Monday Presser: Team Ready to Join Conference Fray

The last team to arrive to the party, Colorado State's plan is to make it a grand entrance.

Every other team has played at least one Mountain West game, and the Rams' opponent for this week – San Jose State – has played and won two in the league to sit atop the standings. At 2-3 after five non-conference games, the switch to conference play provides a clean slate from which to work.

"We're 0-0 right now, and we want to get it," Tanner Morley said. "We want to win this conference, and we'll do everything we can to do that."

Colorado State coach Jay Norvell feels this is a fun time to enter the ring, having played at home a bunch and road games taking them to challenging environments. They've seen a lot of different schemes and now they're heading into the final seven weeks where everybody knows their name and what they like to do, and vice versa.

It's given the Rams a chance to find themselves before going after the main goals of winning a championship and earning a postseason berth.

"I think it's an opportunity to start again," Norvell said at his weekly press conference. "You play a lot of different games in the non-conference. We've played on the road, we've played teams at home, we've played on the road with different officials, it's just a different challenge every week. But it's all to prepare you for conference play.

"We want to be hitting on all cylinders. We worked really hard to build a personality on this team, and I think we saw a lot of that on Saturday. We didn't finish with the win, but we ran the ball physically and I thought we complimented that with the passing game really well. It was one of our better offensive games, really."

The Rams definitely view the conference season as an opportunity. Not everything has gone right the first five games, as the record would suggest. Offensively the team has undergone a transformation to more of a running attack, even when Tory Horton has been in the lineup.

Nickel back Dom Morris views those first five games as lessons. Some were hard to take, but all of them can become positives if used correctly. He believes they will, so let the play begin.

"I think for us it's just an opportunity and perspective. We're 0-0. All of our goals are still out there in front of us and it's ours to take," he said. "That's what we plan to do this week, we plan to start that roll, get that flow going and win this thing."

The goal is simple, and he was direct to point it out exactly. When Dec. 6 arrives on the calendar, he expects his team to be playing.

"It's a Mountain West championship," Morris said succinctly. "That is the plan."

Moving Up Front

Norvell said this year's offensive line is among the best he's ever had coaching, high praise considering the length of his career and the program's for which he's been associated. Anchored by the most veteran lineman in the league – Jacob Gardner – and featuring three returning starters, there was a base from which to start.

But Aaron Karas is a first-year starter at right tackle and Tanner Morley, a redshirt freshman, has started the past two games at left guard. There's been some shuffling, but the group has paved the way for 174.6 rushing yards per game and has allowed just six sacks in five games.

Norvell gives Gardner a ton of credit for keeping the group tied together, including guard Drew Moss – both of whom have more than 2,000 career snaps – for their leadership. It's an assertion with which Morley wholeheartedly agrees.

"It's been amazing. Those guys take care of us so well, and Jacob and Drew, us three are interior guys and we're very communicative with what we have to do, the different calls and everything leading up to that, especially with being the most physical guys we can," Morley said. "And with me and Saveyon (Henderson), we worked all offseason on trying to get that communication down. It's been really great having those veteran guys teaching us lessons. They've played in those atmospheres before, so they make it much easier to play with them and make my job easier."

Donut Day

Collecting three 100-yard games from backs this year – Avery Morrow delivering two in the past two games – has been a boon for the offense. The offensive line is enjoying it for multiple reasons.

"I love blocking for Avery; he's such a good guy," Morley said. "He gives us praise when we're good, he brings us donuts … You've got to love that. I do love blocking for him and all of the rest of our running backs, but in particularly him. He's been running super hard, and you can just tell with every step he takes he wants it."

Morley loves donuts, and he says Morrow isn't bringing in any average pastries into the room, he delivers the good stuff – Krispy Kreme. It was something the guard said his high school back used to do, too, so he's thrilled the tradition to "honor the fat guys" has extended to college.

What he isn't sure about if nutritionist Matt Garrell is just as happy about the type of additional calories.

"I don't think he knows yet, so maybe don't tell him," Morley said.

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