Colorado State University Athletics
Rams Use Extra Time to be Fullback Prepped for Air Force
11/6/2019 6:00:00 PM | Football
Defense focused on first rule of option defense
FORT COLLINS, Colo. – The words are already committed to memory.
Not a shocker there. Colorado State's defensive front seven expected to hear "fullback" and "dive" – as well as the duo combined – constantly through the two weeks leading up to the Air Force game.
With good reason. A year ago, Falcons fullback Cole Fagan gashed through the Rams to the tune of 260 yards and a touchdown. The performance stung because, as everybody knows, the first rule of playing the option defensively is to stop the fullback.
The Rams never did. And while Fagan may be gone, the Falcons' current fullback, Timothy Jackson, enters this week's game with New Mexico on a streak of four successive 100-yard games.
So, again and again. Fullback, dive, fullback dive.
"Every day. Every time I walk in the building," defensive tackle Ellison Hubbard said. "We're going to hear fullback dive, dive, just dive, dive, dive. We're going to hear it."
CSU head coach Mike Bobo said the Rams will use this bye week – their second in less than a month – to get in some natural rest, but the defense will take full advantage of the time to get a jumpstart on stopping the option and focusing on what hurt them a year ago.
What the Rams do have going for them now is a touch of confidence. Defensively, they've held teams to less than 400 yards of total offense four games in a row, a run of sound play which hasn't been on display in the program against FBS teams for more than a decade – back to 2006.
Devin Phillips missed the game last year, out due to injury after starting the first 10 of his true freshman campaign. This is a game he's been looking forward to playing, and he is set on making a difference.
"I'm really excited. I'm happy I'm healthy this year, able to participate and do anything that I can do to help this team get this victory," he said. "We're hungry. We're fierce, just determined to do something that hasn't been done in a long time. There's a lot of fight in this defense. We built that mentality up, starting in January. We went to work every day, and everybody came in ready to work, ready to get better."
The Falcons, ranking second nationally at 323.1 yards per game on the ground, have Bobo's admiration. He's been impressed with how their offensive line has operated, even through injury, and dominated lines of scrimmage.
What he's also been impressed with is the resolve of his defense. The reason they are playing better, he feels, stems to it being more resilient and persistent, ranking 16th nationally in third-down defense.
"I think it started in the offseason, to be honest. Not necessarily with scheme, but getting tougher," he said. "I just told our team that when I walked off the field last year, we have to get tougher, mentally and physically. We got beat in both areas in that game. They physically they beat us, and I thought mentally they were tougher than us.
"This is what we've been working for, for a game like this. The great thing about it is we have three opportunities against, very, very tough physical teams They all have different styles of how they run the ball, but they're going to run the ball, and we're going to have to be tough. A scheme is a scheme. We're going to have to be tough."
For Hubbard, the words dive and fullback will remain in his head for the next two weeks. The constant reminder is nice, because he feels he and his teammates have taken on the challenge to change the minds of others.
The goal is to do what hasn't been done, and in the next game, it starts with the most simple of plays.
"We have the vengeance right now to show everybody we are the team people didn't think we were," he said. "Especially these last three games against rivals, that's where it's at. We're ready to show these people, and we're ready to show these teams we are not the same 3-9 team from last year. We have that defense that has the fight and can stop somebody. We have that offense that can score and keep scoring.
"After all those close games we should have won, we flipped that switch. After that, we said this is the team we really are. We started grinding. We knew we were tougher than that."
Against Air Force, they'll have to prove it again and again.
Not a shocker there. Colorado State's defensive front seven expected to hear "fullback" and "dive" – as well as the duo combined – constantly through the two weeks leading up to the Air Force game.
With good reason. A year ago, Falcons fullback Cole Fagan gashed through the Rams to the tune of 260 yards and a touchdown. The performance stung because, as everybody knows, the first rule of playing the option defensively is to stop the fullback.
The Rams never did. And while Fagan may be gone, the Falcons' current fullback, Timothy Jackson, enters this week's game with New Mexico on a streak of four successive 100-yard games.
So, again and again. Fullback, dive, fullback dive.
"Every day. Every time I walk in the building," defensive tackle Ellison Hubbard said. "We're going to hear fullback dive, dive, just dive, dive, dive. We're going to hear it."
CSU head coach Mike Bobo said the Rams will use this bye week – their second in less than a month – to get in some natural rest, but the defense will take full advantage of the time to get a jumpstart on stopping the option and focusing on what hurt them a year ago.
What the Rams do have going for them now is a touch of confidence. Defensively, they've held teams to less than 400 yards of total offense four games in a row, a run of sound play which hasn't been on display in the program against FBS teams for more than a decade – back to 2006.
Devin Phillips missed the game last year, out due to injury after starting the first 10 of his true freshman campaign. This is a game he's been looking forward to playing, and he is set on making a difference.
"I'm really excited. I'm happy I'm healthy this year, able to participate and do anything that I can do to help this team get this victory," he said. "We're hungry. We're fierce, just determined to do something that hasn't been done in a long time. There's a lot of fight in this defense. We built that mentality up, starting in January. We went to work every day, and everybody came in ready to work, ready to get better."
The Falcons, ranking second nationally at 323.1 yards per game on the ground, have Bobo's admiration. He's been impressed with how their offensive line has operated, even through injury, and dominated lines of scrimmage.
What he's also been impressed with is the resolve of his defense. The reason they are playing better, he feels, stems to it being more resilient and persistent, ranking 16th nationally in third-down defense.
"I think it started in the offseason, to be honest. Not necessarily with scheme, but getting tougher," he said. "I just told our team that when I walked off the field last year, we have to get tougher, mentally and physically. We got beat in both areas in that game. They physically they beat us, and I thought mentally they were tougher than us.
"This is what we've been working for, for a game like this. The great thing about it is we have three opportunities against, very, very tough physical teams They all have different styles of how they run the ball, but they're going to run the ball, and we're going to have to be tough. A scheme is a scheme. We're going to have to be tough."
For Hubbard, the words dive and fullback will remain in his head for the next two weeks. The constant reminder is nice, because he feels he and his teammates have taken on the challenge to change the minds of others.
The goal is to do what hasn't been done, and in the next game, it starts with the most simple of plays.
"We have the vengeance right now to show everybody we are the team people didn't think we were," he said. "Especially these last three games against rivals, that's where it's at. We're ready to show these people, and we're ready to show these teams we are not the same 3-9 team from last year. We have that defense that has the fight and can stop somebody. We have that offense that can score and keep scoring.
"After all those close games we should have won, we flipped that switch. After that, we said this is the team we really are. We started grinding. We knew we were tougher than that."
Against Air Force, they'll have to prove it again and again.
Players Mentioned
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