Colorado State University Athletics
CSU football camp blog - Practice 2
8/8/2009 12:00:00 AM | Football
Aug. 8, 2009
By Zak Gilbert
Athletic Media Relations
FORT COLLINS, Colo. – Colorado State’s defense took much of the spotlight at the Rams’ second fall practice Saturday morning on the Moby practice fields.
That defense, which helped the Rams finish with a plus-two turnover margin in 2008, came up with several more turnovers on Saturday, mainly via interception.
Head Coach Steve Fairchild said many of those turnovers were the result of early fall miscommunication between the quarterbacks and receivers, and that the team would get those issues ironed out.
Fairchild said wide receiver Jyrone Hickman had shown some flashes during the first two days, and Ryan Gardner had taken a step up, but overall, he wanted more from his group of extremely talented receivers.
McDougal returns to Fort Collins: Former workhorse running back Kevin McDougal, the Mountain West Offensive Player of the Year in 1999 when he led the Rams to the inaugural conference title, addressed the team Friday night.
Fairchild, CSU’s offensive coordinator during McDougal’s career, said the former Ram had a great message.
“Kevin told them, you’ve got to have an edge, you’re going to get tired, you need to fight through it. Otherwise, everyone’s just kind of going to school.
“There are a lot of good coaches and players out there,” Fairchild continued, “they’re all over. But to play this game and come out on the field, be it practice, walk-through, game, it doesn’t matter, you’ve got to have an edge to you. You’ve got to be alert. You’ve got to compete and want to do the right thing. If you’re coming out here just to survive, it’ll be very apparent in a fast-tempo practice.”
McDougal, who still ranks as the Rams’ fourth leading career rusher with 3,067 yards, played three seasons in the NFL, with the Indianapolis Colts.
Plays of the Day: During an early 11-on-11 drill, seconds after wide receiver Rashaun Greer caught a pass in the flat, senior starter Nick Oppenneer ripped the ball from Greer’s hands. Gerard Thomas, the Rams’ other starting cornerback, then picked off a pass on the very next play, and with his momentum likely would’ve scored a touchdown.
Later during a seven-on-seven session, Dion Morton –generously listed as 5-foot-10 on the Rams’ roster – demonstrated his vertical-leap skills by dramatically leaping high to snag a pass over the head of cornerback Brandon Owens. Later in the same period, led by a perfect pass from Grant Stucker, Hickman laid out to secure a diving catch, beating his man across the center of the field, on a play that would’ve netted 58 yards.
Unique conditioning drills for defense: After the first practice Friday, the defense in its respective units on the depth chart, took turns sprinting as a group from the 30-yard line to the far pylon.
Saturday, assistant head coach/defensive coordinator Larry Kerr was the quarterback, and lobbed passes to his respective units after the entire unit had dropped back in coverage. The player who intercepted Kerr’s pass then sprinted with his 10 other teammates to the end zone.
Before Kerr’s final round of passes, he told his defense, “Whoever the safety is, he has to outrun my arm, or else you’ll all have to do it over again.” Klint Kubiak, Jarrad McKay and Ivory Herd then secured each of Kerr’s final three passes and sprinted with their teammates to the end zone, to close practice.
Position change: Vernon Scott, a 6-foot, 185-pound true freshman from Muskogee, Okla., is now a wide receiver. Recruited as a cornerback, he has shifted to offense.
