Colorado State University Athletics
Photo by: Cris Tiller
What We Saw: Western Illinois
9/8/2019 12:00:00 PM | Football
Kinsey Jr. shows off talent when focused
FORT COLLINS, Colo. – Through the first three quarters, Marvin Kinsey Jr. was on pace to join a very short list at Colorado State, at least since 2000.
The senior running back finished with 91 yards rushing and had another 91 receiving, putting him 9 yards shy in each category of becoming the first Rams' back since Raymond Carter (vs. Idaho, Sept. 25, 2010) to eclipse the century mark in both categories in a game.
"Man, they didn't let me play in the second half," Kinsey quipped.
But it was an impressive game. Not that quarterback Collin Hill wanted to admit it with his teammate hanging around.
"Marvin did alright. If he's not around, he did good," Hill joked. "If he's around, he did OK. No, Marvin did great. Obviously he has a lot of big-play ability. We gave it to him in space, and he showed that."
Kinsey took a check-down pass from Hill, made one Western Illinois defender miss then outran anybody giving chase, producing a 77-yard scoring pass. In the first quarter, he broke off successive runs of 24 and 13 yards.
"I felt like, what I said on Twitter: I'm back," Kinsey said. "I showed it today, and if you've got doubts … Man, I don't know what to tell you.
"The whole team was mad, and I was a little extra mad that we didn't come out with the W. So we vowed to put it on these boys. I felt like I was more prepared for these guys. We went into film a little extra, prepared the right way and you saw it on the scoreboard."
Once again this week, head coach Mike Bobo reiterated that yes, Kinsey is talented, but he still needed to show a full dedication to task. He made mistakes in the Colorado game and didn't hit holes the way Bobo wanted to see, but he picked up his total rushing Saturday on just 13 carries.
As a team, the Rams rushed for 189 yards in the win. Kinsey can make an impact, but Bobo wants to see it consistently. Not just in the game, but at practice and the day of the game.
"I told him after the game, 'you can make us special,'" Bobo said. "He's got the right mindset for playing football, he didn't have the right stuff on today at the hotel, so that's why he didn't start. The standard is the standard, but I love the way he's playing. He's playing extremely hard and he's another valuable weapon out of the back field. I think he's the guy that ran the hardest and had the best vision. He needs a little help from time to time, and we're here to give it to him, but I'm proud of him. He loves ball."
Explosive Plays
On the first play of the game, Hill set a personal best with a 75-yard touchdown heave to Dante Wright, who had beaten the Western Illinois secondary. It was a tactic the Rams discussed early Saturday.
"He mentioned it this morning, talked about going deep," Hill said. "We didn't know what play. We had a couple in mind, and he asked me which one I wanted. We went with that one, and it worked."
It was the first time the Rams scored on their first play of the game since Dexter Wynn took the opening kickoff 100 yards against San Diego State in 2000. In the end, Hill threw for 367 yards, completing 25 of 32 throws, matching a career best with four scoring tosses.
Wright, a true freshman, added a 33-yard rushing touchdown later in the game, making him the first CSU player since Gartrell Johnson III to score both ways in successive games did it the final two weeks of the regular season in 2007.
The Rams finished with four passing plays covering 20 yards or more, four runs of 15 or longer.
More Improvement Needed
Colorado State had two more turnovers this week, both on fumbles, coming on a day when they put the ball on the ground four times. That's way too much in Bobo's assessment.
The Rams also added eight penalties for 97 yards to the ledger, another issue they'll need to correct.
"Offensively we shot ourselves in the foot sometimes, but we overcame some of them for points," the coach said. "Bottom line, I love the way we're playing. We played hard, we're playing with attitude and the great thing about it is we're headed really close to where we could be. We gotta get improving as a football team and cut out some self-implicated wounds."
The senior running back finished with 91 yards rushing and had another 91 receiving, putting him 9 yards shy in each category of becoming the first Rams' back since Raymond Carter (vs. Idaho, Sept. 25, 2010) to eclipse the century mark in both categories in a game.
"Man, they didn't let me play in the second half," Kinsey quipped.
But it was an impressive game. Not that quarterback Collin Hill wanted to admit it with his teammate hanging around.
"Marvin did alright. If he's not around, he did good," Hill joked. "If he's around, he did OK. No, Marvin did great. Obviously he has a lot of big-play ability. We gave it to him in space, and he showed that."
Kinsey took a check-down pass from Hill, made one Western Illinois defender miss then outran anybody giving chase, producing a 77-yard scoring pass. In the first quarter, he broke off successive runs of 24 and 13 yards.
"I felt like, what I said on Twitter: I'm back," Kinsey said. "I showed it today, and if you've got doubts … Man, I don't know what to tell you.
"The whole team was mad, and I was a little extra mad that we didn't come out with the W. So we vowed to put it on these boys. I felt like I was more prepared for these guys. We went into film a little extra, prepared the right way and you saw it on the scoreboard."
Once again this week, head coach Mike Bobo reiterated that yes, Kinsey is talented, but he still needed to show a full dedication to task. He made mistakes in the Colorado game and didn't hit holes the way Bobo wanted to see, but he picked up his total rushing Saturday on just 13 carries.
As a team, the Rams rushed for 189 yards in the win. Kinsey can make an impact, but Bobo wants to see it consistently. Not just in the game, but at practice and the day of the game.
"I told him after the game, 'you can make us special,'" Bobo said. "He's got the right mindset for playing football, he didn't have the right stuff on today at the hotel, so that's why he didn't start. The standard is the standard, but I love the way he's playing. He's playing extremely hard and he's another valuable weapon out of the back field. I think he's the guy that ran the hardest and had the best vision. He needs a little help from time to time, and we're here to give it to him, but I'm proud of him. He loves ball."
Explosive Plays
On the first play of the game, Hill set a personal best with a 75-yard touchdown heave to Dante Wright, who had beaten the Western Illinois secondary. It was a tactic the Rams discussed early Saturday.
"He mentioned it this morning, talked about going deep," Hill said. "We didn't know what play. We had a couple in mind, and he asked me which one I wanted. We went with that one, and it worked."
It was the first time the Rams scored on their first play of the game since Dexter Wynn took the opening kickoff 100 yards against San Diego State in 2000. In the end, Hill threw for 367 yards, completing 25 of 32 throws, matching a career best with four scoring tosses.
Wright, a true freshman, added a 33-yard rushing touchdown later in the game, making him the first CSU player since Gartrell Johnson III to score both ways in successive games did it the final two weeks of the regular season in 2007.
The Rams finished with four passing plays covering 20 yards or more, four runs of 15 or longer.
More Improvement Needed
Colorado State had two more turnovers this week, both on fumbles, coming on a day when they put the ball on the ground four times. That's way too much in Bobo's assessment.
The Rams also added eight penalties for 97 yards to the ledger, another issue they'll need to correct.
"Offensively we shot ourselves in the foot sometimes, but we overcame some of them for points," the coach said. "Bottom line, I love the way we're playing. We played hard, we're playing with attitude and the great thing about it is we're headed really close to where we could be. We gotta get improving as a football team and cut out some self-implicated wounds."
Players Mentioned
Thursday, May 14
Monday, May 11
Friday, May 08
Tuesday, April 28