Want to fix the Rams offense? Feed “Hollywood” Higgins

Before the season kicked off, Rashard “Hollywood” Higgins fed fans with his personalized microwaveable popcorn.

Now, in order to break out of their offensive funk, the Colorado State Rams need to feed Higgins the football. Feed the beast, let him feast on footballs, yards and touchdowns just like in 2014.

Without a doubt, “Hollywood” is a star for CSU football. He’s also the most talented player on the Rams hands-down. Or, is that “hands-up,” with him being a receiver? Maybe, we should just say he has the best hands in all the land.

Last season as a sophomore, Higgins was a consensus first-team All-American, the first such honored CSU player since safety Greg Myers in 1995. “Hollywood” is a once-in-a-generation type talent. He’s a once-in-a-program’s-history type player.

His sophomore season was like nothing anyone’s ever witnessed at Colorado State; the 17 touchdowns and 1,750 receiving yards each set school records.

And Higgins is expanding on his own career school records as well, with his 26th career touchdown scored versus UTSA to set a new Colorado State mark.

But, after three straight 100-yard receiving games, “Hollywood” wasn’t a movie star, he was in a mere supporting role last Saturday, with only three receptions for 43 yards.

“It’s very frustrating,” Higgins said following the 10-41 loss to the Boise State Broncos. “I just feel like, when the ball’s in my hands I can do a lot of dangerous stuff. Unfortunately, I can only do what’s called. At the end of the day, I can only do my job.”

“Hollywood” is likely frustrated not only for last week’s loss, but for his season which is looking like a regression. Higgins is on pace for 79.2 receptions (96 last year), 1,123 yards (1,750) and 9.6 TDs (17) all of which would make for a solid but not spectacular season like in 2014.

Of course, part of the equation is play-calling. Is first-year head coach Mike Bobo calling the plays designed to go to Higgins? One could argue Bobo’s not forcing the issue enough in getting the ball in the hands of his biggest playmaker.

“When the ball is in my hands, I feel like I can do big things with it,” Higgins reiterated Saturday.

He should know; the quick and speedy wideout turned multiple short screens into long gains in 2014, including two 73-yard touchdowns, and he enjoyed 10 100-yard games last year as well. There haven’t been many screens to Higgins this season as they seem to be less a part of Bobo’s offense than Jim McElwain’s.

The other part of the equation is the quarterback. Last year, senior leader Garrett Grayson was tossing him the pigskin. Grayson went on to be selected in the third round of the NFL Draft in May and is now with the New Orleans Saints.

That opened the door for Nick Stevens and Coleman Key, a redshirt sophomore and redshirt freshman, who have each played in nearly every game, with Stevens holding the edge in snaps by quite a bit. But, according to the star wideout, the receivers don’t mind the changes. Even when they come mid-game, as one did last week, when Stevens was pulled in the first quarter and Key played into the second half, only to be replaced by Stevens.

“It really doesn’t affect us at all,” Higgins said of the changes in quarterbacks. “For me, I’ve got good timing with both. It’s nothing new to me.

“That’s not for me to worry about,” he continued about which one plays. “That’s Coach Bobo’s idea. For him to put in a different quarterback, that’s on him. We’ve got the timing down with both quarterbacks. It really doesn’t make a big difference.”

While Higgins says the politically correct answer, the junior receiver was all-in on Stevens being the starting quarterback – as most players likely were — with Stevens as the starter through spring ball and fall camp.

“He’s getting us together, he’s a leader on the team,” Higgins said of Stevens in fall camp. “Chemistry-wise, I think we’re getting it down. We’re lookin’ to ball this year, so be ready.”

At 2-4 overall and 0-2 in the Mountain West, Colorado State hasn’t “balled out” the way they’ve wanted to. Coaching and personnel changes are partly to blame, sure, and the bumps in the road should be expected.

What was a surprise was the Rams’ defense being so dominant early, even if it has been brought back to earth the last two weeks by giving up 31 and 41 points to UTSA and Boise State respectively. With Bobo being an offensive-minded head coach, Ram fans are waiting for the offense to catch up and even surpass the defense’s play. That evolution is slow moving and fans should remain patient.

The offense hasn’t finished drives the way they’ve wanted to, resulting in back-to-back overtime losses to the Minnesota Golden Gophers and CU Buffaloes and a close 33-31 win at UTSA two weeks ago. Then, they managed to score a lone touchdown in the loss to Boise last Saturday.

But one way to jump-start an offense which has been struggling to score points is to feed the most explosive playmaking receiver in the conference – if not the country – in “Hollywood” Higgins.