CSU: Around the Horns

Jim McElwain had a quick responses to the questions of if his Colorado State football team has its base formations in and down pat: They were no and no.

Still, the Rams are moving forward in trying to cover everything possible this spring, adding a few more wrinkles to the equation Wednesday.

“This week was good. We actually did some 2-point play work today, and we also did some 2-minute before the half, which we haven’t done yet,” McElwain said. “We were able to get that in, and (Thursday), we’ll get last-play situations, you know, Big Ben and that kind of stuff. The thing we did this week as well was we actually started a little scout work for opponents next year. We were able to kind of get a little of that, and we’ll get some more of that (Thursday).”

The scout work he said was to deal with “unique” situations they’ll face this season. Say, the Air Force offense.

“That might be it,” he said with a grin. “That might be one. I think San Diego State’s stuff that (head coach Rocky) Long does, with the 3-3 stuff (on defense), you kind of have your own set of rules, and we’ll work on first opponents (Thursday).”

That first opponent is Colorado in Denver on Sept. 2.

The Rams have also worked in a wildcat package, and while he has run his team through just about every situation, he said he really didn’t anticipate putting in a whole lot this spring, adding the team is on schedule for what he wanted implemented. Once that base is set, the real work will begin, he said.

“What you’ve got to understand is once your base concepts are in, now, what personnel groups are you going to do it out of, what shifts, what formations, all that kind of stuff is the next part of it and trying to figure out still who are play makers are and who needs to touch it and that kind of thing,” he said.

The one thing that can almost be counted on daily from a Jim McElwain post-practice interview is a joke or two. Sometimes it’s to avoid giving a straight answer, but either way, the man does have a sense of humor.

On Wednesday, Colorado State had a group of kicking and punting hopefuls take to the field to try and find a walk-on or two to provide depth and competition in the fall.  Asked how they looked, McElwain offered up this: “We’ve got a punt, pass and kick competition out here going on.” Asked later if any of them might be back in the fall, his reply was: “I don’t know, but I have the punt, pass and kick trophy. I have one at my house if you want to see it.”

After giving up a ton of sacks in the two scrimmages, protection has become a familiar topic for him. McElwain pointed out that some of the issues can be found in communication, or a lack thereof. But he thinks the players are getting better at it, and this was his explanation for how he could tell:

“Yeah, because they’ll turn their heads and go, ‘boy, that was my guy.’ Where before they turned their head and said, ‘boy, I wonder whose that was?’”

Former players Caleb Hanie and Tim Walters were two of the latest Rams to come back and visit practice and see how the team looks under the new regime. Told they often come out to meet him, McElwain joked: “It must be a slow day for them if that’s all they wanted.”

Actually, he’s happy when former players come out to visit, and he’ll welcome all to come say hi. And maybe share a laugh or two.

Sunday’s weather didn’t change a thing. Neither did the pressure from the defense. Or the fact the walking wounded accounted for a pretty impressive group of personnel.

Colorado State coach Jim McElwain has had no interest all spring in making things easier for the Rams, he’s  just trying to make them better.

By all accounts, he has the players falling in line. He said last week the tempo at practice is getting better all the time and that players know where to go and when. Now he wants to see them move themselves into the next phase.

“The team that’s here right now, these guys, I like their demeanor,” he said after Sunday’s scrimmage. “I’d like to see a little more leadership on offense, to be honest. I’m not sure we’ve found that yet. But, with that being said, I really like their thought process, I like the way they’re approaching the game a little bit. They need to understand the importance of studying the game outside of just the 20-hour rule we have with them.

“Great teams, great players take it upon themselves to study when we can’t be with them, and that’s really the next step now with this team. They’ve got to understand to come up, put the extra time in. It’s like being a great student, you’ve got to put extra time in. You don’t just get it in the classroom. You’ve got to go home and do your due diligence in your studies. (It’s) no different in this.”

