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April 12, 2008

FORT COLLINS, Colo. - Colorado State's coaching staff knew it had a deep offensive backfield entering spring practice. They didn't know just how deep until Saturday.

Junior Alex Square, who played in one game last season, had five carries for 63 yards, including touchdowns of 5 and 50 yards, to highlight a 50-snap controlled scrimmage. The Rams warmed up their stadium with a spirited workout in windy conditions, one week before their spring game.

CSU returns all of its backs in 2008, including Square, who has just two career carries. A 5-foot-9, 177-pound junior from Poudre High School in Fort Collins, Square on Saturday served as a strong testament that CSU will do what Head Coach Steve Fairchild has been promising all spring, try to overpower opponents with its running game.

The Rams already were confident in their top four backs, Gartrell Johnson, Kyle Bell, Michael Myers and John Mosure. Now, after Square's effort this week, and a 50-yard touchdown run from walk-on Derek Good, Fairchild might have to script some new plays to get all of his backs in the game.

"We're going to try," he said. "We're not playing as well at wide receiver as we need to now, and at some point, we might just put four running backs in the game, and a tight end."

One of those tight ends, Kory Sperry, continues to stand out in his first spring since a season-ending knee injury robbed him of his senior year. Competing on the same field for the first time since that Sept. 8 injury against Cal, and back after taking a medical hardship, Sperry led the Rams with four catches Saturday.

While Sperry is without question the team's top player at his position, Fairchild said the depth chart is far from finalized with one week remaining in spring.

"I don't feel like it's a mandate to get a depth chart," Fairchild said. "We're getting closer at some spots, but there's a lot of spots still up for grabs."

The battle at quarterback, Fairchild said, is far from over. But Billy Farris turned in another impressive spring effort. The senior was 6-of-7 for 50 yards. Grant Stucker and Klay Kubiak shared the remainder of the reps during a scrimmage that included several conditions one of those quarterbacks is likely to see this fall, including a 2-minute drill.

"In every aspect of it, that's what we're trying to do," Fairchild said. "We're trying to put them in different situations and operate at different tempos, see if when they get tired whether they can still function. We're starting to stretch the number of plays in a drive a little bit, lengthen it."

Coaches even lengthened their script, after the offense and defense finished in a 33-33 tie, based on Fairchild's competitive system that awards points to each unit for big plays. The solution was to call out the No. 1 units for an overtime play.

That's when sophomore defensive tackle Ty Whittier, like Square a Poudre High School product, stuffed Bell in the center of the line. Because Bell gained only 1 yard on the play, the defense earned the point and won the day's competition.

"I liked the enthusiasm of both sides all day," Fairchild said. "Our effort was good, our enthusiasm was good. Sometimes our tempo isn't what we're looking for, in and out of the huddle and in between drills, but today wasn't bad. We'll keep working on it."

The Rams have one week left to accomplish their spring goals. CSU has practices scheduled for 3:30 both Tuesday and Thursday at the Moby practice fields before the annual spring game, next Saturday at 11 a.m., back at the stadium. The format will mirror much of what the Rams went through in Saturday's scrimmage, Fairchild said, including an offense vs. defense format.

SPACE AVAILABLE FOR COACHES CLINIC: The Rams are conducting a clinic for coaches of all levels next weekend, in conjunction with their spring game. In addition to the Rams' coaching staff, Denver Broncos offensive coordinator Rick Dennison also will assist with the clinic. For more information, call 970/491-6131.