Exactly how CSU volleyball happy Steve Addazio's requirements in 2020

Take a look at this article by Eddie Herz from The Denver Post talking about several important events this week. Eddie Herz recently posted this and I thought it was worth publishing on this website.

Steve Addazio was never shy when it came to describing his intentions throughout the 2020 season.

Nor did the head coach bite his tongue when asked about the precise manner in which he hoped to achieve those goals both in the short and long term at Colorado State.

Though CSU’s first-year chief of command routinely alluded to his personal blueprint for success throughout the abbreviated campaign, there was one instance in which he delineated his model piece by piece –– leaving nothing up for interpretation.

“Our plan to win, number one, starts with playing great defense,” Addazio said on Nov. 9 before facing Boise State. “Number two, the ability to run the football. Number three, win the turnover battle. Number four, win the special teams battle. And number five, score in the red zone because it’s hard to get there. When you get there, you’ve got to get points.”

Now, with the Rams’ prematurely concluded season in the rearview mirror, it’s time to examine the extent to which CSU satisfied each portion of Addazio’s blueprint in 2020.

Granted, the first-year coaching staff undoubtedly deserves a bit of a break, considering the Rams lost half of their eight-game schedule to cancellation during the unprecedented season.

A measly four games played may not be enough to draw any concrete conclusions. Nevertheless, the sample is still worth dissecting. So, just how many of Addazio’s boxes did the Rams check off?

No. 1. “Our plan to win, number one, starts with playing great defense.”

More than any position group, CSU’s defensive line delivered game in and game out amid an all-around compelling season.

Coach Antoine Smith’s unit arguably represented the program’s most significant bright spot upon bursting through the line of scrimmage at a tremendous rate. Led by Manny Jones and Scott Patchan (the Mountain West’s sacks per game leader), CSU currently leads the Football Bowl Subdivision programs in tackles for loss per contest (10.5).

The Rams’ deep, veteran-led defensive front did the majority of the dirty work in constructing the program’s best rushing defense of the 21st century, which allowed only 108.5 yards per game to finish 17th in the FBS.

Simply put, CSU’s defensive front carried the defense at virtually every juncture of the season as an often-undermanned defensive backfield proved inconsistent.

Still, Dequan Jackson and the linebackers also pulled their weight as CSU managed to hold its own in several key facets –– such as on third down, where the defense enjoyed noticeable progress.

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After Fresno State converted an alarming 10-of-18 third-down attempts in week one, the Rams forced fourth down at a 65% rate in their remaining three games combined.

Though CSU technically allowed the second-most points per game in the Mountain West, those numbers were a bit misleading. If you subtract the plethora of special teams points surrendered, which we’ll get more into later, the Rams actually ranked in the league’s top half in scoring defense (27 points per contest).

It may not have all been pretty. CSU’s defense performed atrociously in the red zone while, as previously alluded to, the secondary featured shaky tackling and big-play susceptibility.

Regardless, with Smith’s unit stealing the show, the defense gave fans significantly more reasons to smile than frown in 2020.

Score one for the new staff.

Grade: A-

No. 2: “Number two, the ability to run the football.”

It’s as if Colorado State’s identity flipped upside down after Addazio replaced Mike Bobo.

Over the former coach’s tenure, CSU operated as an offense-heavy squad that commonly needed to win in shootout fashion amid consistent defensive struggles.

Suddenly, the Rams debatably became a squad that relied on its defense most in 2020. Evidently, there was a different feel to CSU football this season. However, one consistent concern from Bobo’s latter stages snuck its way into Addazio’s introductory chapter.

En route to finishing in the bottom third of the Mountain West in rushing for the third consecutive campaign, the Rams still couldn’t figure out how to run the ball.

Despite dual threat quarterback Todd Centeio proving his capabilities on the ground, manufacturing a sound run game tends to require more than just a scrambling gunslinger. CSU desperately needed some level of potency out of the backfield, and they didn’t obtain it in 2020.

Senior Marcus McElroy commenced the year in excellent position to handle the bulk of the touches. But yet again, the burly veteran struggled to exploit openings and shed tackles upon averaging 2.7 yards off 41 touches.

In light of McElroy’s struggles, a split backfield emerged and became increasingly apparent each week as A’Jon Vivens outshined his counterpart. In fact, with 210 yards off a team-most 49 touches to his name, Vivens performed better than CSU could have asked for –– given the Denver native solely served as a wideout before 2020.

