FORT COLLINS — Game on.
All right, that’s considerably stretching it.
But with the Colorado State football team operating under a first-year head coach, Mike Bobo, who still is becoming familiar with his program and roster, Saturday’s 11:30 a.m. Green vs. Gold game at Hughes Stadium is a serious audition for the Rams.
More serious, perhaps, than at programs with holdover head coaches and staffs.
“I want to play like it’s a game,” Bobo said after the Rams’ workout Friday at their indoor practice facility. “Whether it’s pouring-down rain, snowing or bright sunshine, we better be ready to play.
“We’re competing against each other. There’s a winner and a loser. You’re either going to eat a hot dog (for the losers) or a steak. I want to see who’s going to compete. And as much as we practice and put them in situations, there’s nothing like a game-type situation to see who’s going to play under pressure. I want to apply that pressure at the game.”
Bobo said Saturday’s work, the conclusion of spring drills, would be in line with his emphasis on the Rams becoming more physical.
“They did a nice job and won 10 football games and there were a lot of close football games that could have gone either way,” he said of the 2014 team under Jim McElwain. “This team could have easily won six games or seven, but they found a way to win 10. Just in our evaluations, Boise, Air Force and Utah, I thought physically whipped this football team.
“I brought it to the attention of these guys that if we want to be champions, we have to play physical and be able to run the ball and be able to stop the run. They weren’t able to do that in those three games, and that’s part of the process of getting better and getting our mind-set right where we can compete for a championship.”
Sophomore-to-be Nick Stevens, who backed up Garrett Grayson last season, will open at quarterback for the Green team, which includes the first offense and the second defense. Redshirt freshman Coleman Key at first will be with the Gold team, essentially the second offense and first defense. The game is scheduled for 12-minute quarters.
Bobo said the competition for the starting quarterback job will continue into preseason practices in August, and he cautioned jumping to conclusions. He said Key also will play one of the first three quarters with the Green team and the first offense.
“We’ll kind of play it by ear in the fourth quarter,” Bobo said.
He added: “The first two guys have separated themselves. Nick’s a little bit ahead, but Coleman’s right there. He’s actually played a little better numbers-wise in scrimmages. … Coleman’s deserved the right to get some more series with the ‘ones.’ ”
Because of the potential for bad weather, CSU has canceled the “Ram Town” part of the pregame activities at Hughes Stadium. Gates will open at 10 a.m., with free breakfast burritos on the west concourse, and the game is scheduled to start 90 minutes later.
Terry Frei: tfrei@denverpost.com or
