FORT COLLINS — Players are getting antsy. The coach is getting anxious.
A short eight days separate Colorado State from its first game of the season, Sept. 3 at New Mexico, and coach Steve Fairchild is mostly pleased with where his team is in its preparation.
Mostly.
“I think we’re in good shape,” Fairchild said after Thursday’s practice at Hughes Stadium. “I think we’re moving around well defensively if we’ll play hard and with enthusiasm. I like what I see there. The secondary is looked real good today. Offensively, I think our line and our quarterbacks are going to be solid. Our backs are solid.”
And to work on?
“We’re not quite there in terms of not beating ourselves, those little things,” Fairchild acknowledged. “We’ve got to stay onside, protect the ball, those types of things. But if we play smart offensively we’ve got a chance to be pretty good.”
CSU practiced working on situational drills that will be the focus of Saturday’s scrimmage as well. Asked if he thought all of the wrinkles could be ironed out over the course of the week, Fairchild sounded optimistic.
“I’m hoping so,” he said. “We’ve kind of started now, if you look at this week we’ve honed in on our game plan. We’re running the same plays over and over that we’re going to run on Sept. 3, so I do hope we iron it out a little bit. Saturday will be a good measuring stick for us.”
Who’s No. 2? With sophomore Pete Thomas entrenched as the starting quarterback, coaches remains in the midst of figuring out his immediate backup. And there’s a bit of a dilemma there.
Freshman Garrett Grayson has taken a little bit of a lead in the running for backup QB over junior M.J. McPeek.
“Well, he’s outplayed him a little bit lately,” Fairchild said of Grayson. “So, we’re still kind of looking at both.”
If Fairchild had his druthers he’d rather redshirt the talented youngster.
“Without a doubt,” Fairchild said. “If we were in a situation where Pete stayed healthy, we’d probably redshirt Garrett and get a couple years separation. I’d like to do it eventually. But if he is our best option as a backup he’ll play this year and we’ll worry about it after this year.”
Gdowski fine. Back at practice, but reluctantly in a red “limited contact” jersey, starting guard Jake Gdowski (knee) said he was doing fine and will be ready for the season opener.
“Doing well,” Gdowski said. “I got back out here for the first day and got to hit some D-linemen, so that was good. It felt great. It’s just a matter of getting it loose. It feels better everyday so I’m not worried about it at all.”
Asked when he would get to take the red jersey off, he smiled.
“I tried to get it off today,” he said. “But (CSU trainer Terry DeZeeuw) is a stickler. He was like ‘One more day.’ “
Chris Dempsey: 303-954-1279 or cdempsey@denverpost.com
