For four years as Alabama’s offensive coordinator, Colorado State coach Jim McElwain was part of one of the most venomous rivalries in college football — Alabama vs. Auburn in the Iron Bowl.
“I’m not sure that one I came from was healthy,” McElwain said this week in advance of the Rocky Mountain Showdown. “There were some deep-rooted things that go a long ways on that one. And yet, to the two teams, they were two teams out there competing and at the end of the day, they shook each other’s hands and had respect for what each other did. I think sometimes the periphery gets carried away in the rivalry.
“I know our guys have a ton of respect for what they do (in Boulder), and they know a lot of their players. Shoot, we’ve tried to recruit a lot of those players that they’ve gotten, so there is familiarity that way. So I think at the end of the day, you shake each other’s hands.”
Yes, in many ways, although there is plenty of byplay between the two fan bases about Trustafarians, Dirty Hippies, the cop driving, the truth in the lyrics of Fum’s Song, farm chores and livestock, this is more of a civil, nonleague rivalry than a civil war.
This week, McElwain has made more of a concerted effort than in his first two seasons to stake out the role of the underdog program playing a team from a power five conference.
“Shoot, they’re a Pac-12 team,” he said. “They’ve got all the stuff that we don’t have, all right? So are we going to use that as an excuse? No. We’re going to do what we do and go out and play the game, and if we’ve got a bunch of guys who refuse to get out of the tunnel, then we’re going to be in trouble. But I think our guys will walk out of the tunnel and go see what happens.”
McElwain’s teams come into his third Showdown with a 1-1 record against CU. The loss was last year, when CU’s Paul Richardson seemed invisible and caught two long touchdown passes for the Buffaloes, and when the Buffs’ Greg Henderson returned a Kapri Bibbs fumble for a touchdown in the fourth quarter.
“When you let the fastest guy in the state of Colorado get open like that, no good things happen,” McElwain said.
He also mentioned dropped passes and penalties, then added: “But they took it to us and won the game.”
Possible keys to this game will be how the Rams’ retooled offensive line plays, with tackle Ty Sambrailo the only returning starter, and whether one of the CSU running backs — Alabama transfer Dee Hart, JC transfer Treyous Jarrells, true freshman Deron Thompson or junior Jasen Oden Jr. — grabs the featured ballcarrier role that eventually was Bibbs’ last season.
McElwain said he had “total confidence” in his new offensive line. “They’ll go out and play their tails off. But I’m sure there will be some first-game jitters for some guys. There will be some missed assignments and communications, just because that’s the nature. I think the key is how we overcome the negative. Things are going to happen in a game, and there’s going to be some adversity. It’s how you handle adversity.
“In last year’s game, we never overcame any of those situations. This year, in a first-game scenario, those are the things that we need to make sure we take care of.”
Terry Frei: tfrei@denverpost.com or twitter.com/TFrei
