FORT COLLINS — Bodies. Big ones. Seasoned ones. And lots of 'em.

That's the method of operation for Colorado State defensive line coach Jesse Williams, who hopes the Rams' depth, experience and talent along the defensive front translates into consistent pressure on opposing quarterbacks.

"I've always had a firm belief that the fresher a defensive lineman is, the more miles per hour he's playing at, and the more miles per hour a guy has, the more impact he's going to have," Williams said this week as he put the finishing touches on his defensive line before Saturday's opener against Colorado at Invesco Field at Mile High (10 a.m., FSN Rocky Mountain).

"From what we ask our linemen to do, it really helps to have fresh guys, and we have quite a few guys who've played quite a bit."

Williams wouldn't call it an embarrassment of riches — he knows practice performance doesn't always produce game competence — but CSU is blessed with seven players with considerable experience to man the four spots along the defensive front.

Senior end Jesse Nading, a ThunderRidge High School graduate with 28 career starts, is a preseason All-Mountain West Conference selection. Senior Bob Vomhof, junior Wade Landers and sophomore Tommie Hill will share time backing up Nading and manning the other end position.

On the inside, seniors Erik Sandie and Blake Smith will be the starters, but junior Matt Rupp also will be a factor along with several young, promising linemen. Among the up-and-comers are sophomore nose guard James Morehead, who followed Nading at ThunderRidge, and redshirt freshman Cory Macon, an intriguing end prospect from Anchorage, Alaska.

Vomhof and Landers are questionable for Saturday with knee injuries, but Williams hopes the Rams' depth will overcome their possible absences. He said Nading is poised for a special season.

"Last year, with his ankle problem, Jesse was never really better than 80 percent of what he can really do," Williams said. "He was limping around a lot last year, but his ankle is fine now, and, hopefully, we won't have to depend on him as much and play him as many plays. The table is set for him to do some great things this year."

CSU's overall defensive performance improved dramatically from 2005 to 2006, and Williams hopes the linemen can help ratchet up that level even more.

"We have to control the line of scrimmage and make sure, through pressure, we can get off the field on third down," said the ninth- year assistant to coach Sonny Lubick who briefly coached the offensive front in spring before moving back to the defensive side.

"We have to make sure we apply pressure in a lot of different ways, whether it's a sack, a hurry or a hit on the quarterback. We have a lot of versatility among our guys. We have four guys who can play inside or outside, and that's going to help our depth getting into the season and help us get our best guys on the football field."

Williams said he's not sure what to expect from the CU offense in its second year under coach Dan Hawkins but figures the Buffaloes will first try to establish the run.

"I think CU will be pretty balanced, but they definitely want to get their running game going. So it's important for us to set the tone early on that. We're going to have our hands full."

Manning the front

CSU has seven experienced linemen for the four spots along its defensive front.

Player Yr. Ht. Wt. Comment

Jesse Nading Sr. 6-5 263 Should be one of MWC's best linemen

Blake Smith Sr. 6-2 257 Team-best nine tackles for loss in 2006

Erik Sandie Sr. 6-2 289 Will clog up the middle at nose guard

Wade Landers Jr. 6-6 252 Regular part of line rotation in 2006

Tommie Hill So. 6-6 225 Quick, athletic; will play both end spots

Matt Rupp Jr. 6-3 272 Interior lineman led in 2006 with four sacks

Bob Vomhof Sr. 6-3 247 Aggressive, volatile presence on outside

holtzr@RockyMountainNews.com

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