Lack of leadership, playmaking becoming pain points for Colorado State

The youth and inexpeirence of this Colorado State team is starting to rear its ugly head.

And while head coach Mike Bobo knew that there would be growing pains along the way, he believes it’s time for some players to step up and take on leadership roles.

“There comes a time when you just can’t pat everybody on the back and say everything’s going to be ok,” Bobo said to the media during his Monday press conference. “You’ve got to be willing to address things and call people out, not necessarily in a negative way. But holding people accountable to get things done. I’m always a firm believer that the difference between a good and a great team is player-led over coach-led.”

It’s a bit of a challenge to go through the Rams’ roster and see which players could be potential leaders – guys like Kevin Davis and Jake Bennett come to mind. All-American Hayden Hunt has been named a captain this season.

But there doesn’t seem to be that vocal leader that an entire team can rally around. Until someone emerges, Bobo will work to find that leader or leaders.

“We’re not even a good football team right now,” exclaimed Bobo. “There have been moments of good football plays. But we’re not a good football team to this point. Ultimately, that burden falls on me as the head coach. I’ve got to do a better job of putting our guys in position to lead and hold people accountable. And then we’ve still got to go to work.”

It may be just year two for Bobo in green and gold, but the 2016 season outlook doesn’t look pretty at the moment. The CSU head coach reaffirmed his confidence to the media Monday, talking about how special the Rams can be and discussing the Sonny Lubick era along the way.

“I knew of Colorado State from watching his (Lubick’s) teams play back when I was in college and you’d see Colorado State play. I remember watching Moses (Moreno) on Thursday night games or Friday and seeing him make plays.”

Bobo mentioned that much of Lubick’s success hinged on consistency.

Said Bobo: “When you get here, and look at the history of CSU and see the era that he was here and what he was able to accomplish, it’s pretty remarkable. He had a number of coaches come and go, but I believe he was consistent and did what he believed in. That’s what we’re going to do. That’s what I’m going to do. I’ve got a plan, I feel like this plan works. You’re going to tweak things here or there, but I’m going to be consistent in what I believe in, what I want a football team to look like, what I want a football program to look like and we’re going to build it.”

So where does the consistency from the players come from? Well, it should start with the leaders, who need to make plays. Bobo referenced Lubick again, saying that the CSU legend stayed the course until something clicked with his team.

“He was consistent in his message and he kept recruiting, kept developing guys and they eventually got it and were able to win a few games,” said Bobo. “And then when you win a few games and that one guy makes a play and then it becomes two guys making plays, then three guys. And everyone’s got belief and confidence that no matter what, we’re going to win.”

Let’s go back to the current team. Against Wyoming, they often times looked overmatched, out-coached  and out-executed. Could it be that the Rams weren’t locked in mentally?

“I don’t know if it’s lack of focus,” said Bobo. “But let’s make the play when we need to make it that could change a game.”

There’s no doubt that Saturday night was demoralizing. But Bobo continues to look at the big picture.

“What’s disheartening is we’re 2-3,” he said. “The bottom line is we’re not executing well enough offensively, we’re not making enough plays defensively and we’re not winning special teams. At the end of the day, you’ve got to make a play.”

Offensive coordinator Will Friend spoke to the fact that the Rams’ offense currently struggles to win one-on-one battles, which plays a major role in CSU’s lack of playmaking this season.

Said Friend: “The thing that makes football great is you play 70 plays for the opportunity for four or five to really be the difference. And you really never know when that’s going to happen. So you’ve got to be at your best every snap. It’s kind of like life. You’re going to have four or five decisions in life that are going to make you up and you don’t know when those are going to happen. Football’s the same way.”

Friend went on to say that now is the time for someone to light a fire under this team.

“If they’re in position to be a leader, they need to jump up and do it,” said Friend. “We need some guys to step up and get things going in the right direction and be leaders and hold people accountable. One thing that happens nowadays is everybody thinks leadership is encouraging. Sometimes people just tell people what they want them to hear instead of what they need them to hear. And I think we need some more of that.”