FORT COLLINS –– Colorado State football didn’t attempt to hide anything on Saturday afternoon.With only 10 days of training camp, fatigue impacted CSU’s level of play and mistakes were plentiful.
But the effort and intensity coach Steve Addazio hoped to witness was apparent.
“I know there were guys who made mistakes,” senior linebacker Dequan Jackson said. “Even I made a few. But my whole thing is just fly around, defense fly around, pursue the ball. Go out there and make plays. Don’t hold back and be scared to make a mistake. We’re still practicing, and this is how you get better. We’re pushing each other right now, and I love it.”
A few takeaways:
Work to do at crunchtime
The Rams appeared slightly rough around the edges when operating through late-game scenarios –– such as two-minute drills.
“We’ve got a penalty, we can’t get lined up, we take a sack in a two-minute drill. Those are all little things that, we’ve been in those situations already, but we’ve got to get more of them,” Addazio said. “And thatap what this is now. All in all, I was pretty pleased with what we got done. But this highlighted the areas that we have to work on this week situationally.
“Two minute, four minute, coming out, little bit more goal-line, some red zone stuff. And then some special teams situations –– onside, hands, fake punts. Stuff like that needs to be readdressed, reworked on. And thatap what we’ll do.”
Passing prosperity apparent
Addazio said the first-stringers took about 50% of the approximate 140 snaps with CSU’s second team at around 35%.
The Rams’ offense prioritized the passing game regardless of which unit was on the field. Starting quarterback Todd Centeio and primary backup Matt Velcce played well. Also, freshman quarterback Evan Olaes caught the coaches’ eyes.
“(Olaes) is a fun guy to watch,” Addazio said. “He’s got a little electricity about him. You see that with a young guy like that, which is cool. I think both quarterbacks (Centeio and Valecce) did some really good things. I’m really pleased. Toddy’s playing at a high level. Mattap doing a great job coming in here, learning this offense.”
McCullouch shines
Centeio’s extra efforts over spring ball are paying off. He has developed a rhythm with junior receiver Ty McCullouch.Though McCullouch has just four receptions over two seasons, he looked much improved.
“Ty McCullouch had himself a day,” Centeio said. “And I told him he has the most potential. Today he came out here and showed out. He came out here and was tough and made some real good plays.”
