FORT COLLINS — There is a hallway that leads from the Fum-McGraw Athletic Center to the Colorado State football locker room in Moby Arena, and this week the stone ceiling had decorations.
Signs were taped to the downward protrusions with a message that could be read in both directions. Each piece of paper had its own word. Together, it read:
Don’t Be Satisfied.
It’s as simple as that for a Colorado State football team looking to avoid a letdown against North Dakota State on Saturday. And that mentality starts with the quarterback, Garrett Grayson, who is by no means satisfied with his performance in the Rams’ win over CU.
“I feel like I missed a few reads we could have had big plays out of,” Grayson said. “Marquise (Law), I missed him. He would have been running for 40 more yards to the end zone. That’s something that bugged me all night (on Saturday). There was a pass to Chuck Lovett, things like that just bugged me all night. They could have changed the game so much differently. It was a third down that I missed Lovett.”
Grayson, however, finished with a workmanlike performance, completing 14-of-21 passes for 173 yards and two touchdowns.
The stat he cared about most came attached to a zero — interceptions.
“I feel like I played a decent game,” Grayson said. “I didn’t turn the ball over, and that’s what my goal was. I didn’t care what my stats were. I just wanted to take care of the ball and not let the team down.”
CSU coach Jim McElwain expressed a need to “create some explosive plays” this week, and that starts with Grayson. But as tough a customer as the perfectionist head coach is, he’ll live with the turnover-free football he got out of his sophomore.
“I was really happy with how he took care of the football,” McElwain said. “I thought he made good decisions and choices — not to take a sack, throw it away if it’s not there, take a checkdown when a checkdown is there — all of those things that in the progression of a quarterback I think is monumental. Understanding ‘take what the defense gives you and eventually they give you the game.’ ”
Law didn’t catch a pass, but insists a better connection with Grayson is on the horizon.
“Things happen, emotions get to flying in games,” Law said. “But he calmed down and handled himself well and he made plays when we needed him to make plays. He led the team like a true leader should. I think he did great.”
Christopher Dempsey: 303-954-1279, cdempsey@denverpost.com or
