For all the
negatives, last season wasn't all that bad overcoming a rough start to
get to a bowl game. There were a few problems from the power outage late
in the year in losses to TCU and San Diego State by a combined score of
63-16, but there were wins over good teams like Nevada and Utah and a
total of six victories despite a horrific year from the defense.
So now the question becomes whether or not Colorado State can become a
true player in the Mountain West again. It depends on how physical the
team can become and it depends on if Lubick can summon some of
the same magic that made him such a hot commodity a few years ago. If
there can be just a little bit of overall improvement, the Rams could
surprise and be in the mix for the conference title late in November.
The
Schedule:
The Rams finally get a scrimmage in before the Colorado showdown playing
Weber State in the opener. This will be a battle-tested team for
Mountain West play after going on the road to face WAC heavyweights
Nevada and Fresno State, while there's no better way to ease into the
conference slate than a home date with UNLV. It'll all come down to
November playing BYU, at Utah and TCU in four-week span. CSU will likely
be conference champs if it wins all three of those, and it'll be in the
hunt by winning two of the three.
Best
Offensive Player:
Junior RB Kyle Bell. He was ganged up on by the better run defenses, but
his bruising running style provided a nice ying to the passing game's
yang. It'll be up to him to carry the offense even more this season and
take some of the pressure off QB Caleb Hanie.
Best
Defensive Player:
Senior CB
Robert Hebert. He has been one of the nation's top tackling corners over
the last two seasons along with being one of the Mountain West leaders
in broken up passes. He's a big corner who packs a wallop with his hits,
but just being a solid cover-corner would be enough for the Rams this
year.
Key player
to a successful season:
Sophomore DTs Blake Smith and Matt Rupp. They're a little on the light
side with Smith, a big-time recruit, checking in at under 270 pounds on
the nose and Rupp, a tremendous weightlifter, a 275-pound tackle. They
have to play big or the run defense has no hope of improving.
The season
will be a success if ... CSU finishes second in the Mountain West. There are a few too
many holes on both sides of the ball from the depth problems on the
offensive line to a lack of a proven number one receiver to all the
major issues with the run defense. Even so, the schedule is nice and the
team really isn't all that bad. Finishing second in the race would be a
very nice season and the springboard for what should hopefully be a
really big 2007.
Key game:
Nov. 11 at Utah. New Mexico, BYU and TCU have to come to Fort
Collins, and any team that wants to be the Mountain West champion has to
plan on taking care of business at home in all three games. The one
trouble spot in the home oasis is the road trip to Utah. If the Rams
beat the Utes, they'll be flying high with two weeks off to rest before
the showdown with the Horned Frogs.
2005 Fun
Stats:
- Second quarter scoring: Opponents 138 - Colorado State 68
- Average yards per carry: Opponents 5.1 - Colorado State 3.5
- CSU points by quarter: 1st 61, 2nd 68, 3rd 68, 4th 124
The Last Time
Colorado State…
…played in a bowl game…2005 (Poinsettia Bowl vs. Navy)
…missed a bowl game…2004
…pitched a shutout…1997(Hawaii)
…was shutout…2004 (USC)
…scored 50 points…2003 (BYU)
…went undefeated…1916
…won a conference title…2002 (Mountain West)
…had a 3,000-yard passer…2005 (Justin Holland)
…had a 1,000-yard rusher…2005 (Kyle Bell)
…had a 1,000-yard receiver…2005 (David Anderson)
…had a first-round draft choice…1987 (QB Kelly Stouffer)
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