NCAA Football Preview - Colorado State Rams

Aug 19, 2011 - 4:11 PM Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) - 2010 SEASON IN REVIEW: A player for Colorado State himself three decades ago, head coach Steve Fairchild made a huge splash when he took over the Rams in 2008 and led them to a postseason victory in the New Mexico Bowl, but since then the wins have been harder and harder to come by. In fact, Fairchild's club has won just three games in each of the last two season and is a dismal 2-14 against the rest of the Mountain West Conference during that stretch. In 2010, the Rams won only once through their first six outings, and that lone victory was a narrow 36-34 final versus Idaho in the home opener. A week after the Idaho win, CSU actually put up a fight against conference champion TCU and allowed just 27 points, but against one of the top defenses in all of college football the last few seasons the Rams were shut out.

Colorado State demolished both UNLV (43-10) and New Mexico (38-14), two of the weaker teams in the MWC, but in between those victories was an ugly 59-6 loss to Utah in Salt Lake City. November brought a road test against San Diego State, which the Rams almost passed before suffering a 24-19 defeat. Unfortunately, the final two games of the season were not nearly as competitive as the team lost to BYU and Wyoming by a combined 93-10 margin.

CSU finished a mere 2-6 in conference in 2010, mostly due to the fact that the team couldn't keep quarterback Pete Thomas out of harm's way. Thomas tossed 11 touchdowns during the campaign, but he was intercepted 13 times and was the one taking the brunt of 3.67 sacks per game which meant the CSU offensive line was last in the conference and 118th in the country when it came to keeping their signal-caller safe. It also didn't help that the Rams ranked last in the MWC and 118th in the country in pass efficiency defense with a mark of 167.29.

2011 ANALYSIS:

OFFENSE: The offensive line brings back four starters from a year ago, but just how confident can Thomas be with those big guys in front of him after they left him to take so many vicious hits in 2010? Ironically, last year it was the offensive linemen who were questioning the ability of Thomas to handle the pressure.

"Initially I was apprehensive, he's an incoming freshman, he just got out of high school, but he showed a lot of poise on the field," notes Paul Madsen. "I was very impressed about how he took leadership on the field...he rallied us on the sidelines and had a really good attitude even when things were difficult. I think that shows a lot from a guy just coming out of high school...I'm very hopeful this year, I think he's really going to impress people."

If Thomas is unable to finish games, junior M.J. McPeek will be the one called upon to step in and survive as best he can. Only three players reeled in more than 21 receptions last season for the Rams and two of them are no longer with the program, leaving Lou Greenwood to carry the flag for the trio now. Greenwood was second on the roster with 34 catches for a team-best 474 yards, yet he crossed the goal line just two times in spite of his averaging close to 14 yards per grab. Even though he appeared in just eight games last season, running back Raymond Carter was still an important piece to the passing puzzle as he turned his 14 receptions into three touchdowns which tied for the team high.

Carter is listed as the starter coming out of the backfield on the initial depth chart for the Rams, so that's certainly good news. As long as Thomas can stay upright and avoid oncoming tacklers someone like Carter will have many more opportunities to make plays down the field. Colorado State absolutely has to find a runner to hitch their hopes to this year too, after the loss of Leonard Mason who paced the team with his 513 yards and five TDs on 92 carries. No one else scored more than once on the ground for the Rams, something that will have to change this year if CSU hopes to put a balanced product on the field.

DEFENSE: The biggest knock on the Colorado State defense has to be the fact that the squad recorded a mere four interceptions all of last season and no one had more than just a single pick. Without a strong pass defender down the field the Rams left themselves open to having everyone tested all of the time and that proved to benefit opponents a great deal.

"We're a little inexperienced at safety," coach Fairchild admits. "We think we've got some good young kids, but again they're going to have to show it on the field."

No one on the defense has more than a pair of pass breakups, although linebacker Mychal Sisson certainly stood his ground in the middle as he did a bit of everything as he tried to make up for the shortcomings of everyone else. Sisson, who is again a favorite to repeat as an All-MWC performer, placed second on the unit in overall tackles with 95 and was first in tackles for loss with 15, his 1.25 TFLs per game ranking him second in the league. In addition to logging 4.5 sacks and a couple of fumble recoveries, Sisson was one of the nation's leaders with a staggering seven forced fumbles, equaling the total set by all of his teammates combined.

Handling a lot of the action in the secondary for the Rams will again be Ivory Herd and Elijah-Blu Smith who recorded 81 and 42 tackles, respectively. Smith recorded a pair of fumbles for the group, but at no time did he make an impact in the opponent's backfield, something the Rams might want to take a closer look at this season.

SPECIAL TEAMS: The kickers for the Rams appear to be in place just as they were last season when Pete Kontodiakos handled the punting duties and Ben DeLine saved the offense more often than not as the place kicker. DeLine was one of the more accomplished kickers in the MWC, probably because he was afforded so many opportunities after Colorado State's drives stalled. DeLine knocked through 16-of-22 field goal chances, his long coming from 43 yards away, but he also had two kicks blocked along the way. Unfortunately, DeLine also missed on three of his 21 PAT chances, so maybe he's not as solid as the Rams believe.

CSU was second in the league and 19th nationally in kickoff returns as Tony Drake and Derek Good both averaged better than 24 yards per chance. This time around Carter and Good will probably see most of the action there, while Drake focuses more on becoming a more reliable piece of the regular offense as a receiver.

OUTLOOK: The Rams don't need to light up the scoreboard in order to exceed their win total from last season, but still the opportunities for victories in 2011 might not be that abundant. However, the team does have a decent shot at opening with consecutive wins thanks to a schedule that has them clashing with New Mexico in the conference and season opener and then hosting Northern Colorado, a team that the Rams have never lost to in 17 previous encounters. After the annual meeting with Colorado at Invesco Field in Denver, the Rams play three straight against schools that all played a role in the Western Athletic Conference last season (Utah State, San Jose State and Boise State). The final third of the schedule might just be the toughest with dates against San Diego State, TCU and Air Force, but the finale is certainly a winnable test with border rival Wyoming, but nothing is certain this year.