Fort Collins – Linebacker Courtney Jones and center Albert Bimper – Colorado State’s senior Texans – have bought into the Rams’ rivalries with Colorado and several California opponents. Their day to be surrounded by family and friends comes Saturday, when the Rams visit Texas Christian.
Jones and Bimper have accumulated a long list of IOUs for this day, sharing their tickets with teammates in the past hoping for the same favor.
“That was the deal, but they are reneging,” Jones said. “I’m scrambling for tickets now.”
Some teammates’ parents see almost every game, home and away. Bimper’s mother has seen him play one college game. Jones’ parents make one trip a year.
Each hopes to have a personal cheering section of 30 people.
Jones, despite playing with a chronic rib injury, is having his best season as a senior. He’s fourth in team tackles with 45 and tied for the team lead in tackles for losses at seven. Bimper was bidding for all-Mountain West honors until a hamstring injury kept him out of most conference play. He hopes this is the week he finally returns to the lineup.
“I’m not going to treat it any different,” Bimper said. “It’s not a homecoming. It’s a championship battle.”
Bimper and Jones went to Arlington Bowie High School. Bimper, a fifth-year senior, was a year ahead. Both had interest from TCU but liked CSU better, although Jones still has reservations about the weather.
“They sold me on the summers and the fall,” Jones said. “They didn’t tell me about the spring snowstorms. I got bamboozled.”
A third senior from Texas would have been celebrating a homecoming, but linebacker Jahmal Hall of Fort Worth is out since knee surgery. Sophomore backup quarterback Caleb Hanie, from Dallas suburb Forney, will have a big following.
Linebacker Luke Adkins of Austin, out all season rehabilitating a year-old knee injury, returned to workouts for the first time.
CSU coach Sonny Lubick said he doesn’t believe the addition of TCU to the Mountain West will make it any easier for the rest of the MWC to recruit the Lone Star State.
“It would be great to sign six to eight a year from Texas,” Lubick said. “The competition is pretty tough.”
Bowl scouts
The Liberty Bowl will have a scout at the game for its berth opposite the first pick of Conference USA. While the bowl in Memphis, Tenn., has primarily been talking to 20th-ranked TCU, MWC commissioner Craig Thompson said he thinks the bowl would consider CSU if the Rams won Saturday and finished 8-3.
Bid for webcast
Thompson made one last-ditch effort to get more exposure for the game, appealing to ESPN for an Internet webcast. He hopes for an answer today.
