Kelly Lyell

kellylyell@coloradoan.com

True freshman Collin Hill will start at quarterback Saturday for CSU’s football team, coach Mike Bobo said.

Bobo moved Hill to the top of the rotation for practice Monday and Tuesday and, after reviewing video of those practices, made the official announcement Wednesday.

“We’re going to go with Collin Hill for this game,” Bobo said. “… I feel like he’s confident. I feel like the guys are responding well to him, and I’m looking forward to seeing him play on Saturday.”

Hill, a 6-foot-5, 210-pounder from Moore, South Carolina, will be the third starter in as many games this season for Colorado State University (1-1) when the Rams face Northern Colorado (2-0) in a home game Saturday at Hughes Stadium.

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Junior Nick Stevens, a second-team All-Mountain West performer a year ago as the starter in all 13 games, got the nod in the season opener against the University of Colorado and threw two interceptions while going just 6 of 20 passing for 31 yards.

Faton Bauta, a graduate transfer from Georgia, started last Saturday’s 23-14 win over Texas-San Antonio but was replaced by Hill in the fourth quarter after completing just 6 of 17 passes for 82 yards. Hill was just 2 of 6 for 26 yards but completed a key third-down pass during a late drive for a clinching field goal.

The three quarterbacks are a combined 20 of 52 for 171 yards and one touchdown with two interceptions in two games. The Rams are dead last among the nation’s 128 Football Bowl Subdivision schools in pass-efficiency offense with a 64.4 rating, and No. 126 in passing yards at 85.5 per game.

Receivers Elroy Masters and Bisi Johnson and center Jake Bennett all said they were excited about the decision to go with Hill, a player they believe can get the passing game going.

“If you’ve ever watched the kid throw, he’s definitely got some talent,” Bennett said.

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Bobo declined to make any of the quarterbacks available for interviews Wednesday. The coach, though, said he hopes this will be the last time this season he has to name a starting quarterback.

“I feel comfortable with him going forward,” Bobo said. “I expect him to play well. I expect us to improve in our passing game and improve offensively, and hopefully we’ll do enough to put ourselves in position to win the ballgame on Saturday.

“We’ve got to play better offensively. We need to get some consistency at that position.”

Bobo said he seriously considered starting Hill in the season opener but opted to let experience outweigh what he had seen from the three quarterbacks in practice. Bobo said he was concerned about putting Hill on the field for the first time in front of nearly 70,000 fans and a national ESPN television audience.

“We just felt like he wasn’t ready, because the worst thing you can do with a young quarterback is put him in too early, and he doesn’t have success and you can damage him for a while,” Bobo said.

Hill will be the first true freshman to start a game at quarterback for the Rams since Pete Thomas started all 12 games during a 3-9 season in 2010.

Hill threw for 3,505 yards and 35 touchdowns, with 11 interceptions, as a senior last fall at Dorman High School. He completed 241 of 414 passes while rewriting his school’s single-season and career passing records and guiding his team to the state championship game.

He was a two-time all-state, all-region and all-area selection in football and also lettered twice in basketball. He graduated a semester early from high school to get started at CSU last spring. He competed with Stevens and Bauta for the starting job throughout spring practices, summer workouts and fall camp.

Bobo said Hill is still learning how to take charge of the huddle but already has the respect of his teammates. He also has an “even temperament” that lends itself well to the ups and downs of playing the position.

As for his physical skills, “he has a really great release, he’s over the top, the ball jumps off his hand,” Bobo said.

“We’re a work in progress at wideout right now. We need somebody that can put the ball on them. We can’t have any margin for error as far as arm strength, so we’ve got to put them on them and we’ve got to be able to put it on in a hurry.”

BANGED UP BACKS: Bobo said running back Dalyn Dawkins, the Rams’ leading rusher, is still slowed by a hamstring injury but should be able to play Saturday. Izzy Matthews is recovering from a sprained left ankle but should be good to go, too. The Rams’ third-string running back is Marvin Kinsey, a true freshman who has run for 32 yards on 12 carries.

MAYORS BET ON GAME: Fort Collins mayor Wade Troxell, a former CSU football player, and Greeley mayor Tom Norton made a friendly wager on Saturday’s game. The mayor of the winning team will receive a basket of locally produced products from the mayor of the losing team, to be delivered at the Sept. 29 district meeting of the Colorado Municipal League in Evans, according to a news release announcing the wager.

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

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