FORT COLLINS — Two eras opened successfully for the Colorado State Rams on Saturday.
One was the Mike Bobo coaching tenure.
The second was what is scheduled to be Hughes Stadium’s two seasons as a lame-duck facility to the southwest of campus.
Savannah State came to Fort Collins with a 23-game losing streak, much of it against fellow FCS teams, so the fact that there was zero suspense in the Rams’ 65-13 romp over the Tigers on Ag Day wasn’t surprising.
Next Saturday’s CSU home game against Minnesota will provide much more of a litmus test for the Rams, 10-3 last season under Jim McElwain. But as a dress rehearsal, ice-breaker that also had the feel of someone standing at a microphone going, “Testing 1, 2, 3 …testing,” this worked for the Rams.
Bobo’s push-the-pace, no-huddle offense approach met with little resistance from the Tigers, and the rookie head coach — the former Georgia quarterback and long-time Bulldogs assistant — experienced in a relatively low-ley atmosphere his first try at both calling the plays and being the man on the sideline with final authority on everything.
“I thought it was a good day today,” Bobo said. “The guys did what I wanted them to do, which was stay focused for 60 mnutes. They had a good look in their eyes last night and this morning, it was the same thing. We came out here and started fast.”
In his first career start, sophomore Nick Stevens was 20-of-28 for 289 yards and five touchdowns, playing through the first series of the second half and helping the Rams to a 51-7 lead.
“This was a huge momentum booster,” said CSU All-American receiver Rashard Higgins, who had seven catches for 84 yards, including a 12-yarder for a touchdown. “Just going into this game, we never looked down to our opponent and we wanted to come out with a bang.
“It wasn’t too easy. It was a challenge. We got to hit somebody else besides our teammates and it was fun. This game is fun, and you have to have fun when you’re playing it.”
Wideout Joe Hansley had five receptions for 67 yards and one TD.
“I think if anything that gave us a chance to kind of see where we’re at as a team,” Hansley said. “It gave us a chance to see what we need to work on. I think we saw the speed and tempo we can play at in an actual game.”
Stevens, a sophomore from Murrieta, Calif., had thrown only 25 passes as Garrett Grayson’s backup last season.
“It was good that we were able to come out so fast on offense and the defense played so well,” Stevens said. “It’s good that coach Bobo got to see us making plays on offense and making stops on defense.”
The tone was set early, when Savannah State had bad snaps on its first two plays and CSU linebacker Kevin Davis fell on the ball after the second in the end zone for a touchdown only 47 seconds into the game.
The Rams led 24-0 after the first quarter and 45-7 at the half.
Stevens’ touchdown passes were to five different receivers — Kivon Cartwright, Higgins, Xavier Williams, Jasen Oden Jr. and Hansley (12). Backup Coleman Key threw a 13-yard TD pass to Olabisi Johnson as the Rams took a 58-7 lead with 2:37 left in the third quarter.
Terry Frei: tfrei@denverpost.com or
CSU coaching debuts
Mike Bobo had a successful first game Saturday as the Rams’ head coach with a 65-13 victory over Savannah State. Others:
Jim McElwain, 2012: CSU 22, Colorado 17. Rams’ final record: 4-8.
Steve Fairchild, 2008: Colorado 38, CSU 17. Rams’ final record: 7-6.
Sonny Lubick, 1993: Oregon 23, CSU 9. Rams’ final record: 5-6.
Earle Bruce, 1989: Tennessee 17, CSU 14. Rams’ final record: 5-5-1.
Leon Fuller, 1982: Missouri 28, CSU 14. Rams’ final record: 4-7.
Sark Arslanian, 1973: Arizona 31, CSU 0. Rams’ final record: 5-6.
Jerry Wampfler, 1970: CSU 28, New Mexico State 9. Rams’ final record: 4-7.
Mike Lude, 1962: Air Force 34, CSU 0. Rams’ final record: 0-10.
Game balls
Mike Bobo: This ball goes into the family collection because a first head coaching win is a notable first … no matter who it’s against.
Nick Stevens: Quarterback was 20-of-28 for 289 yards and five touchdowns in his first start for the Rams and didn’t play after the first series of the third quarter.
Martavius Foster: Senior defensive end had three of the Rams’ six sacks.
