

“It was a good experience to get the players out here in a little bit more of a game setting,” Addazio said. “And, you know, what happens in these first scrimmages is they’re really tired, really beat up, they’re exhausted. And they have about as heavy as legs as they can be. You can see it. But that’s okay. We’re going to stay in the grind here for the next week.”

Addazio did express that he’d like to see some of the players react smarter in situations when they’re feeling tired. “There’s some consistent guys that struggle with it. And as a whole, we’re not where we need to be,” Addazio said. 

That said, at the end of the day, it’s all valuable experience for the team, which is something that Addazio stated multiple times.

He did admit he didn’t like how his team operated in the two minute drill at times. Whether it be avoiding penalties or taking sacks, the veteran football coach wants things to tighten up in the coming weeks. 

The silver lining, according to Addazio, is that they have time to iron out some of the little things as the Rams get more reps throughout the rest of training camp. He also pointed out that the entire point of a scrimmage is to work on the things that you don’t necessarily get to simulate regularly. 

Some of the areas that CSU will be working on in the coming practices include both the two-minute and four-minute drills. The Rams will also emphasize Red Zone execution, goal line scenarios, coming out and specific special teams work. In example: onside kicks, fake punts and stuff like that. 

The stats from Saturday’s scrimmage were not published or made available by the team. While the numbers were not made verifiable, Addazio did give some insight into what the play calling looked like. He said that on Saturday, specifically, the Rams did run the football a little bit more. As a whole, however, the team has primarily been working on its passing attack, which makes sense considering the quarterback competition between Todd Centeio and Matt Valecce. The competitive stats, or the live reps with the ones, twos, etc. show that it’s been about a 60:40 ratio in favor of the passing offense, according to Addazio. 

“We’ll pick the run game up as we go a little bit, but our emphasis was to throw the ball better,” Addazio said.  

Here’s a few other tidbits from Addazio’s media availability. 

Addazio is intrigued by young QB 

Luke McAllister and Chance Harris both received more attention from the fans throughout the recruiting process than Evan Olaes did coming out of Legacy High School in North Las Vegas. Neither McAllister or Harris lasted longer than a semester on campus though, which leaves just Olaes remaining from CSU’s 2021 signing class. According to Addazio, Olaes was fun to watch on Saturday. 

“He’s kind of a fun guy to watch,” Addazio said. “You know, he’s just one of those guys. He just kind of has an electricity about him. You don’t always see that with a young guy, which is cool.” 

Jon Budmayr has impressed in first year as OC

People didn’t know what to expect when Jon Budmayr replaced Joey Lynch after just one season on the job. The first-year CSU offensive coordinator seems to have made a positive impression on Addazio, though, as his head coach raved about how the quarterbacks and running backs have looked under his tutelage. 

“I’m really pleased,” Addazio said. “I think the quarterbacks are really improving.”

Addazio continued, explaining that Todd Centeio is really playing at a high level and that Matt Valecce is learning the system rapidly under Budmayr. 

“I gotta say that’s been a highlight for me,” Addazio said. 

Walk-on turning heads

The Rams are relatively thin in the secondary at the moment, at least when it comes to the depth behind the established starters. CSU knew it would be this way and brought in Linwood Crump, a transfer defensive back from Temple. Unfortunately he suffered an upper body injury in training camp, and based on his most recent tweets, it appears that his setback could be substantial. 

The bright spot when it comes to the secondary is that the Rams may have a diamond in the rough with one of their walk-ons. Addazio told reporters on Saturday that Robert Floyd, a 5-foot-9, 170-pound cornerback from Pompano Beach, Fla., has really come out and done a “hell of a job”. 

“He’s going to be one hell of a player,” Addazio said. 

Ty McCullouch made the most of the day

Finally, wide receiver Ty McCullouch could be positioning himself to be the established starting wide receiver opposite of Dante Wright. Again, the stats were not made public, but according to the b roll footage released by CSU, McCullouch did score a touchdown. Addazio complemented his play as well. 

“I thought Ty McCullouch came out and showed up today,” Addazio said. “He’s been dinged up a little bit. His legs looked fresh. You could almost see it, but he looked explosive, fast, and made some really good catches. That was really good to see.”

McCullouch has yet to make much of an impact for CSU at this point in his young career, but Ram Nation has long been excited over his potential. With the Rams looking for someone to step forward and be Wright’s counterpart, the opportunity for McCullouch to seize the moment is certainly now. We’ll see how things shake out between him, Jordan Kress, E.J. Scott and Thomas Pannunzio.