FORT COLLINS — To break up the monotony of bye week, Colorado State coach Jim McElwain plans to stage a full-contact scrimmage on Thursday — primarily involving the scout teams, made up of redshirts and reserves.
“We’ll get some officials out here and try to make it as good as we can and get a good look at some of the guys who are going to be the future of the program,” McElwain said after the Rams’ Tuesday practice.
McElwain cut the practice short by about 15 minutes when storm clouds began to gather over the campus, raising the possibility of lightning. “The guys didn’t want to take the trail of tears into the indoor (practice facility), so I was being a nice guy,” he said, smiling wryly.
The mid-week practice also involved starting to focus more on preparation for Boston College, the Rams’ next opponent on Sept. 27 at Chestnut Hill.
“We had three periods of Boston College work today, really heavy on special teams,” McElwain said.
The Rams also are using reserve running backs to imitate Boston College quarterback Tyler Murphy, who rushed for 191 yards in the Eagles’ Saturday victory over No. 9 Southern California. “You can never simulate that speed and quickness,” McElwain said. “There’s a reason the guy (Murphy) was at the University of Florida to begin with. But we’re going to face some of that as we keep rolling in the season, so I look at it as a great opportunity for us to get better.”
Terry Frei: tfrei@denverpost.com or twitter.com/TFrei