When the offense gave up 27 sacks in the first scrimmage — and another 15 on Sunday — McElwain let the defense keep blitzing and continue with line twists. That’s a change from the past. McElwain has said multiple times nothing will be gained from making things easier, nothing learned if mistakes are not made. Mistakes go on tape, where they can be seen. And corrected.

As for his main trio of quarterbacks competing for the starting spot, he said Sunday he’s not interested in building their confidence.

“I’ve never been big on that, and I’ve been pretty successful with (quarterbacks),” McElwain said. “Look, we’re not (scrimmaging) to win the game, we’re here to make corrections, get better and fundamentally learn how to play the game. I’m not one of those guys.”

As for the weather that went from sun to rain to sleet to driving snow and back around the block again, McElwain felt it was a bonus to get to work in those conditions. Chances are, they’ll see it again. And it wasn’t just for the players, either, he said.

“I think it’s good for our coaching staffs on both sides, because your mindset as a play-caller on both sides of the ball are different,” McElwain said. “I think those are all things that will help us as we move towards the next season.”

Colorado State coach Jim McElwain has said all spring that the Rams aren’t running anything fancy on offense or defense, especially at times when people can actually come and watch.

“We’re pretty vanilla. I’m not going to show our hand, because you know as well as I do there had to be probably somebody from a couple of squads that want to know what we’re doing up there,” McElwain said after Sunday’s scrimmage. “You can always tell, because they’re the ones with the brand new CSU hats. So obviously we’re not going to show anything in these other than like I said, to find out how guys compete, block, tackle, catch the ball. All those fundamental things.”

Paranoid? Well, maybe not. Spotted in the parking lot at the stadium Sunday was a silver car with a “Go Buffs” personalized license plate. And not a far parking lot, either, but the one connected to the south entrance of the stadium that leads to the tunnel where the team enters.

Not that giving up 27 sacks in a single scrimmage is a good thing, but Colorado State football coach Jim McElwain said there was a silver lining to what transpired.

The mistakes are correctable.

“Here’s the positive. They’re very correctable,” McElwain said. “Some of it is operator error, and yet we can get it sewed up, and at the same time, you’ve got to credit some of the games that were being run up front. I was kind of proud of the way those guys were snapping some of those off. I thought it was good from that standpoint, too.”

As bad as it looked at times — giving up that many sacks is never a good sign for a blocking scheme — McElwain had a reason not to alter what the defense was doing.

“I believe that you need to get as much as you can on video to teach from,” he said.

What the scrimmage gave him was a baseline in a competitive situation from which to move forward. And what the coach liked best was the desire of the players to put forth a quality effort.

“The key is like what we were talking about, is wanting to get ourselves on film live. We saw some guys really compete, some guys that were really trying,” McElwain said. “We need to clean up a lot of things obviously on both sides of the ball. It was really a good learning experience from that standpoint.

“I liked the way they approached the fact. They wanted to be proud of what they put on film, and that’s something we kind of stressed. Be proud of what you put on film through your efforts and how you compete, and then we’ll correct what we need to from there.”

One constant Jim McElwain has preached since he has arrived on campus is that the Rams will move forward as one.

No longer do the offense and defense compete against each other on daily basis with scores being kept. And when it came time to head over to the stadium for Friday’s scrimmage, they went together on buses. McElwain stressed there wasn’t an offensive bus and a defensive bus, but three buses with players mixed.

In the past, the parking lot at Hughes Stadium was filled with player’s cars, and coaches often went over separately. McElwain said he heard about that, and he just doesn’t understand how that promotes team unity.

While the defense stood out in the scrimmage, McElwain was please to see how the day came together and flowed well.

“Overall, I think the organization of the first scrimmage was good. We got all the situations in, I was proud of the way the guys handled the sideline and understand a little bit about discipline from that standpoint,” McElwain said. “You know what? We’re getting there. Obviously, you get disappointed a little bit when one team doesn’t do as good as the other, and this and that. But you know what? They were all a team, and these guys are going to stay together. ”

He also said he thinks they have a shot to be a pretty decent team.

One team.