Aug. 15, 2009
Scrimmage stats in PDF format 
By Nick Frank
Athletic Media Relations
FORT COLLINS, Colo. – On Saturday, the Rams held their first scrimmage of the fall at Sonny Lubick Field at Hughes Stadium.
Head Coach Steve Fairchild liked the tempo of the situational scrimmage, which included 45 plays of live tackling, but the Rams didn’t consistently execute on both sides of the ball, he said.
“A few too many penalties, just basic stuff like keeping the ball in front of you on defense and making the right read on offense,” Fairchild said. “Just not consistent enough for us to be a good football team right now. Now, we still got some time, but we’re going to have to put together one hell of a week next week to have any chance at being game ready.”
After keeping score for the first 30 live-tackling plays, Fairchild left it at 19-19 for the day because neither offense or defense deserved to win, he said.
There were some things that did please Fairchild, though. Starting receivers Dion Morton and Rashaun Greer topped the list.
“I think Dion and Rashaun have a chance to be really special and they’re taking small steps in that direction,” Fairchild said. “They weren’t perfect today but I kind of liked what I saw there. Zac Pauga is steady. We’re steady at tight end. We’ve got some pieces in place.”
Fairchild also liked some of what he saw on defense.
"Nick Oppenneer and our corners played really well,” Fairchild said. “If anybody was really looking at it today, you’d see that Mychal Sisson is a special player. When you look at both sides of the ball, you see these little bits and say, ‘Yeah, there’s something there.’ But, the consistency. It’s still a team game. It takes 11 on both sides. So, it’s not where we want it to be on both sides of the ball.”
Big plays: There was a surplus of big plays Saturday, the first one coming from John Mosure. On the first play of the live scrimmage, Mosure broke past the line and into the secondary for an 18-yard run. Running back Leonard Mason then broke a tackle in the backfield, and ripped off a run of 25 yards on his first carry of the day, using a stiff arm to battle for his final yards.
During the red-zone portion of 11-on-11, Cory Macon hurried Grant Stucker into throwing an incomplete pass in the end zone. Freshman C.J. James found a hole in the offensive line and sacked quarterback Klay Kubiak.
Defensive tackle Guy Miller not only sacked Stucker, but forced a fumble in the process. Teammate Kelly Seward fell on the loose ball. Earlier, DeAngelo Wilkinson forced a fumble on a sack, and Davis Burl recovered.
Quickly after the sack, Kubiak retaliated with a 40-yard touchdown strike to Byron Steele, who made an acrobatic catch over a CSU defender. Later, with pressure in his face, Kubiak dumped a screen pass off to freshman running back Lou Greenwood, who ran 15 yards for a touchdown, capitalizing on a crushing block from Cole Pemberton.
Other scoring plays included Stucker's 4-yard pass to Adam Seymore, and a 60-yard pass from Jon Eastman to Rashaun Greer, one play after Greer couldn't corral another sure touchdown.
Ricky Brewer had the day's only interception, with an assist from Brandon Owens, who broke up a Kubiak pass intended for Blake Swain.
Quarterbacks: Fairchild was very hard on his quarterbacks after the scrimmage. Neither Eastman nor Stucker threw an interception, and combined to go 10-of-13 for 163 yards and three TDs, but a lack of consistency has prevented either from breaking away in the race for the starting role. Fairchild was hoping one would step up Saturday, like Billy Farris at this time last year, but that wasn't the case. He said he would take the race all the way to kickoff in the opener, but hoped he wouldn't have to do that.
Kubiak, meanwhile, was the most consistent QB according to Fairchild, but the sophomore continues to battle the fatigue associated with offseason shoulder surgery. Kubiak during live periods was 7-of-11 for 106 yards with one TD and one INT.
All four quarterbacks took snaps during the scrimmage, with Eastman taking reps with the first team on the initial live series. However, during the red-zone offense, Stucker participated with the first team, and Eastman ran with the second team. Freshman Nico Ranieri only took one snap, which Fairchild said was due to a possible hernia injury, and could result in a coaches' option to redshirt Ranieri.
Returners: The Rams had Morton, Alex Square, Gerard Thomas, Greenwood and Mosure back for kickoff returns.
Kickers: During the live portion, Ben DeLine hit one of his two field goal attempts, both coming from 47 yards out. Freshman Chad VanderMolen hit both of his attempts, also coming from 47 yards away.
Freshman Pete Kontodiakos had a 56-yard punt.
Running Backs: Chris Nwoke and Greenwood are both battling to see the field as true freshmen.
“We’re a long way out, though,” Fairchild said. “There’s a chance we could get a guy hurt here in the next few weeks, so I would leave the door open for both Greenwood and Nwoke to play this year.”
Next: The Rams will take Sunday off but be back on the practice field Monday morning as part of more two-a-days. The players will move out of their dorm rooms and into permanent housing on Sunday.
