FORT COLLINS—Spring football officially ended Saturday at Colorado State, but players will continue battling for a spot in the starting lineup for when the Rams open their 2008 season against Colorado on Aug. 30.
“There are some real definitive starters on both sides of the ball,” first-year coach Steve Fairchild said. “Yet, there are some areas that are still up for grabs.”
Fairchild took over for Sonny Lubick, who was replaced after Colorado State finished 2-6 in the Mountain West Conference and 3-9 overall last season. It was the Rams’ fourth consecutive losing season.
As for the spring game, the defense defeated the offense 49-35 in a controlled scrimmage atmosphere.
The two-hour scrimmage used a scoring system that awarded single points to the offense for successes such as goal-line touchdowns, third-down conversions and plays of four yards or more. The defense scoring included stopping the offense inside the 3-yard line and fourth-down plays.
Defenders earned three points each on interceptions by defensive end Ty Whittier and defensive backs Zach Donaldson, Gary Stecklein and walk-on Nick Oppenneer. Oppenneer, who has impressed Fairchild enough this spring to be considered for a scholarship, intercepted a pass thrown by quarterback Billy Farris while he was on his back.
“I don’t want to say anything right now, but Nick certainly played his way into being discussed for one,” Fairchild said.
Fairchild used four quarterbacks in Saturday’s game. Farris, the only quarterback with experience, and junior Grant Stucker saw most of the action. Red-shirt freshmen T.J. Borcky and Klay Kubiak also played for some time. A starting quarterback will be named in the fall.
“We’re still going to battle at the quarterback spot,” Fairchild said. “We’re still very inconsistent at quarterback.”
The quarterback and wide receiver positions will provide Fairchild with the fiercest competition in the fall. Dion Morton made several impressive catches.
“We just did not play like we needed to play at receiver the entire spring,” Fairchild said. “Those jobs will all be open.”
Two significant senior offensive performers, running back Kyle Bell and tight end Kory Sperry, made plays similar to what they’ve done in the past. Bell had several runs of more than 20 yards. Sperry, who missed much of last year with a knee injury, made two fingertip grabs.
Fairchild expressed concern with his place-kickers, who were 1-of-7 on field goal attempts. Senior Jason Smith missed both of his field goal attempts.
“It looked like a circus out there at times,” said Fairchild. “Jason Smith has been injured and we are very confident that he is going to be a good field goal kicker.”
The spring game produced no new injuries. Injuries forced defensive linemen Wade Landers and Tommie Hill out, but Fairchild said both should be ready for fall camp.
