Tag: csu football

Colorado State Football: 2020 Offensive Preview

Take a look at the Colorado State offense heading into this potentially turbulent 2020 season.

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Colorado State Football: 2020 Offensive Preview

Steve Addazio looks to bring his hard hitting offensive style to the Mountain West.

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Can the Rams offense take that next step?

The Colorado State Rams offense in 2019 looked like they were going to get back to the offensive juggernaut days of Mike Bobo’s early tenure at CSU. Marvin Kinsey was dismissed from the program mid way through the season and the offense took a big step backwards as the running game was never the same.

Out went Mike Bobo and in came Steve Addazio. The big question Rams’ fans will have is will CSU become a ground and pound team. “That’s a building block to winning a championship…You have to have the ability to run the football,” Addazio said in his introductory press conference. He later clarified that he is oriented towards the talent he has on the roster as a coach.

Now lets breakdown the talent Addazio and Offensive Coordinator Joey Lynch will have at their disposal.

Quarterbacks

Incumbent starter Patrick O’Brien was thrust into the starting lineup when Collin Hill tore his ACL against Arkansas. O’Brien finished 2019 completing 62% of his passes for 2,803 yards, 13 touchdowns, and seven interceptions. His biggest strength was his arm strength. O’Brien could throw the deep ball or throw a fastball through a tight window.

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O’Brien’s biggest weakness last season was his pocket presence. The biggest example of this was O’Brien being sacked eight times against Air Force. He had a tendency to step up into pressure instead of away from pressure.

With the departure of Collin Hill (South Carolina) and Judd Erickson (transferred out), the Rams were left with only one scholarship QB in Justice McCoy. McCoy was given multiple opportunities to stake his claim on the depth chart, but could never really make his mark as he struggled to grasp Bobo’s playbook.

This led Addazio to recruit Todd Centeio as a graduate transfer. Centeio in backup duty for Temple last year completed 34 of 51 passes for 444 yards and five touchdowns. He also added 155 yards on 47 rushing attempts. Centeio is more a dual-threat quarterback to O’Brien’s pocket passer, but could still find his way onto the field in special packages for the Rams.

Running Backs

Marcus McElroy is the Rams leading returning rusher with 80 carries for 370 yards and three touchdowns in 2019. McElroy struggled with injuries in the early part of 2019 and never really produced when he became healthy.

McElroy is a big running back at 5’11”, 230 lbs. He also has speed on the outside. He likes to be more of a speed guy, but he needs to run between the tackles more for the Rams to be successful.

Next on the depth chart would be Jaylen Thomas and Christian Hunter. Coming out of fall camp, Hunter was expected to play a bigger part in the Rams offense, but it was Thomas who grabbed the reigns throughout the season. Thomas finished with 68 carries for 222 yards and three touchdowns, to go along with 14 receptions for 113 yards.

Don’t count out redshirt freshman Tyreese Jackson or true freshman Kyjuan Herndon. Both had great prep careers, with Herndon rushing for 1,836 yards and 15 touchdowns his senior year. The Rams have talent at the running back position, however, it remains to be seen if they can take advantage of that talent.

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Report: Kirby Smart tried to get Mike Bobo

Per a report, Georgia football coach tried to hire Mike Bobo, who ended going to coach the South Carolina Gamecocks offense.

Former Georgia offensive coordinator and Colorado State head coach Mike Bobo became South Carolina’s new offensive coordinator and quarterback coach this week.

Bobo agreed to a two year contract with South Carolina on Tuesday.

Bobo, a former Georgia quarterback from 1993-97, worked for the Dawgs from 2001-2014, where he manufactured some incredible offenses and more than a few of the program’s best passers of all-time.

Given Georgia’s offensive struggles the past few seasons and the lack of certainty currently at offensive coordinator with James Coley, of course rumors spread about Bobo returning to his alma mater and coaching under his former teammate and friend Kirby Smart.

And though there were no actual reports of Smart trying to land his old teammate in Athens, there was some truth to those rumors according to to Andy Staples of the Athletic, who mentioned Smart’s efforts on Thursday.

“I think Smart will try to change the offense,” Staples wrote. “The question is how far he’ll be willing to go. (Smart) tried to hire (Bobo) … but South Carolina coach Will Muschamp won the tug-of-war between former Georgia teammates to hire their former teammate Bobo. Bobo would have opened up the offense …”

Muschamp is another Georgia guy. He, Smart and Bobo are all good friends and all overlapped during their playing careers as Bulldogs.

Bobo, 45, was fired by the Rams last Thursday after 3-9 and 4-8 seasons the previous two years. He started out with three consecutive years of 7-6 records.

South Carolina finished 4-8 overall and 3-5 in SEC play, under fourth-year head coach Will Muschamp.

Staples went on to write about coaches that he thinks would be a good fit to replace Coley, if Smart were to let him go.

You can read it all here.

