Steve Addazio makes it clear — South Dakota State is not a team the Rams can overlook

DENVER — The pressure is on. 

With just over one week until Colorado State opens up against South Dakota State at Canvas Stadium, Steve Addazio is well aware of how challenging his team’s first test of the season will be. 

Coming off of a spring season in which the Jackrabbits went 8-2 overall and reached the National Championship Game, South Dakota State is deceptively an absolutely brutal opponent for the Rams to kick off the 2021 campaign with. In the FCS playoffs the Jackrabbits won by four scores in two of their three victories, before narrowly dropping the title game by 2 points. About half of their regular season wins were by double digits as well. It’s why while sitting in the Blake Street Tavern on Wednesday afternoon, Addazio boldly claimed that South Dakota State is the best FCS team that he’s ever had to prepare for. 

“This team is outstanding that we’re playing,” Addazio said. “This is the best Division 1-AA football team I have ever seen.”

Addazio continued, explaining that he’s faced quite a few FCS programs over the years and none of them looked quite like the Jackrabbits do. In fact, Addazio believes they’re so talented that they could compete in a FBS conference like the MAAC. 

“That’s what they look like,” Addazio said. “They’re good, they’re talented, and they’ve got playmakers on offense. They’re amazingly big, thick and stout on defense.”

According to Addazio, most FBS teams would likely try to avoid South Dakota State altogether rather than run the risk of getting embarrassed. 

“Of all the teams that you could open with, I don’t think anybody would be jumping up and down to pick this one,” Addazio said. “They’re legit.”

Alas, there’s no time for the Rams to sit around and feel sorry for themselves. Instead, Addazio is hoping to have his team be as best prepared as possible. 

“The film doesn’t lie,” Addazio said. “Our kids know that they’re pretty damn good now, and we’re going to have to play at a high level.”

Along with attention to detail and not overlooking their opponent, the other main focus for the Rams over the next week will be staying healthy. The Rams have already lost quarterback Matt Valecce and cornerback Linwood Crump for the year. And after a couple of particularly physical practices this week, Addazio wants to ramp things down a little bit in the coming days. 

“It’s getting to a point where we need to stay healthy,” Addazio said. “Carve your practices. We’re on the descent a little bit.”

The game plan has started to be installed. After practicing in full pads each of the past two days, though, CSU will be in shells on Thursday and Friday will be a walkthrough. Saturday will be an off day for the program, and on Sunday the Rams will pick up things as if it were a Tuesday. 

For weeks the team has emphasized fundamentals, technique and installation. Now the squad must focus on the nuances of their opponent.

“Trying to make sure you execute at a high level,” Addazio said. “So that’s where we are now. We’re in that mode.”

CSU and SDSU will open up the 2021 season on Friday, Sept. 3, at Canvas Stadium. Kickoff is slated for 7:00 p.m. and will be televised via FS1.