Addazio Happy With Exposure Thursday Night Games Can Provide

The pandemic narrowed down the season to eight Mountain West games, but half of those will provide Colorado State with national exposure in the Thursday night time slot.

Colorado State coach Steve Addazio knows it will lead to a couple of tight turnarounds for his Rams, but for the most part, he's excited for the opportunity to promote the football program without a lot of additional television traffic.

"I used to love watching Thursday night football. There is nothing better as a college coach, that generally on Thursday night, you're able to get home at a reasonable hour, click on the TV and get to watch college football," Addazio said Wednesday as he met virtually with the media. "In my experience, it used to be some of the most talked about games because everybody would be talking about it; all the coaches, we'd all be talking about, 'did you watch the game last night? Yeah, it was a great game.'

"I think Thursday night football gives you great exposure, and I think it's fun. Obviously we don't have all the fans; I guess it's different at every place. They've been some wild crowds and wild games, and CSU has participated in those in the past. I think it's a good thing, so Im looking forward to it. It poses some challenges some times. I know we're playing Saturday night, then we have to turn around and travel to Fresno on Thursday. Moving forward, we might have some consistency."

Which is true. As Addazio noted, the first Thursday game comes with a tight turnaround, but the following two games are also on Thursday, allowing for a normal schedule. In the end, the Rams will be presented with two short windows (November being the second as they Rams go from a home date to a Thanksgiving kickoff with Air Force, with the option attack another variable to consider), but it also sets up two nine-day windows between kickoffs. The first is between the Boise State (Nov. 12) and UNLV games (Nov. 21) and from Air Force (Nov. 26) to a trip to San Diego State (Dec. 5).

All eight of Colorado State's games are slated for television, but the four Thursday games allow them to play on days less cluttered with college football viewing options. As a fan of the sport, it also means he can watch some games on the weekend himself.

"Those Thursday night games to me are great for your program," Addazio said. "I think there's great exposure, and I think it gives you a chance to enjoy football."

Currently, the focus is on the season-opener with New Mexico on Oct. 24 at Canvas Stadium (7 p.m.). The team has been battling a numbers crunch with players as of late, and he hoped to scrimmage on Wednesday. However, strong winds blowing smoke and ash from the Cameron Peak fire led to poor air quality and a cancellation of the scheduled practice.

Thursday, Addazio is hoping to jump feet first into preparation for the Lobos, a program headed by a new head coach and a team the Rams have beaten 10 consecutive meetings.

"The issues I think are, No. 1, you're trying to get a new offense, a new defense and a new special teams schematically installed, and you're trying to do that with a lot of moving parts," Addazio said. "What I mean by that is you never have a full compliment. Between quarantines, between contract tracings or injuries, you're constantly shuffling players, sometimes big portions of certain units. It's very difficult to create, especially on offense, where you have to have a lot of execution, requires a lot of time and working together, maybe even a little more than on defense. I think its challenge offensively, for sure."
Asked about starters – specifically at quarterback, Addazio declined to tip his hand – very diplomatically. In doing so, he referred back to the challenges the team has been facing in keeping a consistent lineup on the field for long stretches of practice.

Patrick O'Brien is the returning starter who threw for 2,803 yards and 13 touchdowns a season ago, but he has been joined in the room by Temple transfer Todd Centeio, who also has experience. Without tape from a full scrimmage, Addazio said there is still much to learn about his players and what they do particularly well.

"I think there's always competition. I think Pat has done a phenomenal job of leading this football team," Addazio said. "He's a talented player, and Toddy has done a great job, as well. But I'm a big believer that everybody on this team competes, no one should ever feel they have a position locked in. The most healthy thing you can do is compete every day, compete every practice, compete every week, and that's what our team is programed to do right now, so I've certainly not named at any position this is our starting team by any stretch of the imagination. I'm still getting to know this football team. We are full speed ahead every day trying to figure everything out, what's schematically best for our personnel and who is finding a way to excel."

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