Monday Presser: Rams Look to Maintain Spark Ignited

The first half of the season has come and gone, and it isn’t the place Jay Norvell hoped his Colorado State crew could be sitting at this level, which is 2-4 general. In a number of of these video games, the coach felt all his crew wanted was a spark, one thing to ignite some confidence for the people concerned in addition to the collective.
 
The flint sparked quite a lot of instances within the win over Fresno State. Now the trick is to show the spark into an inferno.
 
“We have to stay focused. We have to do the things that allow us to have a chance to win games, and so that’s how we prepare,” Norvell mentioned Monday at his weekly press convention with Hawaii coming to Canvas Stadium on Saturday for homecoming. “That’s how we observe. I believe the best instance was Robert Edmondson. You know, Coach (Clint) Sintim mentioned Robert had his greatest week of observe, his greatest week of preparation, and he performed super;. made loads of large performs, very athletic.
 
“He played with confidence and decisiveness. I thought one of the biggest plays of the game was the fake punt that they tried at midfield. And Robert just … He did not hesitate. He saw it. He recognized it. He hit it. It was a fantastic job by him. There’s no rocket science to playing well. You have to prepare yourself.”
 
Norvell would later equate the younger linebacker to Hall of Famer Ray Lewis with the forms of impression performs he made, resulting in him incomes the massive hit award. He talked concerning the landing passes Jackson Brousseau threw, all three performs being designed to create mismatches. Norvell got here to tears when speaking about Dagan Myers, who broke his collarbone throughout the recreation, solely to remain on the sphere 4 extra performs. He did not wish to inform anyone he was harm, the coach mentioned.
 
Teach the plan, present what’s anticipated, execute the plan.
 
Finally, his Rams had one thing  good come from their work, with a protection creating not solely turnovers, however offensive alternatives they cashed in on every time.
 
“Our kids have been working hard, and they haven’t had a lot to show for it. But that comes from being prepared and executing,” he mentioned. “I think our kids have been well prepared. We’ve prepared them for these opportunities. But the execution, I think one of the things we’ve done is we’ve adjusted to our players the last few weeks. We’re constantly adjusting to what they can do well, and we’re starting to get on the right page with that. Obviously, we would have liked to have gotten there quicker, but we have to continue to build on the positive things that we did do.”
 
Mutual Admiration
 
After each groups received video games this weekend, Norvell and Timmy Chang of Hawaii texted. Now Norvell has blocked him for the week.
 
“We already had our little love fest. We’re done,” Norvell quipped. “You know, he is like a brother to me. I’m really proud of him. And, you know, we pull for each other. And I wish we didn’t have to play each other. I really do. But it is what it is. And we’ll compete.”
 
The bond between the 2 runs deep, because it does with the a part of the CSU employees which was with him at Nevada. It was there Chang was considered one of them as an offensive coach for 5 seasons, working with inside receiver, tight ends after which the receiving group.
 
When Norvell got here to Fort Collins, Chang got here with him to be the wideouts coach. When the Hawaii job got here open – the place Chang is a Rainbow Warrior legend after setting NCAA passing data – Norvell pitched him for the job. Six weeks later, each have been head coaches.
 
“He’s real. He’s a person. He’s unselfish,” Norvell mentioned of the values he admires in Chang. “I believe the standard that I dislike most is selfishness. I hate it in folks. I hate it in gamers. I hate it in coaches. I hate it in a crew. You know, we play the last word crew sport, and it’s important to be unselfish to essentially play it correctly. And that is what Timmy is. He’s a pacesetter. He’s actual.
 
“The players respond to him because they know he cares about them. And so that’s why as soon as I heard that job was open, I called that AD and told him, there’s only one guy you need to hire, and that’s Timmy Chang.”
 
Chang has his crew within the thick of issues, sitting at 5-2 general, 2-1 in Mountain West play having received two in a row. The final time Hawaii certified for a bowl recreation was 2021, and that was cancelled because of the pandemic.
 
Here and There
 
Colorado State performed its first homecoming recreation on Nov. 18, 1922, a 19-0 victory over Mines. Since then, there have solely been three seasons when the sport was not performed – twice throughout World War II (1943-44) and in 2020, throughout the pandemic. … Last season, the crew performed the 100^th homecoming recreation, a 17-6 win over New Mexico. The Rams are 53-46-1 all time in homecoming video games. … CSU is 4-0 towards Hawaii in homecoming contests.