Colorado State University Athletics
CSU football camp blog: Practice 12
8/16/2010 12:00:00 AM | Football
Aug. 16, 2010
Read previous blogs | 2010 football ticket information
By Nick Frank
Athletic Media Relations
FORT COLLINS, Colo. – With only 19 days separating Monday morning’s practice and the opening kickoff of the Cinch Jeans Rocky Mountain Showdown against Colorado, the Rams started their last week of two-a-days.
With only the Monday afternoon practice and Wednesday, which is the team’s last two-a-day practice, the Rams can see the light at the end of the tunnel for the dog days of summer.
The Rams hold an all-time 20-59-2 record in the in-state battle against the Buffs, but came away with the last win, a 23-17 victory in 2009.
After practice, Head Coach Steve Fairchild praised the work that his wide receiving corps has done this fall.
“It’s night and day,” Fairchild said, comparing the unit to last year. “You can tell the whole quarterback thing is faster because of it.”
Referring to the challenge of preparing a new starting quarterback for this season, Fairchild also said that when he knows who the starting quarterback will be, he will announce it.
True freshman Pete Thomas took most of the snaps with the first team Monday, while Nico Ranieri and Klay Kubiak mainly switched between the second and third teams.
The team practiced on the intramural fields Monday, as part of an effort to preserve their practice field turf. The main practice facility has four full-sized fields to practice on, including a FieldTurf field that emulates all but two of the surfaces the team will play on this year.
Ram Club scrimmage: Saturday the Rams will hold a scrimmage at Sonny Lubick Field at Hughes Stadium for Ram Club members. The practice will be closed to the general public. For fans looking to join the Ram Club, representatives will be at Hughes Stadium on Saturday to aid in signing up.
Going fast: There are less than 500 student tickets remaining for the Cinch Jeans Rocky Mountain Showdown, available only online here. Students that have already ordered their tickets should receive an e-mail this week from the Denver Broncos concerning their tickets. The e-mail will include directions on how to print the tickets at home.
Strong side: Sophomore offensive lineman Joe Caprioglio took snaps with the first team at strong-side tackle.
Big plays: Early in practice wide receiver T.J. Borcky made a one-handed catch near the sideline on a ball that looked uncatchable. The catch drew praise from his offensive teammates… During a “thud” period, Momo Thomas came up in run support to hit Chris Nwoke hard enough to knock the powerful back to the ground. Nwoke bounced back up and finished the run… Mike Orakpo continued to have an impressive fall camp as he made an athletic play to bat a ball down at the line of scrimmage.
Other quotes from Fairchild after practice…
On Byron Steele:
“He is physical. He is a big target. He is one of those guys who can catch the ball with people on him. Big guys don’t need to separate as well as a smaller guy because they are stronger and with a guy hanging on their back they can make a play.”
On depth at CB:
“We need some depth. There are probably three guys that could end up in the third or fourth corner spot so we will just see how it plays out.”
On the progress of DeAngelo Wilkinson recovering from a foot injury:
“He is close to full-go in every drill. I don’t think he is game-ready necessarily. He is going to need all of two weeks; if we can get him back going those last two weeks I think he will be fine.”
On Ezra Thompson and Travis Ford:
“It seems like they have been making the most of some opportunities back there. If a ball gets tipped, they make the play. We definitely have to turn the ball over more defensively.”
