The hopes and dreams of Colorado State football may not imminently lie within Jordan Noyes and Paddy Turner, but as the season stretches on, CSU may find itself in a situation where it does. Fret not — because they’ve both been there and done that.
“Because of their maturity and because of their intelligence, we can do a lot of different things,” Special Teams Coordinator and Assistant Coach Tommy Perry said. “We can attack those last-minute type scenarios with a lot more confidence and with a lot more arrows in our quiver than we had even last year.”
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Maturity and veteran savvy become irreplaceable in moments when a game — or a season — might be on the line, and all eyes fixate on just one player.
“(Being so experienced) brings a level of understanding that you can just relax,” Noyes said. “Especially in those moments where there’s a lot on the line and you’re needed. I think Paddy and I, just speaking to the young guys for sure, definitely (have the) experience for them to know that you can just come and relax and you’ll be OK.”
Special teams undoubtedly take an incredible amount of mental fortitude. The moments faced by those specialists often coincide with the moments when the lights blaze the brightest.
While training, the body is undoubtedly important; in those moments, having the proper training for the psyche is nonnegotiable.
“Perry’s a big advocate for meditation,” Noyes said. “We’ve been doing a lot of meditation, a lot of reading books to help us. We’re reading a great book at the moment that just really focuses on you being in the moment and not being too amped up and feeling tired.”
As the experience on the field and the unwavering mettle of the special teams come together this season, the Rams will gain something a lot of teams will lack this year.
On top of all of that, Turner and Noyes also bring unique visions and experiences that have helped shape the way each other plays the game.
“There’s subtleties to (Turner’s punts) that he’s doing that I’ve never seen,” Perry said. “He can roll one way and have it backspin and boomerang back across the field rather than just rolling out, and you’ll see a lot of punters — they’ll roll out and just front hit it.”
All of that experience, coupled with the desire to better themselves every day, could help CSU have one of its best special teams seasons under Perry.
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From Turner and Noyes to the gunners and everyone else, there has been a melding vision of what this unit can become.
“It’s a complete buy-in,” Turner said. “And that comes from up front on the punt protective line. We’ve got Jack Howell, Henry Blackburn, Chase Wilson, Peter Montini, and when you walk on the field with those four guys, you walk taller for sure.”
Each guy Turner mentioned has embodied the Ram spirit throughout their tenured careers at CSU. They bring a certain level of aptitude to each play, practice and, most importantly, game that cannot be replicated.
“We definitely enjoy ourselves and have a lot of fun, but when it’s tough times and we need to lock in, then there’s no having to tell us to do it twice,” Turner said.
Each player understands their task and knows what the person on either side of them needs.
That chemistry simply can’t be taught, and when each person has a deep understanding of their teammates, sometimes things just feel right. From the offensive line to the gunners on special teams, there just seems to be a certain feeling this year.
“It’s just a different feeling this year compared to last year,” Noyes said. “We’re definitely going to have a winning record, and I can’t see us not making it all the way to the championship, to be honest. We’ve got a great bunch of guys, and I’m excited just as much as they are.”
Reach Damon Cook at sports@collegian.com or on Twitter @dwcook2001.
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