Rams football on life support
From the beginning, spending $220 million on a football stadium Fort Collins never really wanted and Colorado State didn’t really need was an extravagant ego trip, so the Rams could brag about inviting the CU Buffs to campus for a game.
It’s a stadium that made very little football or economic sense before the coronavirus struck and made it less likely fans would choose to walk across the street, much less make the drive from Denver, to see the Rams block and tackle.
And now, shy of its third birthday, the stadium glistens in the sun like a great white whale, as the clock ticks toward Sept. 5, when the Rams are scheduled to host the Buffs at a Labor Day weekend party only COVID-19 knows how many revelers might be allowed to attend.
“For the financial peace and near term well-being of the department, the ability to open that game with a near-capacity or a capacity crowd would be very helpful to us,” CSU athletic director Joe Parker said Wednesday.
How big is the season-opener against the Buffs? It might not only make or break the CSU’s football season, it could be the beginning of the end for the Rams as a big-time football program.
With the asking price for tickets on the secondary market as high as $500-plus, the showdown against Colorado is the only game that really matters on the CSU sports calendar.
“There’s certainly a lot of interest in that game. We haven’t played CU here in Fort Collins since 1996,” Parker said.
Almost half of the Rams’ annual athletic budget is subsidized by student fees and institutional support, money that might be more enjoyably wasted if current CSU system chancellor Tony Frank had bought everybody on the Fort Collins campus a lifetime supply of pizza instead of chasing football glory. It’s folly to believe the cuddly little Rams will ever sit at the big-boy table alongside Ohio State or Alabama.
What part of the idea this state doesn’t give a hoot about college football does a smart man like Frank fail to understand? For $220 million, the least CSU could have done is build a facility as
Except for one series at right cornerback, Holder played safety in the second half. The playcalling was basic — which hash the football was placed dictated if Holder was the “high” (downfield) or “low” (close to the line) safety. But what could be intriguing to Fangio and defensive coordinator Ed Donatell is when Holder covered the slot receiver.
The biggest challenge about moving to safety?
“There’s a lot more communication,” Holder said. “You’re making calls down to the linebackers and outside to the cornerbacks and to the safety across from you.”
One bonus for Holder in the learning process: He is treating 2020 like his seventh year in Fangio’s defense, not his second like other returning teammates.
“Vic coached at Stanford in 2010 (as defensive coordinator) and the defense he installed, it’s really been the same there,” he said. “I’ve had my fair share of running the same defense.”
At Stanford, Holder was limited to 12 combined games in 201617 because of shoulder and ACL injuries. He played every game as a senior (59 tackles/10 pass break-ups) and signed with the Broncos after last year’s draft.
Organized team activities and mandatory minicamp would have allowed Holder to get in a safety rhythm before camp. But the coronavirus shutdown sent him home to the San Diego area. The Broncos will wrap up their offseason program next week.
“I haven’t had a chance to go back (to Denver); hopefully it’s sooner rather than later,” Holder said.
The sooner training camp opens, the better chance Holder will have to make the team. He needs more game reps at safety, period.
“I’m still learning and trying to understand the whole defense from a safety’s perspective,” he said. “I have some great teammates and leaders who do a good job of asking questions in the meetings so I learn from them, guys like Kareem and Justin and (cornerback) Bryce Callahan who are familiar with the defense and have experience in the league.”