Rams Hit Field Excited for a Definitive Date

FORT COLLINS – In an instant, the mood changed.

Welcome to 2020. What's new?

The Mountain West announced late Thursday night it would indeed jumpstart a fall football season, even if all the parameters are not yet known. Then again, the players didn't need to know everything right then and there. All they needed to know was there was going to be a season, an eight-game conference slate beginning Oct. 24.

"The mood has definitely changed. I think everyone is definitely excited to get back into it," Colorado State senior punter Ryan Stonehouse said. "The season is definitely a motivation for a lot of guys. The mood was a lot better today."

First-year head coach Steve Addazio was no different than the young men he was hired to guide. His announcement came back in December, which led to an instant rush into recruiting and planning. Then it all came to a halt in March. The next few months became a series of starts and stops, and at one point, it looked like he and his newly minted staff would be on campus for an entire calendar year before they ever coached a game.

There's nothing worse than a football coach with time on his hands and a wandering mind. He felt out of place. All he wanted to do was get his tenure started, and even with a mantra of control what you can control, there was very little of that to go around.

Decisions were being made elsewhere, and that was something everybody had to cope with. Football coaches included.

Friday morning, he was back in his element.

"I'm a veteran head coach and a veteran coach. I've been in this a long time. I was just miserable not having football," Addazio said. "I was just hoping. We all put a lot of work in to be prepared and be ready that if we had a positive thing we could hit this thing running.

"I just was thrilled last night, saying to myself '—'here we are, it's ball time.'"

The team had been working out under the 12-hour rule limit imposed by the NCAA, but with the news of a fall season, that immediately switched to 20. Those extra hours will be cherished for a new staff learning a new system.

For them, even some of the players, it could appear daunting to have a game just 30 days after the first real practice, but that was shelved. Especially for someone like defensive lineman Scott Patchen, who transferred in from Miami with his sights set on a season.

Now he has one. He called his dad first to share the news. Then the chat room the defensive linemen have set up exploded. They finally had the news they'd hoped to hear.

"That's kind of been the thing with 2020. Everything's been thrown at you," Patchen said. "You have to be able to roll with the punches, thick skinned, with everything. As far as that goes, sudden change, you have to really appreciate each individual day, each individual day you get to come out here. That's been my whole mindset throughout all the injuries and everything I've been through personally, so I've learned that. Once everybody learns that, we'll really get going."

The point was stressed throughout practice. Addazio bounced around, calling for proper spacing constantly. When the two-hour session was finished, he gathered them all around – each player six feet away from another – to deliver a message of life in 2020.

Even on this day, not every player was accounted for. An hour after the news broke of a football season, the university announced two dorms – Summit and Braiden halls – were under quarantine due to waste-water sampling. Those dorms including some freshmen football players.

He stressed the importance of doing the right thing. Of not exposing themselves – and then in turn their teammates – to unnecessary outside influences. He also knows they are college students, so some circumstances will be out of their control. With everything else, take care of matter properly.

The players have seen it play out on the team and on campus already.

"I think you have a responsibility, not only to yourself but to your teammates and your family to stay as safe as you can," Stonehouse said. "Do your part. That's a big thing. It's not just a you thing, that's an everybody thing. I think everyone together, you owe that to your teammates."

While the Rams are on the field, they will work. At a quickened pace. A new head coach and staff means new systems, and spring camp was cut in half. Colorado State is still playing catchup, though they are not the only team in a similar situation.

The repetitions have to stack in short order, with the team practicing through the weekend until they put on full pads Tuesday for the first time. Addazio knows there will be a lot of ground to cover, and the unknowns are just factored in as the new reality.

"It's relatively a short period of time that we have here," Addazio said. "We have two and a half weeks and a game week, so you really have to be organized. We were out here with the 12-hour rule and got some things done, but we have to be efficient, and we have to be accurate in what we're doing here. You can't fall asleep here, because you'll get stuck in situational football on game day and you won't be prepared for it. We have to maximize every day and be really smart and prudent with what we're trying to get done."

Which leads to the most important part of all. Not just for Addazio, but the players. The work now has a purpose, a date. For all of them, it has been the most glorious development of them all.

The who doesn't matter, not yet. That will come. Home or road is an afterthought. Fans in the stands or not is for someone else to decide.

Kickoff is now set.

"We're not just out here wondering when we're going to play," Patchan said. "We have a definitive date now. We don't know who, but we have a definitive date. That's a day to work toward, and once they give us whoever they give us with our schedule, we'll start working toward them and ready to roll on Oct. 24."

It is the football version of a blind date, and none of the Rams have ever been so excited to get dressed up.

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