Spring Practice Report, Day 10: Rams taking lessons from first scrimmage onto practice field
4/11/2018 8:16:00 PM | Football
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Q&A with senior running back Izzy Matthews
FORT COLLINS, Colo. --Â The Colorado State football team held practice on Sonny Lubick Field at CSU Stadium on Wednesday. The practice was the 10th of the spring and the first since the squad's first scrimmage on Sunday.
CSU head coach Mike Bobo and his staff reviewed the film from the first scrimmage several times since Sunday. He said the run game was better than he initially realized, but the offense did not finish enough drives and turned the ball over too many times.Â
Conversely, he again gave credit to the defense for coming up with multiple big plays on Sunday, but reaffirmed that the team still has a lot of areas that need improvement.
"We were opportunistic defensively creating a lot of turnovers playing with some energy," Bobo said. "We have to close some runs down faster and that's just our safeties getting involved in run support a little sooner. We need to do a better job at making plays in the perimeter. Space plays were probably the enemy for the defense this past week, so we had a period of space plays today and I thought they did a better job today. Overall it was good effort. We had some guys play 80-90 snaps (on Sunday). We basically have one guy at certain positions but I think (Sunday's scrimmage) will be our longest scrimmage of the year, this spring. We had 114 snaps so this Sunday we will probably do half of that or maybe a little less and the spring game will be very similar. We will probably total 114 snaps in the next two scrimmages combined."
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Earlier today, it was announced that former CSU football student-athletes Patrick Elsenbast and Nick Stevens have been recognized as the National Football Foundation (NFF) announced its members of the 2018 NFF Hampshire Society.
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senior RB Izzy MatthewsQ: You're tied for fourth in rushing TDs at CSU… what does it mean to you to be in the same category as CSU legends like Kevin McDougal, Bradlee Van Pelt and Cecil Sapp?
A: It's pretty incredible. I came here and we did kind of a mock interview and that was one of the questions. Thinking way back then that I'd ever be in this position, it's kind of awesome to think I come from a small town and was able to come here and make my mark in the history books. It's been a special feeling and I look forward to building on that.
 Q: What are your thoughts on being a senior leader heading into 2018?
A: It all happened so quickly. I've been here three years and it happened in the blink of an eye. Just to actually be able to come out here and be one of the guys that everyone looks up to because I'm a senior and because it's my last year, and I have to take it personal that this is my year. I have to get on guys because it's more personal for me because I'm not going to let guys sit here and ruin this year for the school, for me, for these other seniors out here. It's so much more important to me as a leader that I get sent off the right way, that people like Bisi Johnson and Josh Watson get sent off the right way.
 Q: How does this spring experience feel different than your first spring experience here at CSU?
A: Kind of getting the vet treatment a little bit. I don't really like it, to be honest. I'm lower on reps because I've been here for so long. They're getting these young guys some reps, seeing what everyone can do. I talked to Coach Applewhite and Coach Bobo about getting more reps, but I think that's the biggest difference. I'm older, more mature, the reps get less, but I'm out here coaching the guys. Everything is a lot more mental. I'm just trying to take it all in, trying to be in the moment and realize it's my last go around.
 Q: What are some of your personal goals heading into your final collegiate season?
Without speaking numbers, I just want to be considered one of the top running backs in the nation. I know that's a hefty goal, coming out of Colorado State, but it's something I really take pride in. I work every single day at it. I made choices in my life to really help gear me towards that. Just being one of those guys that you can see on SportsCenter that's talked about, that becomes the news… the Saquan Barkleys, the Bryce Loves and Sony Michels, just to be in that kind of category.
 Q: What is your football background?
A: I started playing when I was nine years old. I was this little chubby kid, had 17-inch-long curly hair, I was like Troy Polamalu. I used to play [defensive end], God knows why. I don't know, it was always something that always came after me, no matter what position I was at. It always just came natural, as it progressed, I got older, and I got more mature, my body matured—I cut the hair, I think that was a big part to do with it—I had an amazing supporting cast all my life that's really just kept me going. I thought about quitting at one point in eighth grade and I had a bunch of my friends who were like, 'Dude, this is your sport, this is your thing; there's no way you can go through with that.' I really think the thing that's kept me going is my supporting cast, all the way up until junior year of high school when things started to click for Division I schools.
 Q: Favorite football memory?
A: It's weird; I wasn't even playing in the game. This is kind of like when you talk about football, it's what it is. I was in seventh grade, watching my brother's varsity game and one of my favorite players from our school's history comes off the field, takes off his helmet and there's this fog rolling on the field and steam coming off his head. I was so awestruck by this gigantic dude, crazy look in his eyes, just having fun and that's kind of what football has become for me, just being in the moment and being in the ambiance of football is my favorite thing about football. There's not one moment I can put to my favorite moment.
 Q: Favorite social media site?
A: No one really uses it, but I am a big Redditor. I enjoy Reddit a lot. It's really just this big forum with a lot of sub-forums and people talk and there's literally endless categories, endless things you can look on… It's so much less personal than the Twitters or the Instagrams… It's my escape from those worlds where I kind of have to be like 'Izzy Matthews, CSU Football Player' because out there, I'm really just a name. I don't have 800 following me, 16 coaches, and it's kind of nice to be out there observing, commenting, making jokes with a bunch of random people.
 Q: Guilty Pleasure?
A: Anime. Anime is my guilty pleasure and my freshman year, I watched two animes. One was 550 episodes long and the other one was 400 episodes long, at 30 minutes apiece, and I watched every single second, every single minute and that was like absolutely my guilty pleasure. I can't get enough of it.
 Q: Favorite food?
A: My mom's enchiladas or my dad's ribs, and it sucks not being home because I miss those a lot, Don't really get that here often.
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