Kelly Lyell

kellylyell@coloradoan.com

CSU's offense clearly outplayed the defense in the first scrimmage of spring football practice, particularly in the passing game, coach Mike Bobo said.

Senior quarterback Nick Stevens, he said, was efficient and hit his targets consistently and receivers Michael Gallup, Bisi Johnson and Detrich Clark all made some big plays, as did Preston Williams, a transfer from Tennessee who can't play for the Rams until 2018.

The 59-play scrimmage, on a 70-yard field in the school's Indoor Practice Facility, was closed to the public and media. Statistics kept by the school's sports information staff were posted afterward on Twitter.

Stevens completed 25 of 35 passes for 411 yards and seven touchdowns in the situational scrimmage, which included a significant amount of work in the red zone. Gallup, a senior, caught eight passes for 158 yards and three touchdowns, while Johnson and Clark caught six passes apiece. Clark and Williams each had two TD catches, and Johnson had one.

The offense "kind of had their way against the defense through the air, guys making a lot of big plays and a lot of big plays after the catch," Bobo said afterward. "We've got to do a better job talking guys after the catch, and we've got to do a little bit better job on third down."

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Bobo said the Rams' are putting more of an emphasis on the passing game early in spring practices in an effort to become more efficient through the air, particularly on mid-range passes.

"I thought Nick was very efficient today and did a good job," he said.

Clark, a senior, made several big plays from the slot receiver position and scored touchdowns on passes of 16 and 14 yards. Clark was a quarterback in high school and junior college and made some big plays as both a running back and receiver for the Rams last fall. But he didn't know the offense well enough to be an every-down player and was limited to playing in special packages.

"I've been pleasantly surprised with Detrich," Bobo said. "We've still got to work on his effort, playing hard all the time. But he's doing a nice job running routes, and he's got very good hands. The question for him has been route-running and understanding coverage, and he's improved in that, and he made some nice plays today that were big for us."

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Redshirt freshman Darius May, vying for the No. 3 running back spot behind senior Dalyn Dawkins and junior Izzy Matthews, ran for 59 yards and two touchdowns. Sophomore quarterback J.C. Robles, running the No. 2 offense this spring while sophomore Collin Hill recovers from surgery to repair a torn ACL, ran for one touchdown and passed for another.

Bobo said he was disappointed some in the play of a defense that returns eight starters but singled out cornerbacks A'Keitheon Whitner and Kevin Nutt Jr., both seniors, and sophomore Robert Awunganyi for their efforts in the scrimmage as well as sophomore safety Jamal Hicks. Two of the returning defensive starts – safeties Jake Schlager (ankle) and Braylin Scott (wrist) – are sidelined with injuries.

Senior safety Justin Sweet led the defense with nine tackles, including five solo stops. Whitner finished with six tackles, including one quarterback sack, and redshirt freshman linebacker Hunter Donnelly added a sack, a fumble recovery, two tackles for lost yardage and two quarterback hurries.

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CSU has two more scrimmages scheduled this spring, a closed session next Saturday and then the April 22 spring game at 1 p.m. at Lagoon Field, where the women's soccer team plays its home games.

"Defensively, the third downs and red zone have got to be a little bit better, but that's one of our points of emphasis," he said. "It's our first chance to play real football. And, like I just told the guys, a real football team is going to make improvement from their first scrimmage to the second scrimmage.

"… And that's what I'm looking forward to seeing next week."

Follow reporter Kelly Lyell at twitter.com/KellyLyell and facebook.com/KellyLyell.news

Scrimmage stars

Offense

Nick Stevens – Senior quarterback completed 25 of 35 passes for 411 yards and seven touchdowns

Michael Gallup – Senior receiver caught eight passes for 158 yards and three touchdowns

Detrich Clark – Senior receiver caught six passes for 80 yards and two touchdowns

Defense

Justin Sweet – Senior safety was in on nine tackles, including five solo stops and one for lost yardage

A'Keitheon Whitner – Senior cornerback was in on six tackles, including one sack

Hunter Donnelly – Redshirt freshman linebacker had a sack, fumble recovery, two tackles for lost yardage and two quarterback hurries