Mike Bobo speaks openly and honestly about his quarterback situation in Fort Collins. Even though Nick Stevens, who led the Rams to a bowl berth in 2015, is returning (along with his 2,815 career passing yards and 22 touchdowns), Coach Bobo is leaving the competition for the starting job open for competition.
“Any time you have competition it’s healthy,” Bobo said on The Big Show on Mile High Sports AM 1340 on Tuesday in advance of CSU’s annual Green and Gold Spring Game on Saturday.
“The guys have done a great job respecting each other and working their tails off for this football team. Nick [Stevens] obviously did improve last year and played very well for us at the end of the season and has improved this spring.”
But there’s another familiar face to Bobo in the running for the starting job – a transfer from Georgia (where Bobo had coached as an assistant and coordinator since 2001 prior to taking the head job with the Rams).
“Bringing in Faton [Bauta] from the University of Georgia, who I had a relationship with there, he was never a starter for us [while I was there]. He was third string. He had a brief moment last year when he was a starter when I was here. I feel, still, he’s got a very high ceiling, just because he hasn’t played a lot and hasn’t had a lot of reps.”
Bauta is a graduate transfer who attempted just 38 passes for the Bulldogs. He played meaningful time in only one game, a loss to Florida in 2015. Still, Bobo thinks there is promise with the 22-year-old who graduated early and still has a year of eligibility with the Rams.
“He’s had a good spring as well. His first scrimmage was not a very good one in my opinion, but this past week he had two excellent practices and had a very good scrimmage on Saturday.”
During the interview, Bobo tipped his hand about the dynamic Bauta brings that might have been missing with the Rams offense during his first year in Fort Collins.
“Faton gives us a little bit more dimension from the quarterback position with the ability to run, some zone read concepts and some quarterback run and just not be a statue at times and move in the pocket and extend plays, which we’re going to have to do.
“We’re not going to be able to line up and outperform everybody based on talent. We’re going to have to do some things coaching-wise to give us an advantage and he’s doing a little bit of that.”
That doesn’t mean Bauta’s got the job quite yet. After all, Stevens did complete more than 60 percent of his passes and compile a 138.7 passer rating in 2015.
“it’s still a battle and both guys are doing extremely well,” Bobo said.
“I’m anxious to see how they’re going to progress and how they’re going to compete. Scrimmages are one thing – the Spring Game is a scrimmage, too, but it’s a little bit different when there’s fans in the stands, families will be there, the band will be there. There’s a little bit more pressure and I want to see how guys respond to that as well.”
The pressure will ratchet up on Saturday. Fans in Denver can hear all the action on Mile High Sports AM 1340, the new radio home of the Rams in Denver.
Listen to the full conversation with Bobo, including recruiting talk, his southern drawl and getting Jim McElwain’s mail, in the podcast below.
https://soundcloud.com/milehighsports/4-19-16-the-big-show-talks-with-csu-football-coach-mike-bobo-about-the-spring-game
Catch The Big Show every weekday from 2p-4p on Mile High Sports AM 1340 or stream live any time for the best local coverage of what’s new and what’s next in Colorado sports from Denver’s largest sports talk lineup.