Colorado State University Athletics
Defense dominates the day in first spring scrimmage
2/23/2019 5:18:00 PM | Football
Coach Bobo pleased with effort, energy and the play of the defense
FORT COLLINS, Colo.—The CSU Rams' defense put up a stout performance Saturday in the team's first spring scrimmage, causing havoc for the offense in the 120-play session at Canvas Stadium on a windy Saturday with temperatures around 40 degrees and wind chills in the low 30s.
Head Coach Mike Bobo lauded the effort of the defense, and defensive end Emmanuel Jones in particular.
"I thought the effort was good and the guys were excited about playing football today," Bobo said. "The defense did an excellent job today. They gave up one long touchdown pass, (but) the 1s only gave up 10 points in drive situations and the 2s didn't give up any points. I liked the defense's effort. They were flying around to the ball, they created some turnovers and had some fourth-down stops."
The inability of the offense to sustain drives and execute brought more overall possessions than anticipated, but Bobo was pleased that the defense continued to compete, and finished the scrimmage the right way.
"We ended up going a little longer than I expected, but right there at the end we decided we were going to go one more (series) and they were able to get another fourth-down stop in the red zone," Bobo described. "I thought that was the way the scrimmage should have ended, with them getting another stop and feeling like they won the scrimmage, because I thought for the most part they executed at a higher level and were the dominant force today."
Jones has flashed significant potential in his first two seasons in Fort Collins, and Saturday he showed that his progression is on track to be even more of an impact player in his junior season.
"The offensive line had trouble blocking Emmanuel Jones all day," Bob said. "I thought he wrought havoc all day in the backfield. His size and his strength presented some problems for us at the tackle position."
As for the offense, Bobo expects that unit to be diligent in its review and correct the areas that need attention when the team returns to the field for its seventh spring practice on Tuesday.
"Offense is about execution, and we didn't execute at a high enough level all day to have some consistency" Bobo said. "But I've been in a lot of spring scrimmages and a lot of times it's a struggle for the offense, and today was no different. I expect them to respond and come out and have a better practice, and hopefully a better scrimmage next Saturday.
OTHER STANDOUTS: Coach Bobo mentioned several players who performed well in their opportunities on Saturday:
"I think they all had their moments," Bobo said. "There were a couple times when balls got away from them in the wind, and there were a couple times when we had some catches that weren't made for either one of them. Patrick (O'Brien) had a long touchdown pass to Warren Jackson. He shot it into the hole in cover-2, and that was a long play. I can't remember what safety missed the tackle, but Warren broke it and ended up about a 50 or 60-yard touchdown pass."
"Collin (Hill) did some nice things and then there were some times when we didn't have protection," Bobo continued. "Justice (McCoy) had some moments, making some throws, but it was probably a little bit more run-oriented today because of the weather. We had three or four bad snaps from center that put us in some long-yardage situations, and just kind of hurt the offense's execution, kind of self-inflicted wounds, but I thought understanding of the offense, I thought they did a decent job, there just weren't a lot of opportunities to throw the ball, and I wanted to see what Marcus McElroy could do, and Marvin Kinsey, Jaylen Thomas and Drue Harris. I think there's some good competition going on there at that (quarterback) position."
MISSING FROM ACTION: In addition to several Rams who have been held out of spring practices because of injury, including wide receiver E.J. Scott, the offense also was without wide receiver Brenden Fulton and tight end Cameron Butler, which limited the passing game.
"We were in a lot of two-tight end, two-receivers, and 2-backs and 2-receiver sets," Bobo said. "It was kind of an old-school smash-mouth scrimmage, and defense did what they needed to do, for the most part, which was to stop the run."
WHAT'S AHEAD: With nine spring practices remaining, the Rams will return to the field next Tuesday and Thursday in full pads, in preparation for the second scrimmage next Saturday, March 2.
"We're going to come back next week and we're going to go after it again," Bobo said. "We went three days in full pads this week, and we're going to go full pads next week, and we're going to get after it. We weren't the physical football team that I expect here last year. The only way you can do that is you've got to practice physical. That doesn't mean just to do things that aren't smart or aren't safe, but it's playing smart football and we have to do that day-in and day-out, and there's going to be competition.
The energy and eagerness Bobo has seen from his football team in the first two weeks of spring practices gives confidence that they are making progress.
"We had a team meeting after, in the team room, and guys are excited about practicing and competing. We're a little over one-third of the way through (spring ball), and we'll have two more scrimmages, one next Saturday, and then one will be an open scrimmage on (March) 14. We're looking to get better next week, but I like where they are right now as far as the competition. We still have a long way to go, and there are some missing pieces that we have to get in here."
