FORT COLLINS — A day after getting benched against TCU, CSU quarterback Billy Farris was leading every wind sprint in practice, said Rams offensive coordinator Greg Peterson.
“Billy is a competitor,” Peterson said Monday. “He did nothing (in Sunday’s practice) but come in with a chip on his shoulder. I thought he had a great attitude.”
After Saturday’s loss to TCU, Peterson said Farris told him he had wanted to get back in the game.
“That’s what you want your starter to say,” Peterson said.
As the Rams prepare for Saturday’s game at No. 14 Utah, CSU coach Steve Fairchild said the quarterback position is open, just like every job on the team. Klay Kubiak replaced Farris on Saturday.
“It will be Billy’s job to lose this week,” Fairchild said. “We have to be more productive at quarterback and receiver. I feel sorry for our fans. I feel sorry for everybody because at times out there it looked like spring football. It looked like we would have a hard time throwing against Rocky Mountain High School.”
Peterson and Fairchild said protection has to improve for the quarterback to be effective.
Fairchild expects to see more eight-man fronts out of Utah to stuff the run, adding, “We’ll see it the rest of the year until we quit looking like a circus out there and complete some balls. If it was me, I’d put 11 on there Saturday.”
Footnotes.
Redshirt freshman Zach Donaldson, who until Saturday contributed on special teams and as a fourth safety in the rotation, won’t play football again due to a neck injury. He first suffered a neck injury during his senior year at Fort Collins High School.
New Mexico coach Rocky Long drew the season’s first MWC reprimand for his remarks about the officiating in a 21-3 loss to BYU.
Meanwhile, Fairchild’s meltdown about a noncall when he rushed the field and hurled his clipboard to the turf Saturday made YouTube highlights. Fairchild avoided postgame comments on an apparent interference on receiver Ryan Gardner by a TCU defender, but on his TV show Sunday, Fairchild said: “No way should they miss that call, but they did.”
Natalie Meisler: 303-954-1295 or nmeisler@denverpost.com
