CSU picks up pace in scrimmage at Broncos' facility

ENGLEWOOD – Quarterback Nick Stevens overthrew some open receivers, a few snaps were fumbled and receivers dropped more than a half-dozen passes.

The execution of CSU's football team in its second spring scrimmage wasn't nearly as sharp as new coach Mike Bobo and his staff had hoped.

But the energy the Rams showed in the 109-play session Saturday at the Denver Broncos' Dove Valley training facility was impressive.

The offensive units operated the new no-huddle offense effectively while moving the ball down the field, the defense came up with three turnovers and pads were popping with big hits from players on both sides of the ball throughout the day. Junior cornerback Tyree Simmons, sophomore linebacker Kiel Robinson and sophomore running back Dalyn Dawkins delivered some of the biggest hits.

"I thought we improved from the last scrimmage," Bobo said. "… I thought the execution was better, there were a lot of big plays. Defensively, I thought we ran to the ball harder. I thought we hit harder.

"We're giving up way too many plays in the passing game, explosive plays, but they did a nice job of bowing their necks at times and holding the offense to field goals."

With about 1,000 Ram Club members and season ticket-holders watching from a grassy hillside, the Rams put on a decent show while running offensive and defensive schemes that they've only had 10 days to practice.

Stevens, a sophomore, missed some open receivers but did a better job of handling the faster tempo than he had a week earlier in a closed scrimmage at Hughes Stadium, Bobo said. He got the Rams into the right plays, made the right reads and threw to the right receivers.

He completed 16 of 27 passes for 165 yards and two touchdowns, with one interception.

"I tried to focus more on those new reads, on those new plays and, obviously, the next step will be kind of bringing everything together, because you can't really focus on everything at once when it's new stuff," Stevens said. "I tried the footwork and reads first, and now I'll go into this week looking to kind of put everything together."

Redshirt freshman Coleman Key, who is battling Stevens for the starting job, completed his first five passes while driving the No. 2 offense downfield against the No. 2 defense at the start of the scrimmage. His sixth pass was dropped and his seventh was batted down at the line of scrimmage and intercepted by defensive tackle Jakob Buys.

He finished with the better passing numbers, completing 18 of 28 passes for 298 yards, one touchdown and one interception. But he said afterward he's still got a lot to learn.

"I definitely have a long ways to go," Key said. "I'm just trying to get better every day, learn the details. … Once I get comfortable, and once the team gets comfortable, I feel like it'll be clockwork. Once we get it down; we'll be good."

With star Rashard Higgins still out with a hamstring injury, Sammie Long was the leading receiver, hauling in five passes for 140 yards and one touchdown. He would have had a second TD but was knocked out of bounds at the 1-yard line after a 69-yard catch on a pass from Key.

Junior Craig Leonard, running the No. 3 offense, threw the longest TD pass of the day, a 70-yarder to redshirt freshman John Friesmuth.

Senior running back Treyous Jarrells also sat out with an injury, a sprained ankle. Jasen Oden, who ran for 52 yards on 13 carries, suffered a leg injury of his own in the final minutes. Bobo said he didn't know how serious the injury to Oden was.

Dawkins ran for 33 yards on five carries and also caught two passes for 27 yards.

Senior linebacker Cory James led the defense with nine tackles, and junior linebacker Bryan Ohene-Gyeni had two sacks.

"I see guys improving," Bobo said. "… Guys are buying in and trying to play like their coach wants them to. Now we're still having a lot of mistakes; that's going to happen. But we're definitely improving."

The Rams will wrap up spring practices with their annual Green and Gold Spring Game at 11 a.m. next Saturday at Hughes Stadium.

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