CSU Scrimmage Leaders Rushing — Izzy Matthews 11 carries, 57 yards, Craig Leonard 2-30, Nick Stevens 5-21, Xavier Williams 1-21, Jasen Oden Jr. 5-11. Passing — Coleman Key 12-25-1 157 yards; Nick Stevens 10-28-3 111; Leonard 6-15-0 69, 1 TD; J.C. Robles 3-6-0 31 yards. Receiving — Jordon Vaden 4-62, Joe Hansley 3-45, Olabisi Johnson 3-42, Robert Ruiz 3-42, Deionte Gaines 2-26. Defense — Josh Watson 8 tackles, TFL; Kevin Pierre-Louis 6, TFL, PBU; Cory James 5, 3 sacks, TFL, QBH; Preston Hodges 5, PBU, INT; Nick Januska 4, INT, FR. Kicking — Wyatt Bryan 26 NG; Braxton Davis 52 NG Scoring — John Freismuth 3 pass from Craig Leonard

FORT COLLINS — Mike Bobo called it a great day.

He said that despite being the offensive play caller at Colorado State, a unit that threw four interceptions and fumbled a ball during Saturday’s scrimmage at Hughes Stadium.

He said it because he’s the head coach, and after the offense had its way in the first scrimmage of fall camp, he watched as the defense rose up and responded to the challenge.

“I thought today was a great day. The defense came to play. They were flying around, I saw a number of licks passed, we created turnovers on defense, we affected the quarterback, basically got the offense out of their comfort zone.

“Offensively, we didn’t handle adversity very well. It was really probably a tale of two scrimmages.”

A week ago, Colorado State’s quarterbacks threw four touchdown passes and Nick Stevens pinned down the starter’s job. This time around, he hit just 10 of 28 passes for 111 yards and was intercepted three times, and his backup, Coleman Key, threw one, neither of them completing 50 percent of their passes.

The interceptions came from five different players, with safety Nick Januska producing two turnovers with a pick and a fumble recovery that was forced by defensive end SteveO Michel.

After collecting just one sack last week, the defense produced five, three coming from Cory James, who saw time at middle linebacker and defensive end. James also had one of 11 quarterback hurries, with Michel and Joe Kawulok and Johnny Schupp producing two each.

Bobo said the first team offense drove right down the field the first drive, stalled inside the 5, then after an offside penalty, missed a chip-shot field goal. From there, he said, it went downhill.

Offensively, there was just one score, a 3-yard pass to John Freismuth from Craig Leonard.

He was also not going to overreact to what he saw. With running back Treyous Jarrells out with a knee injury, Bobo only gave one series to Dalyn Dawkins and Jasen Oden Jr., so offensively, they basically didn’t run the ball. That led to 74 pass attempts in the scrimmage, and the defense played accordingly.

Bobo also didn’t pin all the problems on the quarterbacks, saying there were some balls dropped that should have been catches.

“We’ve got to throw and catch better,” he said. “You take out the running game, it hurts you a little bit offensively. We really didn’t have any threat to run the ball, and they played a lot of pass coverage, two safeties deep, and did a nice job. It was good to see. I’m proud of the way the defense responded and played today.”

Cornerback has been an open competition all camp, and Bobo highlighted the play of senior DeAndre Elliott (an interception), true freshman Braylin Scott (interception) and Tyree Simmons (strong against the run).

Rashard Higgins got in a few plays, catching two passes for 10 yards, but guard Fred Zerblis was held out. If it had been a real game, Bobo said Zerblis could have played, but what the scrimmage showed him was the need to narrow down the front five this last week of camp. He said the tackle spots are solid with Sam Carlson on the left and Zach Golditch on the right, leaving Zerblis, Jake Bennett, Kevin O’Brien and true freshman Colby Meeks getting reps to solidify the interior.

This next week will be about zeroing in on the roster moving forward on game weeks, the roughly 70 players Bobo said the coaching staff has to get ready for the season. The Rams play their first two games at home, and the third week in Denver, so they will have no roster restrictions until facing UTSA the fourth week on the road. For Mountain West games, the team is allowed to travel 68.

The two scrimmages also showed him there is work to be done in the next few weeks, primarily with being able to bounce back.

“What it tells me is we’ve got to be able to handle adversity better on both sides of the ball, ’cause bad things are going to happen,” he said. “We’re going to have setbacks in the first game. We’ve got to be able to handle those and come out and play the next play.”

The Rams will not practice again until Tuesday, with Sunday a day off and Monday the first day of school.

Mike Brohard: 970-635-3633, mbrohard@reporter-herald.com and twitter.com/mbrohard