FORT COLLINS — The bright and shiny aspect is there for the fans, but not so much for the players anymore.
Yes, Colorado State’s football team is excited to play in their new stadium, the first game on campus in nearly five decades. It’s a major step for the university, even the fans, but head coach Mike Bobo has reiterated to his team it has a responsibility on Saturday when Oregon State comes to town (12:30 p.m.; CBSSN) to open the college football season, and it has nothing to do with the stadium.
“That’s why we’ve been talking about it since January, talking about the magnitude of this moment,” Bobo said at his first game-week presser of the year Monday. “Excitement, it’s going to be in the air. The expectations of this football program and this team, just the magnitude of this week: It’s the first week back in school; classes starting. First time we’ve had a game on campus in almost 50 years. The excitement, that’s going to be here.
“We’ve talked about all of these things, but we’ve continued to talk about what we have to do to get ready. We’re not going to be tailgating. We’re not going to be enjoying the beautiful concourse or the food that they have in the concession stands. We’re going to be playing a football game, and we’ve got to get ready to play that football game against a very good opponent.”
CSU built it, and they are coming. The university has sold more than 15,000 season tickets for the season, and with mini plans and single-game output, the game is only a few hundred students snagging tickets away from declaring it an official sellout.
Bobo knows to keep them coming week after week, the football program needs to put a good product on the field, and that’s been the focus. There are expectations, with the Rams being tabbed a contender for the Mountain Division title in the Mountain West and four straight bowl appearances under their belt.
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