Vivens provides some light at the end of the tunnel for the Rams’ rushing attack. As does sophomore Jaylen Thomas’ expected return to action next year after missing the recent season’s entirety.

Regardless, there’s no other way to put it. From the offensive line to the running backs, the Rams will most definitely have their work cut out for them on the ground after stumbling to a league-worst 3.2 yards per attempt.

Addazio has made a name for building formidable, ground-and-pound oriented offenses. Well, with more of his recruits in the mix and more time to build cohesion up front, perhaps the coach’s strengths will begin reaching fruition.

Grade: D

No. 3: “Number three, win the turnover battle.”

Safe to say, CSU wound up on the winning end of 2020’s turnover battle through 16 quarters played. The Rams’ slightly positive plus-one takeaway margin constituted the fifth-best differential among all Mountain West foes.

Chalk that up as a victory. Only a slight win, though.

Given CSU’s quarterback scuffles amid somewhat of a revolving door under center, as well as an unreliable run game, the Rams have to be happy they didn’t cough up the football more often during the shortened schedule.

The offense did its part in avoiding costly giveaways, which could have helped pay immense dividends if the defense found a way to corral more takeaways.

Largely amounting to the squad’s lone victory of the season, the Rams dominated the turnover battle 3-0 against Wyoming while pouncing on two fumbles and taking an interception all the way for a score. But the Border War besting didn’t tell the campaign’s turnover margin tale.

Overall, upon posting zero takeaways in half of their games, CSU’s defense failed to take advantage of an offense that surprisingly steered clear of giving the ball away. It’s as simple as that.

Grade: C+

No. 4: “Number four, win the special teams battle.”

Rather than hiring a special teams coach or bestowing the duties on a current assistant, Addazio elected to handle CSU’s third phase personally.

Some would certainly categorize the sideline operator’s verdict as peculiar. But handling special teams operations is nothing new for Addazio after doing so at Boston College. And at first, there was no reason to question his decision as the Rams opened the year with a pair of solid special teams showings.

There’s a chance many fans didn’t even realize Addazio was coaching special teams through the first two contests. After all, it’s an area of the game that most don’t fully pay attention to unless things go wrong.

Well, observers surely learned who was calling the special teams shots thereafter as things took a disastrous turn upon surrendering five special teams touchdowns in their final two contests combined.

Though dreadful down the stretch, Addazio preached that the special teams problems weren’t a product of any scheme or design flaws. Instead, the coach believed the root of the issues involved the constant shuffling of players amid ongoing contact-tracing absences.

He definitely has a point. Special teams is all about repetition, which CSU lost the luxury of while being forced to rotate veteran special teams assets out and younger players in. The Rams weren’t the only team in the nation dealing with this issue, though. Other teams figured out how to stay above water, and CSU did not.

Aside from the abysmal kick/punt coverage, the Rams performed adequately on special teams.

Ryan Stonehouse continued seamlessly booming long punts inside the 20. Highlighted by his game-winning field goal versus Wyoming, true freshman Robert Liss displayed rare poise at times despite his inexperience. Former walk-on Isaiah Pannunzio flexed his explosiveness while frequently granting the Rams a short field in the return game.

Even so, CSU hurt itself more than it helped its cause on special teams as its coverage undeniably spoiled the Rams’ third phase as a whole.

Grade: D

No. 5: “Number five, score in the red zone because it’s hard to get there. When you get there, you’ve got to get points.”

Colorado State finished the season as the Mountain West’s least-efficient squad in the red zone, cashing in on just 8-of-13 opportunities inside the opposing 20.

However, if not for three missed field goals from Liss, the Rams would have ranked within the league’s top third in terms of percentage scored. And we’ll cut the freshman specialist some slack.

CSU’s inability to find paydirt constitutes the real issue here as less than half (six) of the team’s red zone trips resulted in a touchdown. Despite a lackluster run game, there’s truly no excuse for that, especially considering the established explosiveness of both tight end Trey McBride and wideout Dante Wright.

Beyond how the Rams performed inside the 20, the struggles to reach the red zone were equally discouraging for the bunch led by offensive coordinator Joey Lynch. The squad simply didn’t manufacture enough scoring chances upon averaging less than 26 minutes of possession time per contest.

Perhaps rotating Patrick O’Brien and Centeio under center restricted the offense from finding a rhythm. Or maybe it was the broken rushing attack that accounted for CSU’s scoring struggles most. No matter how you wish to look at it, the Rams fell way below expectations offensively. And, of course, in the red zone.

Grade: C-