The hardest form of competition comes against your allies.
The annual Colorado University football Spring Game was everything it hoped to be and then some. Hard hitting football, position battles on display and an increasing desire for September to come sooner.
It was Maroon vs White in which coaches from both sides selected players in a draft style format to form the two teams. Team Maroon ended up coming away with the dominating 37-14 victory. The quarterback battle was the highlight of the game as Aaron Howard, Hayden Bollinger and Rope Ruel all performed to gain an edge heading into the summer.
“First of all, it was a great day,” Head Coach Russ Martin said. “I wanted them to compete and I wanted them to have fun. We got some playmakers and that’s the good thing.”
Aaron Howard, who redshirted last year as a freshman, was one of the three quarterbacks under center for Team Maroon as Bollinger and transfer Jack King were the other two. Howard had a close to perfect day as the Chandler, AZ native found Peter Anderson for a 80-yard plus touchdown pass to start off the day.
Howard led a few commanding drives throughout the course of the game in which he walked into the endzone for a touchdown run shortly after his first touchdown throw. It was noticeable how athletic and talented he can be when he gets outside of the pocket. Howard saw the playing field only a few short times last year when Eystin Salum was injured, however, the ability and the leadership capability were obvious watching from the sideline.
“The best thing for me has been working on my footwork,” Howard said. “Going over my reads was consistent and knowing what the defense was doing at all times so I was never confused. I think it was just a great day.”
The biggest surprise of the day was Hayden Bollinger. The 6’2, 230-pound quarterback only went down to the turf when he wanted to. Bollinger stands above the rest of the QB’s in stature and can deliver a hit running the ball as good as any other skilled position on the roster. There were a few occasions in which he would roll out of the pocket, get rocked by two linebackers, but still managed to stay on his feet and get three to five more yards after contact.
“Coming from Vegas I ran a triple-option offense I was the lead blocker 99 percent of the time,” Bollinger said. “Coming here running the spread, I’m definitely not scared to lower my shoulder and get some contact.”
Rope Ruel also didn’t fail to impress as the senior had a touchdown pass while also making some good reads downfield into some dangerous coverage but still managed to complete the difficult passes.
Martin said earlier on in the spring that he would not be naming a starter until the fall and Saturday proved why it will be such a hard decision. It truly is some healthy competition going on between the trio of QBs. Come September, the Maverick offense could be seeing the use of multiple quarterbacks throughout the games and then playing the hot hand when the fourth quarter comes around.
“Those guys are extremely close,” Martin said. “They help each other out…they are an absolute blessing to coach. The game is important to all those guys, they love playing the game but they are competing extremely hard to be the guy.”
Some of the most consistent playmakers on the day were the tighends. Players like Andy Ritter and Dagan Rienks are going to be solid go-to’s for whatever quarterback is under center this season and it seemed as if all the tight ends who played Saturday were on the receiving end of the ball at some point.
“Those guys are players and they are really good blockers, they also have good hands,” Martin said. “They’re gonna be threats as receivers.”
The secondary is looking rather upbeat as well. Despite losing key players like Antonio Clark due to graduation, the CMU defense is not lacking in coverage defensive talent. Chase Elliot and Devante Loggins both had an interception while Damar’ren Mitchell will look to take a key leadership role heading into the season.
Overall takeaways? None of the quarterbacks who are competing for the starting position had a bad day which will give any coach confidence that any choice is not the wrong choice. Also, the offensive line, despite their young age, protected significantly well while the defensive line defended the run attack consistently throughout the game.
Fall ball will kick off as soon as the players report back to school. CMU’s first game of the 2019 season will be on Sept. 7 against South Dakota Mines in Rapid City. The first game at Stocker of the new year will be against Eastern New Mexico on Sept. 14.
