Fort Collins – George Hill has a bloodied Colorado State jersey he would like to give to the preschool-aged sideline spectator who took his first football hit at the Rams’ spring game.
The senior wide receiver made a diving sideline catch of a 14-yard touchdown pass from Caleb Hanie.
His momentum carried him out of bounds, and he said he tried to protect the boy from hitting the concrete wall. He thought the visor on his helmet was responsible for cuts on the child’s head.
Hill hit his back while the medical staff tended to the unidentified tiny fan.
“I should give him this jersey,” Hill said.
The TD catch – the two-point conversion failed – with 1:36 to go was the only one of the day for Hill’s Gold team, which lost 14-9 to the Green team led by an array of backup quarterbacks. Attendance was announced at 4,631.
There was a kids’ festival on the north concourse of Hughes Stadium but little of the usual game security which keeps all but credentialed personnel off the sideline. The collision occurred in the southwest corner of Hughes Stadium, where there’s not much room out of bounds.
“It would seem we’d have to have better security. You can’t have a lot of people when the game is going on running around the sideline,” coach Sonny Lubick said. “That was frightening for a minute. Hopefully everything will be OK.”
The split-squad format showed some solid running on both squads by John Mosure, Alex Square, Michael Myers and Gartrell Johnson III. Playing for the Gold team, senior defensive tackle Blake Smith had the biggest day with three “sacks,” and redshirt freshman DeAngelo Wilkinson broke up two passes.
“We got what we wanted to get done,” Lubick said. “There was some crisp and solid hitting out there. When you divide the teams up you’re not going to have a lot of continuity.”
Coaches were undecided until late in the week whether to go with a first-unit-vs.-first- unit type of scrimmage or split the squad evenly. “There shouldn’t be much scoring in these spring games when you’ve got walk-ons playing on the O-line,” offensive coordinator Dan Hammerschmidt said. “You try to get everyone snaps.”
Redshirt freshman quarterback Nick Neuenfeldt, who has been hampered by a hand injury that dropped him to fourth on the depth chart, was moving a group of reserves on the Green team when Hammerschmidt sent in proven receivers Luke Roberts and Dion Morton.
“I said ‘Nick, just throw the ball to Luke,”‘ Hammerschmidt said.
The drive ended with the first TD of the day, a 9-yard run by junior walk-on transfer Aaron Sanchez. He came from Moffat County High School by way of Carroll College in Montana.
Lubick was happy the defense showed good progress despite missing four starters – defensive end Jesse Nading (mononucleosis), linebacker Jake Pottorff (shoulder) and safeties Klint Kubiak (groin) and Mike Pagnotta (shoulder).
Pressed to grade the spring, Lubick said, “I’d give you guys (the media) a ‘C’ and I’d give the team a ‘B’.”
Footnotes
Backup linebacker Matt Hendrick (knee) and safety Jake Galusha (hamstring) were injured in the game. Ex-Rams who participated included Broncos tackle Erik Pears and former tight end Joel Dreessen, who has signed a free-agent contract with the Houston Texans.
COLORADO STATE SPRING FOOTBALL
PLAYERS TO WATCH
DL Blake Smith, Sr.: Whether he plays inside or outside at end, he will be a major force on a potentially dominating defensive line.
WR Damon Morton, Sr.: Clutch receiver and return specialist will lead a deep receiving corps.
RB Kyle Bell, Jr.: If he comes back in 2005 from ACL surgery, Rams will have the necessary balance on offense. Several candidates emerged in the spring to share some of the load.
SPRING SURPRISES
S Steve Juedes, Jr.: Walk-on who excelled on special teams last year was the first player cited Saturday by Sonny Lubick.
RB John Mosure, Fr.: Coaches won’t hesitate this fall to use the punishing runner reminiscent of a slightly smaller Kyle Bell.
LB John Clark, Jr.: Coaches were delighted with Fresno CC transfer who will battle Jake Pottorff at outside linebacker.
WR Dion Morton, So.: Damon’s twin brother stepped up to show he belongs in the five-man rotation at wideout.
POSITIONS TO WATCH
DL: Most depth and experience in years. There are three standout tackles for the inside rotation – Blake Smith, Matt Rupp and Erik Sandie. The ends are just as solid with Jesse Nading, Bob Vomhof, Tommie Hill and Wade Landers.
WR: Everyone returns from last season except Dustin Osborn, and Dion Morton will take his place. Damon Morton and Luke Roberts could share the go-to receiver status.
DB: Redshirt freshman DeAngelo Wilkinson will push senior Joey Rucks and Darryl Williams. Although returning starting safeties Klint Kubiak and Mike Pagnotta missed the spring with injuries, Zac Bryson and Steve Juedes guaranteed there will be depth at the position, along with redshirt freshman Michael Johnson.
CSU 2007 SCHEDULE
Sept. 1 Colorado* TBA
Sept. 8 California noon
Sept. 22 at Houston 2:30 p.m.
Sept. 29 at TCU 5 p.m.
Oct. 6 San Diego St. 3:30 p.m.
Oct. 13 Air Force 3:30 p.m.
Oct. 20 at UNLV 5 p.m.
Oct. 27 Utah 3:30 p.m.
Nov. 3 at BYU noon
Nov. 10 at New Mexico 1 p.m.
Nov. 17 Georgia Southern noon
Nov. 23 Wyoming noon
(*-At Invesco Field at Mile High)
Natalie Meisler can be reached at 303-954-1295 or nmeisler@denverpost.com.
