What We Saw: Building Program Taking Time

FORT COLLINS, Colo. – Todd Centeio was sitting next to Toby McBride at the postgame press conference, and he took a pause.

He gave a glance to his teammate and answered the question in measured words, not wanting to offend the longest-tenured and one of the most respected players in the locker room.

Is Colorado State's football team headed down the right path?

"I do believe so. No shade or anything Toby, but CSU hasn't really won anything in the last how many years? We're trying to build something here. It kind of gets frustrating when you get asked that kind of thing, because were trying build it from ground zero. There's no foundation. We're trying to build a foundation right now. We all believe we have potential, and we're going to keep going out there and practice hard, preparing. It's just frustrating. We have a lot of talent on this team, and we make a lot of good plays. We always find a way to mess it up. We just want to keep beating that stone, and one day that stone is going to break."

The loss to Air Force on Saturday was the fifth consecutive in the series. It was the second loss in as many weeks to a rival. It was the fourth loss in a row for this team, putting it at 3-7 and out of postseason play for a fourth year in succession.

Head coach Steve Addazio spent much of his time behind the microphone saying much the same thing, that the program is still under development and it takes time. He will build it not for quick fixes, but for the long haul, do it the right way, not the easy way.

No, it's not as fast as he would like. No, it's not as fast as the players would prefer, either.

McBride listened to Centeio's answer, then gave his own response for a perspective different than Centeio's. Centeio will still be in uniform next year. McBride will represent the program on the field two more weeks.

"We are building this program brick by brick. I think if everyone knew the shape the program was in when Addazio got his hands on it, they would not have this much hate on him," McBride said. "We've really come a long way from the last year when he first got here to where we are now, and we continue to build. I've been here for six years, and this is the team I'm most proud of. I've been with a lot of teams with a lot of guys, but this team keeps fighting and keeps pushing. We've come a long way and we're going to continue to do that.

"As a senior that's about to be out the door in two games, I take a lot of pride in setting that foundation. It's leading the way for a lot of these young guys to have the path for success. I'll take as much pride as I can in that. I'll look at the screen and come back to the games and be happy when they're holding up the Ram-Falcon trophy, holding up The Boot, beating CU, all the good stuff."

In Synch

Much of what has ailed the Rams of late in the losing streak showed up again – the team is not connected in all three phases.

The offense and defense both started slow in Saturday's loss, putting the Rams in a 14-0 hole in the first quarter. When the offense put together scoring drives, the defense couldn't get a stop. When the defense did get stops, the offense stalled.

When the defense forced a fourth-down on the Falcons' first drive of the second half, the punt-return team allowed a successful fake punt which led to a touchdown.

"I felt like we were capturing the momentum," Addazio said. "My only issue was, and I said it to the team, they get the ball out of the half, we need to stop them. We didn't."

The defensive numbers have gone in reverse in the current losing streak, and in the past three weeks, the unit has been susceptible to giving up big plays. Through the first eight weeks of the season, the Rams had not allowed a run of 40 yards or longer. In the past two games, they've been hit by four, three against Wyoming. In the first seven games, the defense didn't allow a pass play of 50 yards or longer. They've gave up their first against Boise State, then a 92-yarder on a first-and-27 play to Air Force.

On offense, the Rams had five games with at least 400 yards of total offense, but they haven't hit the mark in the past three games, with Saturday's 308 the lowest since Iowa held the Rams to 250.

Island Life

Colorado State plays the final road game of the season this week, a trip to Hawaii which has been approached many ways of the years by a variety of coaches. Addazio has the team leaving Wednesday for the game to give them a chance to acclimate to the time change.

The trip there isn't the only part to contemplate, either.

"It's a normal week, and then we just have to weather the trip out there. It's a long trip," he said. "It's two and a half hours (to Oakland) refuel, sit on the plane, five and a half hours (to Hawaii) … It's a nine and a half hour trip. We're going to leave a day early so that we can kind of take the edge off of that. I'm guessing, not having done this before, although I have taken a team over to Ireland, there's a strain there.

"Quite frankly, I worry about everything right now. I'm worried about the return trip even more. We land on 11 a.m. on Sunday, having slept none and flying through the night on another nine and a half hour deal, then having to play Nevada here that week. That's life. That's the way the schedule gods are right now. In a perfect world, you'd like to have a bye week after you play Hawaii."

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