Colorado State University Athletics
Football Season Opener Only Three Days Away
9/1/2004 12:00:00 AM | Football
Fort Collins - When Colorado State University's football team walked off the practice field Wednesday, it put Coach Sonny Lubick's squad just 72 hours away from the team's season opener at Colorado Saturday night.
"You always wonder about the first game," said Lubick. "Did we go over the right things, are we ready to go."
"I know that our guys are excited to play a game. I think they are tired of hitting one another."
The Rams, who finished 7-6 a season ago and played in the San Francisco Bowl, will open the season with junior Justin Holland at quarterback. Holland is the most prolific schoolboy passer in state history and was the understudy to Bradlee Van Pelt the past two seasons.
Holland will look toward H-Back Joel Dreessen, tight end Matt Bartz, and wide receiver David Anderson as his main receivers along with Dustin Osborne.
Up front, the Rams have three returning starters including all-conference performer Erik Pears from Denver.
Behind Holland, Lubick said it will likely be a game-time decision on the Rams' starter. Jimmy Green, who was solid at the end of 2003, has been hobbled for a week with an ankle sprain. Marcus Houston, who gained 104 yards against CU a season ago, or Tristan Walker, would replace Green.
Defensively, the Rams have eight new starters. Among the top returnees is defensive end Patrick Goodpaster, who was among the league leaders in sacks last season.
Ben Stratton and Adam Lanciscero anchor the safety, while Jahmal Hall and Courtney Jones saw part-time duty as starters and top reserves at linebacker a season ago.
Jeff Babcock, who handled both the punting and kicking chores last year, returns and begins 2004 among the school's career scoring leaders.
Tickets to Saturday night's opener remain available through the CSU ticket office by calling 1-800-491-RAMS, or at any King Soopers or City Market grocery store location in Colorado.
Kickoff time is 6 p.m. at Folsom Field. The game will be shown live by Fox Sports Network, and the radio broadcast is on the Colorado State Sports Network including flagship station KCOL (600 AM) and KNUS (1410 AM) in Denver.
