Saturday, August 16, 1997

Fort Collins-- Colorado State's football team underwent its first major scrimmage of preseason practice during a two-hour workout Saturday afternoon.Earlier in the day the rams spent an hour working on special teams and the kicking game, then returned to the field in the afternoon for the scrimmage.

The Rams' scrimmage was cut off at 55 plays, about 20 fewer than head coach Sonny Lubick had scheduled, due to a thunderstorm which hit the area. Lubick said he was pleased overall with the workout, but the Rams have plenty of room for improvement prior to the team's opener Aug. 30 against Nevada (2 p.m.) at Hughes Stadium in Fort Collins.

"I told our team afterward that I liked the effort, but that we had a long way to go and to get better,"said Lubick. "We went into the scrimmage with two intentions: the first was to correct some of our mistakes, and the second was to get a look at some of the other players, play them with the number one unit."

The defense dominated early and late in the scrimmage, with the offense scoring twice in the middle of the workout.

"We were not as crisp on both sides of the ball as we would have liked, but that is always the case the first time you put everything together in a scrimmage,"said Lubick. "Going in, as a defense we wanted to eliminate any big plays, and we did that."

"Defensively, we controlled the gaps. There was not much running room. Offensively we were missing two starting linemen (Steve Dundee, Eric Bailey) and two top reserves, so that hurts your continuity."

Damon Washington, who rushed for 1075 yards last year despite missing the final two-plus games of the 1996 season, carried five times for 43 yards. One of the most impressive players offensively on the day was freshman running back Jason Stout, who gained 47 yards on eight carries to lead all runners.

The two scoring plays both came on passes. Reserve quarterback Ryan Eslinger hit tight end J.D. Radakovich with a five-yard pass for the first score of the day. The other came when starter Moses Moreno found tight end Eli Workman alone on a 15-yard scoring toss.

Moreno, who threw for nearly 3,000 yards last year, completed 11-17passes for 104 yards and the touchdown. Eslinger hit 4-7 for 38 yards, and was intercepted once, by freshman safety Andy Engelstad.

Nate Kvamme and Willie Taylor led the team with six tackles apiece. Adrian Ross tallied the afternoon's only sack.

Lubick said his team will scrimmage either Tuesday (at Hughes Stadium) or Wednesday (Moby practice fields) as the Rams continue work during preseason drills.

"We have to eliminate mistakes,"he said of the progress he expects by the next scrimmage. "And, we have to be more excited and play with emotion."

Eight players, including four listed on the preseason depth chart as starters, missed the scrimmage with minor injuries. Most are expected to return to action early next week.