FORT COLLINS — The winners eat steak, the losers settle for beans. That will be the menu division at Colorado State’s team meal Sunday, the day after today’s Green and Gold spring game at Hughes Stadium.
“I want them to compete,” new CSU coach Jim McElwain said Thursday after the final practice before the spring game. “It’s a game. To me, every time they put themselves on film, they’re telling a lot about who they are. So what we say on the daily basis is, ‘Be proud of what you put on video.’ “
The Green team will feature the No. 1 defense and No. 2 offense, and the Gold team will have the No. 2 defense and No. 1 offense. The intrasquad game, which begins at 1 p.m., officially will be the 15th and final allowable workout of spring drills. It also will provide additional evidence in the new staff’s evaluation of what it has inherited — including at quarterback, where sophomore-to-be Garrett Grayson is ticketed to take over the starting role for the transferred Pete Thomas.
On the defense, the adjustments and assessments also are ongoing.
One example is on the line, where sophomore John Froland returns after starting all but one game as a freshman in 2011. But he has been switched from tackle to end.
“It took me a little while to get used to it, and I feel like I have it down now,” Froland said. “I’m learning how to play in that space. When I first got out there, it was awkward having a tackle ‘offset’ on me and meeting up with the guy right away, so I had to learn how to work with that space and use it to my advantage, and use my speed against an offensive tackle.”
Froland also has been given a mandate to gain weight. He was listed at 250 pounds last season, and he said he’s only slightly over that now. They are working to get him to “265 or 270” for this fall.
“I don’t think it’ll be that hard,” he said. “I was up to 260 this winter, before spring ball, when we were doing less running and conditioning, so once we come back into that phase of ‘bulking’ in our workouts, I’ll be able to put that back on again.
“I’ll be eating pretty much like I always do, but eating like a pig is pretty much what it’s going to be.”
A side issue is that a small group of Rams has been unable to participate in the spring drills because of injuries.
That group has included senior linebacker Broderick Sargent, who suffered a season-ending knee injury on CSU’s fourth defensive play in the opener against New Mexico and underwent ACL surgery.
Initially asked if he had been able to discern anything about Sargent as a football player, McElwain smiled and said: “He’s a great kid. A wonderful kid.” Later, he added: “Here’s the deal. We’ve evaluated film. The guy’s made a lot of plays. He’s got to get himself healthy. I can’t answer for any of those guys who are injured because we weren’t able to see them on film (this spring).”
Sargent played defensive end previously but now is slotted at linebacker. He also is listed as a senior for the upcoming season, and although he redshirted earlier, it’s possible he could seek and be granted a sixth medical hardship season because he was hurt so early in the 2011 season. But first, he needs to get well.
“It’s progressing, and I think in the next week or two, I should be able to start running,” Sargent said. ” What I really miss is being able to show what I can do from the physical standpoint on the field. I’m going to have to make it a crash course when we’re back in August.”
Most of his teammates, though, will have a chance to show off for the new staff today.
Terry Frei: 303-954-1895 or tfrei@denverpost.com
Getting ready for some football
A look at the events today around the Colorado State spring football game at Hughes Stadium:
10 a.m.: Parking lots open.
11 a.m.: Ram Town opens (southeast corner of the stadium, just east of the stadium’s south tunnel); free pancake breakfast provided by the CSU spirit committee to first 1,000 fans.
Noon: Ram Walk — CSU coaches and players will walk from team buses through Ram Town festivities on their way to the locker rooms. Stadium gates open.
1 p.m.: Kickoff. There will be 12-minute quarters with running clock; last two minutes of each half will use normal game clock protocol; 12-minute halftime.
3 p.m.: End of game and players will sign autographs for fans on the field after the game.
