How Colorado State QB Hauss Hejny became Jim Mora’s trusted starter | Rams Gameday
FORT COLLINS — Last Friday, Jim Mora sought out Jesse and JimAnne Hejny.
Ahead of his first game as the Colorado State coach, Mora had a message for the parents of his starting quarterback, their son, Hauss, after he broke down the team ahead of a rivalry matchup vs. Wyoming.
“If we can play with the attitude that Hauss expressed when he talked to the team — just the energy, the confidence he had — we’re gonna be all right,” Mora said he told the Hauss family.
In a rare Border War season opener, CSU was better than all right.
Matching a Rams record in a season opener, Hejny threw five touchdowns, completed 23-of-33 passes overall for 214 yards and had 39 rushing yards as the Pac-12 offensive player of the week. The Rams used a big second half to smash the Cowboys, 35-13.
But Hejny’s path to being the first starting quarterback of the Mora era began nine months prior when he showed up in Fort Collins. It’s the same reason Hejny enters Saturday’s Week 2 matchup vs. Southern Utah (5 p.m. CBS Sports Network) with a ton of confidence.
What Mora saw when Hejny arrived after stops at TCU and Oklahoma State was not what some might expect from someone who was also a highly recruited and decorated player at Aledo (Texas) High School, where he took over for former CSU quarterback Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi.
“How down to earth he was, unassuming and how he let his actions show who he was,” Mora said was his first impression of Hejny. “He didn’t come in here loud and obnoxious, (saying), ‘I’m this, I’m that. I was at Oklahoma State and I was at TCU and I won state championships in Texas.’ He came in here and said, ‘I’m gonna let my work prove who I am.’ That’s what good leaders do and he’s a good leader.
“He’s got enough of that kind of, cowboy spirit that ‘I’m gonna go after it.’ Yet, he’s humble, hard-working.”
Hejny wasn’t looking for a place that would guarantee him a starting spot.
He knew he had played sparingly across his first two seasons and would have to earn his role, something that wasn’t made easy by the fact his main competition with the Rams was UConn transfer K’Saan Farrar, who worked closely with Mora and offensive coordinator Pryce Tracy last season.
“I came into this knowing I’d have to compete for it, but I don’t want to be given anything,” Hejny said in the spring. “I don’t want to be complacent. Competition… it should bring the best out of anybody, especially me. It just heightens everything.”
That led to an offseason of extra work.
“The past nine months, Coach Mora has made us be at the facility quite a bit and doing a lot of OTAs and summer workouts, winter workouts, extra throwing sessions,” Hejny said after the win over Wyoming. “I can’t thank Coach Mora enough for the culture he’s built here. He’s challenged our staff and the staff has challenged us to just continue to improve every day and it’s gonna pay off the rest of the season.”
Hejny’s debut was the kind that gets fans dreaming. He also could potentially suit up for two more seasons after this one. So far, it’s a match made in heaven.
“I came from a great high school that has a really great culture and I was just looking for something like that again,” Hejny said. “When I sat in coach Mora’s office for the first time, I really felt that and I believed in him. CSU is a place that was hungry to win and hungry to have success and I just wanted to be a part of it.”
King’s Prediction
Colorado State 42, Southern Utah 16
The Rams are nearly three-touchdown favorites against the FCS program from Cedar City, Utah. It wasn’t always pretty in the first half last week against Wyoming, but the crispness with which CSU played in the second half is why athletic director John Weber hired Jim Mora. The Rams feel like a professional outfit — regardless of the level of the opponent.
King’s Players to Watch
Colorado State: RB Durell Robinson, DE Kenyon Agurs
Down two likely starting offensive linemen, the Rams weren’t able to control the line of scrimmage the way they had hoped in Week 1. CSU wants to lean on its talented running backs, and Robinson, an Auburn transfer, is a speedster who could bust one or two big runs this week. Defensively, Agurs is one of several key returners in Tyson Summers’ defense and he should be able to showcase his raw athletic ability and get to the quarterback.
Southern Utah: QB Will Burns, S Parker Vance
The Thunderbirds’ offense led the way in a high-scoring win over Weber State last week. Burns was at the heart of it, throwing for 146 yards and two touchdowns while running for 148 yards and two touchdowns. His dual-threat playmaking ability will give CSU fits at times. On defense, SUU is coming off a game in which it allowed 42 points and will rely on Vance, who leads the team with 13 tackles, to clean things up on the back end.