FORT COLLINS — Colorado State head coach Steve Fairchild paused during his press conference in the Hall of Fame room at Moby Arena and did the math in his head.
“Don’t hold me to this,” he said. “But I think we played 11 defensive linemen (at New Mexico).”
In a season that already feels much different from last year’s, depth on both the offensive and defensive lines is one of the reasons why. Colorado State has quality depth on both lines this year, and it paid dividends in the first game in two instances.
On defense, CSU lost defensive end Broderick Sargent early in the game to what we now know is a season-ending knee injury. Not only were the Rams able to replace him, they did so with a player — Nordly Capi — that ended up turning in a conference player of the week performance.
And not only were they able to do that, but they still had enough depth to continue a rotation that kept players fresh. Capi admitted that his forced fumble late in the game, which sealed the win, might not have been possible had he not had as much rest as he was able to get throughout the contest.
“I definitely felt a lot fresher,” Capi said. “My legs were fresh. I wasn’t winded. If you look back we had a total of 86 defensive plays. If anybody were to play that, their legs would be killing them at the end of the game.”
Fairchild’s goal coming into the season was to have a constant rotation of at least eight players on the defensive line. That depth might be tested a bit more with the status of junior C.J. James uncertain for Saturday’s home opener against Northern Colorado. He was demoted from first team to scout team on Tuesday due to a violation of team rules and is questionable to play in the game.
“Well decide that based on what we see,” said Fairchild of James’s playing status.
Meanwhile, eight players are in the rotation on the offensive line, and that number may just grow to 10.
In addition to the starters – Joe Caprioglio, Jake Gdowski, Weston Richburg, Jordan Gragert and Paul Madsen — senior Tyler McDermott also played, as did redshirt freshmen Mason Hathaway and Ty Sambrailo.
“The freshmen had never played before,” CSU offensive coordinator Pat Meyer said. “It was their first live action. Both of those kids did a nice job.”
This week, both Fairchild and Meyer vowed to get sophomore Brandon Haynes into the mix, bringing the total up to nine in the rotation. Haynes suffered a knee injury during preseason camp and did not play in the season opener.
“Haynes is a guy that can play as much as anyone,” Meyer said. “Hathaway and Sambrailo, they are getting to that point. For freshmen, the future is bright for linemen because both of those kids are redshirt freshmen and I’ve got confidence in playing them. If a tackle goes down, I won’t blink an eye. We won’t have to change the game plan or anything like that. They’re coming along.”
Meyer noted he’ll “find the 10th one” to rotate in on the offensive line as well. It’s a strategy that isn’t always welcomed by many coaches, Fairchild acknowledged, but it has been a real boon for a team that has struggled with depth issues.
“Even in the line, the offensive line, which people hesitate to do that, we’re going to do that if we can,” Fairchild said.
Chris Dempsey: 303-954-1279 or cdempsey@denverpost.com
