Rams’ “24-four hour rule” comes into play
FORT COLLINS» The record is tainted, so the goals for Colorado State’s football program have changed.
The approach will not change, at least at the top, as the Rams prepare to face San Jose State at home Saturday.
“As a coach, in my message to my staff last night, they’re going to follow us. It’s how we show up today,” CSU coach Mike Bobo said Monday. “We show up with our mind-set of getting ready to play this opponent with the same energy and same vigor that we have all year.
“It’s just a model of consistency, I believe, of who you are and how you approach things. If you panic or you’re somebody that you’re not because of situations around you or what’s going on, your kids feel that, then they don’t play to their full potential. I’m going to be me. I’m going to coach as hard as I’ve coached all year. Not because we lost last week’s game, because that’s what I try to do every week.”
This is a rare schedule, because the regular season ends this week for the team, a week before the Thanksgiving holiday. The last time that happened was 2010, when the Rams didn’t have a bye. This year was set up that way, too, before the Oregon State game was moved to Aug. 26.
Recently, the season has been a series of gut punches, seeing the Rams go from 4-0 in Mountain West play and considered contenders to losing the past three games, each one in a more agonizing fashion than the previous.
It can wear on a team, especially emotionally.
It can wear on a coach, too. But there’s a “24-hour rule” at CSU. It covers celebration or deliberation, whichever is required, and Bobo used every second after Boise State scored 14 points in the final 3:01 of regulation, eventually winning 59-52 in overtime.
“All losses hurt. Losses hurt when you feel like you’ve got the game in control and you’re going to win the game,” Bobo said. “Several times during the game, you feel like you’ve got it in control, but there’s valuable lessons of why you keep playing. Lots of things. There’s tons of teaching moments within that game and every game, win or lose. You’ve just got to regroup.”
The Rams can finish 7-5, the same as last year. The same as the year before. Bobo knows the record hasn’t improved, but he’s positive the team has improved each year.
For him, there will always be something to play for, and that’s a win. If his team needs extra motivation, it’s the final home game for 23 seniors on the roster, and if they’re the group he believes they are, they won’t let others do the job for them.
“A lot of times you say on the last game of the season, it’s senior day, let’s win one for the seniors. Let’s send ’em out the right way,” he said. “To me, my message to the seniors is, it’s senior day. You show us how to finish the season. It’s on you. It’s your leadership. It’s your job. Leadership is showing the way, and it’s their job to show this team how you come back and how you finish the season.”