Rams Grateful to Seniors Who Helped Set Path

FORT COLLINS, Colo. – Without question, the group weathered a fair amount of storms.

They had to navigate more than the inevitable ebbs and flows a college football program encounters during their stay, the wins, losses and injuries. A coaching change. A global pandemic.

"The senior class, they're everything," offensive lineman Ches Jackson said. "They've done nothing but lay a foundation for this program. They've helped us get to where we're at now, and hopefully we can continue to build off what they've done here."

Colorado State will honor 17 players during Saturday's Senior Day pregame ceremony: Cam Butler, Marshaun Cameron, Joe DeLine, Manny Jones, Anthony Koclanakis, Adam Korutz, Jordan Kress, Toby McBride, Trey McBride, Scott Patchan, Joctavis Phillips, Ross Reiter, E.J. Scott, Logan Stewart, Ryan Stonehouse, Barry Wesley and Keith Williams.

A few of them have the opportunity to return to the program due to the extra year granted by the NCAA due to the pandemic last year, and there are a host of others listed as seniors who have already decided to advantage of the opportunity and will wait until next season to make their senior walk at Canvas Stadium.

The moment has already started to hit them. During Tuesday's practice, Toby McBride said was hard to believe it was really happening, that he was in his final week of playing college football or the sport ever again.

He'll miss it, and the players who will remain will miss their presence.

The group has been counted to show the way. Coaching changes are never easy for players who were recruited by one staff and then have to prove themselves to a new group. Some players exited, a few who were considered leaders on the team. New players were added, but through it all, the upperclassmen in the locker room helped the younger players roll with the changes.

Then the pandemic hit, cutting spring fall in half. As it lingered, the talk went from no season, to a spring season, to no season and then a limited fall campaign. For the Rams, even that was cut in half.

To Ty McCullouch, it was a lot to put on the plate of a group of young men, but there were players who created stability for those who remained.

"It's their leadership. They're just all cool guys to be around with, outside and inside of football," McCulloch said. "They've really put their arms around the whole team and really taken charge, and that's' what I love about them.

"In the coaching change, we were struggling with the leadership aspect, because a lot of leaders left, like Adam Prentice and Collin Hill, and Warren Jackson was leaving as well. A lot of guys had to step up. It took a while, but they did and we embraced them as leaders. Ever since then, it's been nice. Without them, we'd be a totally different team right now."

As the new head coach, Steve Addazio was tasked with gaining their trust and then counting on them to help with the transition and set a foundation for the program he wanted to build. There were players who immediately bought in to his mission, others who came along after time.

The transfer portal not only afforded him the chance to fill in gaps, but bring in players who he felt could come in and be leaders from the start. For him, the group will always hold a special place.

"I love these older guys, and I appreciate them so much," Addazio said. "We went through some turbulence, and those guys were extremely loyal and they set a really good standard of work ethic. There wasn't a great one here. They set a great standard for work ethic, on how to take tough coaching and how to grind."

The past two seasons have not played out the way any of them had hoped. The 2020 season of eight games ended up being just four, most of them cancelled not because of issues within their program, but those of others. As Saturday's game with Nevada approaches, the Rams stand at 3-8.

The players will tell you the record is what they've earned, but not a real representation of how much they've grown. To do so, they've had to be willing to come back each and every week and work to get better. The seniors have encouraged them to do so, some in their own separate ways.

"Barry is one of those guys," Jackson said. "Ever since I came in, he kind of took me in. He always has a smile on his face, and he always comes into work. There's nothing in particular, but he's one of those guys who makes you want to come in and get to work."

The Rams have dropped five consecutive games heading into the season finale, some of them in heartbreaking fashion. The losses to Utah State and Boise State, in particular. Against the Aggies, the team had a chance to win at the end. Against the Broncos, a 13-0 lead was erased.

Setbacks like those challenge a team to get back up, but for McCullouch, the ability to do so was a learned behavior.

"There are a lot of memories. What sticks out to me is Toddy Centeio," he said. "That man gets smacked around a lot in the backfield. He's just throwing bombs to us, and I appreciate that a lot. I see him get up and he's messed up. But he just gets up every play and he's ready for the next one. That inspires me every play to just get going."

Because getting up and moving forward is a big part of the game. From play to play, week to week, season to season. Even from era to era.

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