Rams miss leader, come out tough in practice

The Rams started practice this week minus one of their most

experienced defensive players. Eric Pauly’s career at CSU is over.

A knee injury has finished his senior season early and he will have

to watch as the football team tries to overcome its 2-3 record.

“It’s a huge loss for the football team,” said head coach Sonny

Lubick, in his weekly press conference. “He’s the player you want

on your team but as (Pauly) says, that’s football.”

Stepping up to fill the weakside linebacker position is the

6-foot-1, 221-pound sophomore from Arlington, Texas, Courtney

Jones. Senior middle linebacker, and Pauly’s roommate, Drew Wood

has complete confidence in the young replacement.

“You hope you can go through the season without any injuries but

that just doesn’t happen,” Wood said. “The fact is Courtney Jones

is going to be a good player; he’s no Eric Pauly yet, but who

is?”

Tuesday was the Rams’ first practice since losing to Mountain

West Conference rivals Utah on Saturday. The intensity showed with

all the players looking to prove a point. Wood said that it’s

important for the older players to lead by example.

“Talk is cheap,” Wood said. “I could come out here and say we’re

gonna beat (Fresno State) on Saturday, but if you come out hard and

work hard then the younger guys will follow suit.”

Both sides of the ball have the attitude that if they work hard

in practice, it’s going to pay off. The players have noted that one

of the biggest differences between this season and last season is

the inability to win close games.

They believe that, by coming out to practice, working hard and

transferring that hard work onto the football field, they can

change that.

“I think we’re upbeat, we had a really good practice today,”

said senior quarterback Bradlee Van Pelt, after practice Tuesday.

“Obviously we’re disappointed, we want to win and we expect

ourselves to win.”

Van Pelt said that the players just want to get back on the

field. Regardless of how tired they all are from Saturday’s game

they just want to prove to themselves as well as everyone else that

they can win.

They will have their chance when they face the Fresno State

Bulldogs (3-2) Saturday for CSU’s homecoming game. The game starts

at 1 p.m. at Sonny Lubick Field at Hughes Stadium, following the

annual parade that starts at 9 a.m.