Kelly Lyell

kellylyell@coloradoan.com

It’s not enough for Nick Stevens to be the best quarterback on the CSU football team during fall camp.

Stevens, last year’s starter, has to prove he’ll remain the best to earn the starting job over newcomers Faton Bauta, a graduate transfer from Georgia, and Collin Hill, a true freshman from South Carolina, coach Mike Bobo said.

“At the end of the day, you’ve got one quarterback that’s got a year’s experience and the other three have really none, so you’ve got to judge that,” Bobo said Thursday, following the Rams’ first scrimmage of fall camp.

Following up on that after a morning practice Saturday, Bobo said “it’s extremely hard” to make that judgment. Where will the newcomers be when they’ve gotten a chance to get some experience of their own?

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“What’s going to happen when he continues to get reps? Is he going to be better than that guy,” Bobo said. “That’s the challenge ... And the guy here (the returning starter), he’s got to keep getting better” to stay ahead of the competition.

Hill missed Saturday’s practice to attend his sister’s wedding but is still very much in the mix for the starting job, as is Bauta, who learned the offense as a backup at Georgia while Bobo was the quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator but has only played quarterback in one game in his college career.

Stevens, who threw for 2,679 yards and 21 touchdowns while guiding the Rams to a 7-6 record and third straight bowl game, has responded well to the challenge, Bobo said Saturday.

“He’s been a great, great competitor, he’s been a great teammate,” Bobo said. “He helps those guys, and he works his tail off and he has improved. So I’m really proud of Nick and the way he’s playing.”

Stevens, a junior, knows he’s being held to a higher standard than the other quarterbacks and doesn’t seem to mind. It’s forcing him to take his game to a higher level if he wants to remain the starter.

“I think sometimes I make bone-headed mistakes that you shouldn’t make after you’ve played for a year, so I’m just trying to get through those,” Stevens said. “I think, for the most part, I’m light years ahead of where I was last year, so I think that’s a great thing.”

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UPON FURTHER REVIEW: Bobo said he was generally pleased with Thursday’s scrimmage after reviewing film of the session with his staff Friday.

“The No. 1 thing I saw was great effort offensively and defensively, especially defense,” he said. “I saw multiple hats around the football, which was good to see. Now, we didn’t play our technique right every time, which is what’s going to happen in the first scrimmage and only nine practices down, but I thought our guys flied around to the football.”

O-LINE STANDOUTS: Bobo had previously singled out receivers Michael Gallup, Bisi Johnson, Xavier Williams and Sammie Long and running back Marvin Kinsey for their performances in the scrimmage.

Saturday, he noted some efforts on the offensive line that stood out on film from sophomore Colby Meeks, senior Nick Callender and junior Trae Moxley. And junior center Jake Bennett, the coach said, “probably played the best he ever has, so that was good to see.”

Meeks, Callender and Moxley are all fighting for starting spots on an offensive line that returns four of last year’s five starters.

HELD OUT: Senior linebacker Kevin Davis and junior safety Jake Schlager were held out of Saturday’s practices, Bobo said, but should return Monday. Bobo declined to elaborate further.

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