Colorado State University Athletics
CSU football camp blog - Practice 1
8/7/2009 12:00:00 AM | Football
Aug. 7, 2009
By Zak Gilbert
Athletic Media Relations
FORT COLLINS, Colo. – Colorado State Head Coach Steve Fairchild saw a lot of positives in his team’s first 2009 fall practice Friday morning.
“We look a little bigger, we look a little faster,” said the coach, who begins his second season at the helm of the Rams after winning the New Mexico Bowl and going 7-6 in 2008. “And I think if we keep recruiting the way we’ve been recruiting, that’s going to be something that goes on around here.”
Fairchild also said the work the players were able to accomplish on their own over the summer, during player-only workouts, was evident Friday.
“We had a no-huddle period today, we’re going to go out and do a two-minute offense in the second practice,” Fairchild said. “You can’t go out and do all that, and not have the ball on the ground, and not have procedure penalties, unless they’re polished on their own. So based on one day, it looks like they got a lot of work done in the summer. We still have a long way to go.
“You don’t have a practice like this unless there’s some enthusiasm with some upper-class guys. Walking off the field right now, I’m pleased, but I hope we can maintain. Every team’s different. I’m anxious to see how we progress.”
Running backs: Fairchild said replacing the 2008 conference rushing champion, Gartrell Johnson, will be difficult, but the true evaluation in selecting his replacement – or replacements – won’t come until the team dons pads, beginning Wednesday.
Coaches are anxious to see what they have in true freshmen Chris Nwoke and Lou Greenwood, as well as redshirt freshmen Jonathan Gaye and Micheal Connor. Junior John Mosure, JC transfer Leonard Mason and senior Alex Square opened camp on top of the depth chart.
Only one missing on first day: Coaches saw every player on the field Friday they expected to see except
true freshman LB Mike Orakpo, the younger brother of Texas All-American and Redskins draft choice Brian Orakpo.
“He’s working through some Clearinghouse issues,” Fairchild said. “If he can get it done, he’ll be here, if it takes a semester. I want him in the program. He wants to be here. That’s all I’m going to say right now.”
Kubiak update: Fairchild said earlier this week that one of his concerns was whether QB Klay Kubiak, coming off shoulder surgery, could withstand the physical pressures of camp. Coaches and trainers want to wait at least a week to see how camp is affecting him.
“They’re starting to throw 100-plus balls a day,” Fairchild said. “It starts to wear on you if you haven’t been training your arm right all summer, which he hasn’t been able to do. We made it clear to him that he’s got to communicate to us. The only way you can monitor a guy’s arm is if he’s talking to you. We’ll give him a day’s rest, or a period’s rest if he needs it.”
Eastman poised in first fall practice: Another candidate for the Rams’ starting quarterback role, along with senior Grant Stucker, is Jon Eastman.
Eastman, a JC transfer who led his Snow College team to the JC national championship game last season, seemed like he had better command of the huddle, according to Fairchild.
“You don’t want on the first day for the ball to be on the ground, to break huddle and line up wrong,” Fairchild said. “It’s challenging in that regard because of the volume of what we’re trying to do today. And I thought that part went pretty smooth.”
Play of the Day: Early in practice during an 11-on-11 drill, Eastman hit senior Ryan Gardner on a deep go route, battling tight, one-on-one coverage, for a 52-yard pass down the left sideline. The play would’ve set up the Rams at their opponent’s 6-yard line.
Toughest schedule in the league: Colorado State’s reward for a bowl victory and a 7-6 season in Fairchild’s inaugural campaign as head coach? The Mountain West handed the Rams BYU, Utah and TCU to open the conference slate. Those three teams were ranked in the initial USA Today coaches’ poll, released Friday. The Rams visit BYU (No. 24) Sept. 26, host Utah (No. 18) Oct. 10 and travel to TCU (No. 17) on Oct. 17.
During the BCS era, it’s the first time a non-automatic-qualifying conference has placed three teams in the top 25 of a preseason coaches’ poll. CSU hasn't played three ranked teams in a season since the Rams met Utah, Minnesota and USC in 2004.
Houston Nutt, the only first-year coach in the nation last season to improve his team’s record more than CSU’s Fairchild, has his Ole Miss team ranked No. 10.
Up next: By the time they sat down for lunch Friday afternoon, coaches and players had already evaluated film of their first practice, something Fairchild initiated after he saw it work in the NFL. Players will meet this afternoon, then return to the Moby practice fields at 7:45 Saturday morning.
The Rams also will practice once on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, all at 7:45 a.m., before their first two-practice day on Wednesday.
