Joe Hansley: We want to start conference with a win

Welcome to conference play, college football fans.

This is the most important time of the year, especially for a team who wants to be their conference’s champion at the end of the season. Colorado State Rams football has consistently talked of preparing, playing and being champions; now’s their time to shine.

Tomorrow kicks off Mountain West play for the Rams, who are fresh off their thrilling 33-31 victory over the UTSA Roadrunners, a game which featured explosive play on both sides of the ball for either team.

For Colorado State, those explosive plays included a pump-fake touchdown from quarterback Nick Stevens to receiver Xavier Williams, a 38-yard passing score from Stevens to Rashard Higgins and Jasen Oden’s 28-yard run to secure the victory and run out the clock.

“I definitely think we’ve progressed,” senior receiver Joe Hansley said of the offense after practice Tuesday.

It’s shown, both in running and passing the ball. The Rams have one of the deepest receiving corps in the nation, with “Hollywood” Higgins leading the way, and his posse includes Hansley, Williams, Deionte Gaines, Sammy Long and the list goes on. And they may be even better on the ground, where they average 189 yards per game rushing. Dalyn Dawkins and Oden give CSU a true one-two punch of speed and power, while even freshman Izzy Matthews is stepping up.

Still, Colorado State knows they have a great deal of growth in the awe-inspiring offense which Mike Bobo brought over from Georgia.

“Not at all,” Hansley said of the offense reaching their full potential. “It’s hard with a new offense. It’s a first-year coach, we’re all new to the system. I don’t think we’ll reach our full potential the whole year. That’s just how it is. That’s what you want to strive for and what you want to do.”

Of course, it’s realistic to believe the offense can’t get everything down which Bobo wants them to do in this short a time span. Repeatedly we’ve heard for the head coach wanting his Rams to play with more tempo – and there are various speed levels – and he’s found the biggest problem with the team’s lack of finishing games as well as drives.

“And we’ve got to do a better job of executing at a high level for four quarters,” Bobo said in the days after the loss 20-23 overtime loss in the Rocky Mountain Showdown. “You can’t execute for three out of the five plays on the drive; the two plays you don’t execute could be the reason why the drive stalls. Also, offensively we’ve got to do a better job of creating explosive plays.”

One of those explosive plays was the sensational double-move, pump-fake touchdown to start CSU’s scoring last Saturday.

When I asked him about that play, Hansley was quick to give the credit to his receiving mate.

“It was more the route,” the senior receiver said of the 34-yard touchdown from Stevens to Williams. “He (Williams) faked the slant and then he stuck his foot in the ground and took it to the end zone. The pump will get the linebackers, but the route got the cornerbacks.”

Williams’ role in the offense has been growing this season, as he has nine receptions for 117 yards and two touchdowns. The senior receiver leader Hansley has been impressed with the 6-foot-4, 215-pound sophomore. “Xavier is just a big, fast dude,” Hansley explained. “And he’s hard to cover. ‘X’ runs great routes but he’s big enough, fast enough to separate.”

When it comes to reaching their potential as an offense, the explosive plays part was improved upon against both CU and UTSA, but finishing drives still leaves an area of opportunity. The Rams scored four touchdowns last Saturday, but also had to punt five times and were forced to settle for a field goal from the Roadrunners’ four yard line.

“I think as an offensive unit, he wants us to finish,” Hansley continued this week of Bobo’s expectations. “When we get in the red zone, like the CU game, we can’t drive down the field that much and not score touchdowns. When we get in the red zone we want touchdowns but we need points. As an offense, you need to score touchdowns. I don’t think we’ve done that to the best of our abilities.”

Colorado State (2-2) has a chance to continue to improve this Saturday in Logan, Utah as they face the Utah State Aggies (2-1) during the school’s homecoming game. Conference play always brings out the best in both teams and winning on the road would be a big boost to the Rams’ confidence moving forward.

“We want to start conference with a win,” Hansley said. “It kind of sets off how you’re going to play throughout the conference. Utah State’s a good team in the conference. So, if we can go out and get a win it will definitely set a good tone.”

The game kicks off at 5 p.m. MDT and can be seen on ESPN3.com or with the Watch ESPN App.