FORT COLLINS — For months, Mike Bobo has been trying to become accustomed to wearing something other than red as he plays and coaches. He wore red while playing for the Thomasville (Ga.) High Bulldogs, red while quarterbacking and helping coach the Georgia Bulldogs, and even red in his single season as a young assistant with the Jacksonville (Ala.) State Gamecocks.
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So just when he starts to get used to the Rams’ green and gold, when his family, including his wife and five children, have rounded up appropriately hued wardrobes, what does CSU do for his first game as a head coach?
It’s Orange Out Saturday at Hughes Stadium.
When the Rams open the Bobo era against the Savannah State Tigers, they’ll be wearing orange jerseys, albeit with green trim, on the annual Ag Day. The color honors CSU’s Aggie roots, including as the Colorado State College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts.
The “A” on the hill above Hughes Stadium salutes that tradition too as the Rams head into the first of their two scheduled remaining seasons in the off-campus facility.
Win No. 1 for Bobo — and it would be a shock if that didn’t occur Saturday, given that Savannah State is an FCS program mired in a 23-game losing streak — will be win No. 500 for the CSU program. His parents, George and Barbara Bobo, also will be in attendance, as well as many other family members.
“They got the memo about the Orange Out,” Bobo said. “A lot of them are Georgia fans. My uncle graduated from Georgia. They’ve been supporting Georgia since 1993, when I went there. My family’s always been involved supporting me, as a player and a coach. At Georgia, we never wore orange. I don’t own orange, anything orange … until somebody gave me one of those (‘Bobo Knows’) shirts those kids are trying to sell the other day.
“Clemson wore orange, Auburn wore orange, Florida wore orange. But I’m getting used to it. I do have a green hat with an orange A on it.” He noted that Lainie, his wife, “had to spend some money on the children to buy them some orange stuff.”
Bobo, 41, is in the unique position of being a complete outsider taking over a program that didn’t get its previous coach fired or otherwise nudged out the door. In the wake of 10-3 season in 2014 that preceded Jim McElwain’s departure to Florida, he has been open that not facing a major rebuilding project was one of the attractions of the CSU job. He accepted the job without ever seeing Fort Collins.
But that success also raises the bar — and lowers patience. CSU’s 2014 season and anticipation of the move to the new stadium has created momentum, and the season ticket count at midweek was 8,812, up from the final total of 6,710 last year.
“I think you have to embrace the expectations,” he said. “I think you want to be at a place that has those types of expectations, to compete at a high level, week in and week out and be in that championship race at the end of the season. I wouldn’t be here and a lot of these players feel the same way. They want to be the expectations are high and you’re expected to play well every week and compete at a high level and hopefully win every game.”
Bobo, the former Georgia quarterback, will call the Rams’ plays and work with sophomore Nick Stevens, who won the battle with freshman Coleman Key to open the season.
“I just have to remember that I’ve been preparing for this for a long time now,” Stevens said. He said that included his previous two seasons at CSU, one as a redshirt and one as Garrett Grayson’s backup. “But specifically in this offense for six months now. I have to trust in my teammates and know we’re going to make plays and the defense is going to make plays and we’re going to be all right.”
Three key questions for the Savannah State-CSU game Saturday in Fort Collins:
1. How merciful will first-time head coach Mike Bobo be in the CSU opener?
Forget that on-any-given Saturday stuff. Savannah State isn’t just an FCS program, it’s one that has lost 23 consecutive games. Last year the Tigers lost their season opener 64-0 at Brigham Young.
2. How fast will the Rams’ no-huddle approach be?
It isn’t quite Oregon fast, but Bobo — who calls the plays — wants the opponent to become exhausted.
3. Will first-year starting QB Nick Stevens be able to get the ball to All-America wide receiver Rashard “Hollywood” Higgins?
Far more significant tests of that will come in later games, of course, but we’ll start to have hints of this Saturday.
Terry Frei: TFrei@denverpost.com or