Former Georgia QB and OC takes position at SEC rival

Former Georgia football QB and OC Mike Bobo has taken the offensive coordinator position at South Carolina.

Former Georgia offensive coordinator and Colorado State head coach Mike Bobo is set to become South Carolina’s new offensive coordinator and quarterback coach.

The former Georgia quarterback was with the Dawgs from 2001-14 and helped set numerous team offensive records during his tenure.

Bobo agreed to a two year contract with South Carolina on Tuesday.

“I’m excited to bring Mike on board,” said Will Muschamp. “He is a proven and respected play-caller and quarterbacks coach, who I have faced many times over the years. Over the last 13 years, his offenses have averaged over 31 points and 424 yards per game while converting over 43 percent on third down. He also has a long relationship with both (running backs coach) Thomas Brown and (wide receivers coach) Bryan McClendon, so it will be a smooth transition for our offensive staff.”

Bobo, 45, was fired by the Rams last Thursday after 3-9 and 4-8 seasons the previous two years. He started out with three consecutive years of 7-6 records.

South Carolina finished 4-8 overall and 3-5 in SEC play, under fourth-year head coach Will Muschamp.

 

Former Georgia QB and OC takes position at SEC rival

Former Georgia football OC and Colorado State head coach Mike Bobo is set to become South Carolina’s new offensive coordinator. 

Former Georgia offensive coordinator and Colorado State head coach Mike Bobo is set to become South Carolina’s new offensive coordinator.

The former Georgia quarterback was with the Dawgs from 2001-14 and helped set numerous team offensive records during his tenure.

Bobo, 45, was fired by the Rams last Thursday after 3-9 and 4-8 seasons the previous two years. He started out with three consecutive years of 7-6 records.

South Carolina finished 4-8 overall and 3-5 in SEC play, under fourth-year head coach Will Muschamp.

Former Georgia QB talks Mike Bobo to UGA possibility

Former Georgia football QB on the idea of Mike Bobo returning to coach at UGA, or going to South Carolina after stepping away from CSU.

Mike Bobo was one of the most successful offensive coordinators in the history of Georgia football before leaving to become head coach at Colorado State in 2015.

His tenure with the Rams came to an end this week, with CSU athletic director Joe Parker announcing that Bobo and the university reached a mutual separation agreement.

Bobo, a former Georgia quarterback from 1993-97, worked for the Dawgs from 2001-2014, where he manufactured some incredible offenses and more than a few of the program’s best passers of all-time.

Given Georgia’s offensive struggles the past few seasons and the lack of certainty currently at offensive coordinator with James Coley calling the shots, of course rumors will spread about Bobo returning to his alma mater and coaching under his former teammate and friend Kirby Smart.

However, former Georgia quarterback Hutson Mason, who played for Bobo in Athens, is not so sure it’s such a good idea for the former coach to return back home to UGA.

“I’m not for sure Bobo wants to come back to Athens,” Mason said on 107.5 The Game on Thursday. “You know he is very good friends with Kirby Smart, and obviously he has deep roots and deep ties at Georgia, but you know he left Georgia, and this was something he told me specifically is, he needed to kind of spread his wings and get away.

Mason mentioned the concern of doing business with a family member, noting how close Bobo and Smart are.

“I don’t know if you’ve ever had a family dynamic where you’ve done business with a family member, but I have,” Mason said. “It didn’t turn out well. And I think part of that is in play here with Kirby (Smart) and Bobo where they’re like, you know, if something did go wrong, do we want to go down that route?”

South Carolina, a team that is actually in the market for an offensive coordinator, has been linked to Bobo as well. However, the position under Will Muschamp is not the sexiest of ideas seeing as how he has had five offensive coordinators in eight seasons as a head coach.

Muschamp is another Georgia guy. He, Smart and Bobo are all good friends and all overlapped during their playing careers as Bulldogs.

On the possibility of Bobo going to South Carolina to coach under Muschamp, Mason was pessimistic about what it would do to Bobo’s career, using the term “career suicide” for anyone that accepts the job in Columbia.

He did have kind things to say about his former coach, though.

“If coach Muschamp can convince him to get to South Carolina, South Carolina fans should be excited,” Mason said, “because he is a heck of a play-caller. And he’s a heck of a recruiter. I just think he’s an incredible schemer. I think he understands football.”

Then there’s Bryan McClendon, another Georgia guy who played for the Bulldogs from 2002-05.  He was offensive coordinator at South Carolina for two seasons before being stripped of his play-calling duties last week. He does still remain on the South Carolina coaching staff, though, but for how long?

His coaching career at Georgia was wildly successful, overseeing the running backs for a majority of his tenure at Georgia and helping to establish as RBU with some great ball carriers. Could McClendon be a guy that Smart looks at bringing in as OC for the Dawgs?

Basically, if you take one thing away from this story, it should be that the Georgia coaching tree is loaded.