Head Coach Mike Bobo lauded the effort of the defense, and defensive end Emmanuel Jones in particular.
"I thought the effort was good and the guys were excited about playing football today," Bobo said. "The defense did an excellent job today. They gave up one long touchdown pass, (but) the 1s only gave up 10 points in drive situations and the 2s didn't give up any points. I liked the defense's effort. They were flying around to the ball, they created some turnovers and had some fourth-down stops."
The inability of the offense to sustain drives and execute brought more overall possessions than anticipated, but Bobo was pleased that the defense continued to compete, and finished the scrimmage the right way.
"We ended up going a little longer than I expected, but right there at the end we decided we were going to go one more (series) and they were able to get another fourth-down stop in the red zone," Bobo described. "I thought that was the way the scrimmage should have ended, with them getting another stop and feeling like they won the scrimmage, because I thought for the most part they executed at a higher level and were the dominant force today."
Jones has flashed significant potential in his first two seasons in Fort Collins, and Saturday he showed that his progression is on track to be even more of an impact player in his junior season.
"The offensive line had trouble blocking Emmanuel Jones all day," Bob said. "I thought he wrought havoc all day in the backfield. His size and his strength presented some problems for us at the tackle position."
As for the offense, Bobo expects that unit to be diligent in its review and correct the areas that need attention when the team returns to the field for its seventh spring practice on Tuesday.
"Offense is about execution, and we didn't execute at a high enough level all day to have some consistency" Bobo said. "But I've been in a lot of spring scrimmages and a lot of times it's a struggle for the offense, and today was no different. I expect them to respond and come out and have a better practice, and hopefully a better scrimmage next Saturday.
OTHER STANDOUTS: Coach Bobo mentioned several players who performed well in their opportunities on Saturday:
- "Logan Stewart, a kid from right down the road (Loveland, Colo./Mountain View HS), playing safety for us, he showed up a couple times today and had some nice tackles. I was pleased with what I saw out of him."
- "Jaylen Thomas, a walk-on tailback, I thought did some nice things. I really like this kid and some things that he's doing at the running back positon."
- "Jadon Walker, who moved over from defensive back, made a couple nice catches today, and blocked some."
"I think they all had their moments," Bobo said. "There were a couple times when balls got away from them in the wind, and there were a couple times when we had some catches that weren't made for either one of them. Patrick (O'Brien) had a long touchdown pass to Warren Jackson. He shot it into the hole in cover-2, and that was a long play. I can't remember what safety missed the tackle, but Warren broke it and ended up about a 50 or 60-yard touchdown pass."
"Collin (Hill) did some nice things and then there were some times when we didn't have protection," Bobo continued. "Justice (McCoy) had some moments, making some throws, but it was probably a little bit more run-oriented today because of the weather. We had three or four bad snaps from center that put us in some long-yardage situations, and just kind of hurt the offense's execution, kind of self-inflicted wounds, but I thought understanding of the offense, I thought they did a decent job, there just weren't a lot of opportunities to throw the ball, and I wanted to see what Marcus McElroy could do, and Marvin Kinsey, Jaylen Thomas and Drue Harris. I think there's some good competition going on there at that (quarterback) position."
MISSING FROM ACTION: In addition to several Rams who have been held out of spring practices because of injury, including wide receiver E.J. Scott, the offense also was without wide receiver Brenden Fulton and tight end Cameron Butler, which limited the passing game.
"We were in a lot of two-tight end, two-receivers, and 2-backs and 2-receiver sets," Bobo said. "It was kind of an old-school smash-mouth scrimmage, and defense did what they needed to do, for the most part, which was to stop the run."
WHAT'S AHEAD: With nine spring practices remaining, the Rams will return to the field next Tuesday and Thursday in full pads, in preparation for the second scrimmage next Saturday, March 2.
"We're going to come back next week and we're going to go after it again," Bobo said. "We went three days in full pads this week, and we're going to go full pads next week, and we're going to get after it. We weren't the physical football team that I expect here last year. The only way you can do that is you've got to practice physical. That doesn't mean just to do things that aren't smart or aren't safe, but it's playing smart football and we have to do that day-in and day-out, and there's going to be competition.
The energy and eagerness Bobo has seen from his football team in the first two weeks of spring practices gives confidence that they are making progress.
"We had a team meeting after, in the team room, and guys are excited about practicing and competing. We're a little over one-third of the way through (spring ball), and we'll have two more scrimmages, one next Saturday, and then one will be an open scrimmage on (March) 14. We're looking to get better next week, but I like where they are right now as far as the competition. We still have a long way to go, and there are some missing pieces that we have to get in here."
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