Offense Works on Corrections, Not Overcorrecting

FORT COLLINS, Colo. – The entire offense watched the film and witnessed the mistakes.

Then they all separated and watched them again, focusing on their position. Which is where the fixes have to be made. Not all together, but each group targeting their part.

"We have some sayings around the building, and it's not revolutionary. We want to just do our jobs and trust each other," Colorado State head coach Jay Norvell said. "We made a big deal about it last week. We didn't need to have a super-human effort to have success on Saturday, we just needed to go between the white lines and play football. We did that some, but not nearly enough. All we ask our guys to do is do what we do at practice. That's it. We don't really like to talk about we, we just like to go out and do it."

Correct, but not overcorrect. The running backs can't solve the riddle which belongs to the offensive line. Nor can the wide receivers help their quarterback with what he did wrong. They can – and are expected – to take care of their part.

Each group has enough on their plate to not have time to work on somebody else's position.

"It's those small assignments, small details and technique things. You're always trying to improve whether it's running the ball or blocking," A'Jon Vivens said. "As running backs, we want to know what we can improve on. Our coaches do a great job of telling us what we need to improve on going into next week. We put all those things together, learn from our mistakes and try to get better.

"You don't want to put too much in your head where it takes over how you're thinking. You want to put an emphasis on what you need to move on. Even if you have a great game, you're looking for ways to improve, because you're never going to have a perfect game; there's always something you can work on. As players, we're all striving to be great, so we have corrections we're told we need to work on, so were going to figure out the best way to get those things accomplished."

There isn't anything the Rams are fine with after Saturday's loss to Michigan. They need to run the ball better, even before one removes the 50 yards of losses coming from seven sacks. They need to protect better, but Norvell said some of those sacks could have been avoided had Clay Millen released the ball on time. There were mis-run routes, blocks not made and checks missed.

This is not an offensive system used to being held to 219 yards of total offense with few explosive plays to its credit. Again, the Rams go back to their own room for internal structure to clear up the big picture.

"My position, we're looking at how our routes were and focus on what we can do on the outside," Tory Horton said. "We can't really control what happens inside with the linemen and running backs. We go in there and focus on what we need to do, how we can perfect our routes and our blocks for the running back. That's what we look at. Then we come together, and we all put that together."

One game isn't a deterrent for Norvell. There were periods of strong play and some good performances by individuals. Against a top-10 team, he said what was necessary was a determined focus for the entire game, and that the Rams did not have.

He's confident they will get there, eventually. So is Horton.

"I have a lot of faith, and all I can say is just watch," said Horton, whose 34-yard touchdown catch avoided the shutout. "Watch how we bounce back. This team, we all know what we need to do. We're all keeping a positive mindset. We know what were capable of doing this season, so we just have to fix those mistakes. We're not worried about anything."

Confident because there wasn't a mistake they watched they don't believe is uncorrectable. There wasn't one where they felt they just didn't have the capability of pulling off the request. In some instances, it can be attributed to just missing an assignment, while others come from a lack of experience.

On Monday, the process started, beginning with a willingness to get back to work.

"Everything that happened are things that are easily correctable, and those are things where you come in and make sure they never happen again," Vivens said. "You just come in the next week, and you work harder at those things, pay attention to small details and make sure you get everything ironed out so we can make sure we're hitting on all cylinders."

Which puts them right in the heart of something else Norvell likes to say on game day: Let's do what we do.

What it refers to is what happens in practice and how they prepare. Just repeat that, and he's convinced the offense will be just fine.

"Kids have to realize that, and that comes from having success," he said. "When you have confidence of doing something in practice, you have confidence in the game. The more we do these things, the more we should see that carry over to the game."

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