Colorado State University Athletics
CSU Fall Camp Notebook: Day 13
8/21/2015 12:00:00 AM | Football
FORT COLLINS, Colo. – Colorado State held morning practice Friday, the first of two for the day, which is the final day of two-a-days. Several players stood out, but head coach Mike Bobo believes the defense was a bit more agressive.
“Today was pretty good,” Bobo said. “We started off a little bit slow, but after that I thought the defense did a nice job during the third-down period, making some stops. They had a couple turnovers, which was good to see. Overall, the defense probably had the better day. Offense was kind of going through the motions, especially up front – too many missed assignments.”
The practice set the tone for what Bobo expects to see during Saturday’s scrimmage. A week ago, during the first scrimmage of fall camp, Bobo said the offense won the day, and that the defense wasn’t physical enough.
“I want our defense to come out and be ready to play fast from the opening kickoff,” he said of Saturday’s scrimmage. “When I looked back at the film (from last Saturday’s scrimmage), I thought the effort was there; it was some assignment issues and playing the proper technique. We’re gonna have to have some mental toughness. I hope it’s hot tomorrow, like it was last Saturday, where we’re taxed and we have to push though and keep making plays when we’re tired. We talk about toughness all the time – being physical – but we have to be mentally tough, too.”
CSU will practice again Friday evening before Saturday afternoon’s scrimmage, which will close fall camp.
Scholarship surprise: Bobo opened Thursday night’s team meeting by reviewing film from the previous evening. He praised the offense during a play, singling out offensive lineman Kevin O’Brien. Take a look at what happened next.
“It’s an awesome thing to be able to reward a guy who has worked extremely hard,” Bobo said. “He’s earned it. These walk-ons are special to me, because they’re working as hard as the scholarship guys but are not getting paid, getting some of the extra benefits. A guy like O’Brien, who started (nine) games last year, probably deserved that scholarship if I’d have been here on the front end, but we had to evaluate him and it didn’t frustrate him at all. He came out here and worked extremely hard and hasn’t said one thing about scholarship or money, and he’s earned it. He’s going to be out there starting Game 1 and be a starter for us this season.”
Long snapper Trent Sieg was also put on scholarship earlier this month.
Helping hand: While the team was given Thursday off from practice, there was still some heavy lifting involved. The football team, in addition to student-athletes from 13 other sports teams, assisted their fellow classmates during freshman move-in day. Classes begin Monday.
