Setting the Stage: Hansen Happy For Side He Chose

This is a game Bryan Hansen has had circled on his personal schedule for a bit. Nothing about revenge or holding any animosity, just a simple target date of what could have been.

Most likely, Hansen would have been on the sidelines for the Colorado State-UTSA football game this Saturday at Canvas Stadium, the only question being which one.

"I have no hatred towards UTSA or anything like that," Hansen said. "Those were my two choices. And so, it's just kind of cool just to be able to play against them."

If he had enough attempts this season, Hansen would be leading the nation in punting, averaging 52.2 yards per attempt through two games. Three of his five attempts have covered at least 50 yards with one touchback and one fair catch forced.

The redshirt junior handled kickoff duties the past two years for the Rams but has yielded that task to Isaiah Hankins and is focused on punting, as well as the holder for placements. Hansen was virtually a fallback for everything in the past, punting nine times last season when Paddy Turner was injured, averaging 41.1 yards.

Now focused on being the Rams' punter has led to better results. He mentally prepared to assume the role, working on his craft not just on the field but in the weight room. There is a different sound this season when his foot meets pigskin.

"It's just consistency, just trying to build on each punt, and I learned a lot from Paddy. And also, Henry Katleman, our kicker here a couple years ago, just how to approach game day and building off of what they were doing and what they did well and what they didn't do well," Hansen said. "I learned a lot from those guys. And this summer I kind of just had a big focus on putting myself in the game, even though we're in practice in June."

When it came time to pick a school, it really wasn't a choice between San Antonio and Fort Collins. The deciding point became Tommy Perry.

He was the special teams coordinator who had Hansen committed to UTSA before accepting Jay Norvell's offer to run CSU's specialty units. The choice to follow Perry is not one Hansen has regretted.

"I trusted him. And he was one of the few guys, really, in the whole country to believe in me," Hansen said. "I felt like I was kind of under-recruited coming out of high school, and he really believed in me. And I trusted in what he had to say.

"We've had our ups and downs over the years. But we just kept pushing. And he's kept believing in me, and I'm very grateful for that so that we can be at this point."

And, as it turns out, on the home sideline.

Pursuing Consistency

Norvell has talked about his team pursuing consistency in what they do in all three phases. Do that, and the Rams are automatically playing more complimentary football.

But consistency, like pursuing perfection, is as much a process as it is an actual destination.

"I think the big thing is we're chasing a style of play that we've been trying to establish for several months. Cleaning and polishing, building understanding, trying not to be too complicated in what we're asking our guys to do so they can be aggressive and physical and execute," Norvell said. "There's a lot of moving parts to that in each phase of the ball.

"It's just getting those kids to understand that and then getting them all to work together. That's the challenge of our sport. We've got 11 starters on offense, 11 starters on defense. We've got a lot of different schemes, trying to coordinate all those guys together. That's our challenge. That's what we're really focusing on this week and getting ready for this game."

In the opener at Washington, the first half played out in such a manner; not so much the second half. Reverse the script in the second half of the home opener.

Add in ball security on offense, a problem to a degree Norvell had no immediate memory of ever experiencing before the game with Northern Colorado. During the bye week, and in preparation for UTSA, Norvell has seen the right response from his team.

The first step was the man in the mirror.

"I also think the players -- and I mentioned it after practice (Wednesday) -- is that as a player you've got to think about what needs to be done in this game and what's not going to get done unless I do it," Norvell said. "That's what we have to do. We have to get each player personally accountable for his job so we can execute as units.

"Sometimes we do that inconsistently and we get inconsistent results. That's the biggest thing, and we're trying to get guys to play with confidence, play together, and this is another step for that."

Safety First

Colorado State has started practicing with Guardian Caps, ordering 120 for the season with every player on the team wearing them.

They were designed to limit the impact of contact via HARM (head acceleration response metric) when first created in 2010, with multiple school conducting studies. The devices weigh less than 12 ounces, and players have adapted quickly.

"The first day, I did feel it, but after that, it was just like another thing on my head. (Tuesday), I had one play where I didn't mean to lead with my head, but our heads just hit, and then I could definitely feel the amount of cushion that released from my head," defensive end Mukendi Wa-Kalonji said. "Usually, I'd be like, 'oh, whoa, OK, that was a big hit.' But this time, it's definitely doing its job."

The additional benefit comes for the equipment room. Shannon O'Hair, the head equipment manager for football, said the caps take less than a minute to put on helmets, maybe a touch longer for those with visors. The time saved on the back end is what will impact her and her team from week to week.

When the Rams wear their normal green helmets, such as this week, they practice in the white shells, and vice versa.

"It'll help tremendously in terms of the paint and wear and tear on the helmets, especially since we wear our white helmets for Ag Day and State Pride, so it's going to help with not getting the helmets as dirty and the paint not chipping and gash marks," she said. "Then when we do wear our game helmets during practice during those two specialty weeks, it'll help keep our game helmets clean, so the same exact thing. It'll help in terms of wear and tear and the cleanliness of the helmet, so we're not having to replace decals as often or take longer to clean the helmets."

A helmet's shelf life at max is 10 years, and they have to be replaced regardless of condition at that point. The NFL mandated their use in practice last year, and some players are using them during games this season.

Attached to a helmet, they definitely stand out. Where safety is concerned – and trainers feel the safety feature will be most valuable to the guys in the trenches who hit helmets basically every play. And if a player doesn't really notice it after a day or two, the added layer of safety is welcomed.

"Obviously, it's a little bit of a funky look, but shoot, I'll trade safety over the way something looks any day," linebacker Owen Long said. "I really don't notice anything, but that's probably a good thing that we don't. There's definitely a little bit of cushion there, so it doesn't feel like straight contact on contact, which is cool. It's a good thing."

Calendar

Upcoming Events

Recent Results