2019 Ram Recap - Week 9 - Road Under(bull)dogs

That's two in a row!! One more - that's called a winning streak. It has happened before. I've got a feeling things are about to turn around for us...

The Rams entered this road contest as a 14 point underdog. I get it - the hapless Rams who have spent a majority of the season stumbling over themselves were on the road against the defending Mountain West Conference champions. Apparently, the Rams did not know that they were supposed to roll over and take the L on the way out (thanks for that saying, Coach Malone). The Rams played hard. They played together. They limited mistakes. And they left the Golden State with a much needed win.

The Positives:

• The Rams started the game with a tenacity that we have not seen this season. The first drive was quick and beautiful - including a play action pass to a wide open Trey McBride. After making a defender look foolish, McBride rumbled 69 yards for the opening score. 

What a way to start Saturday's game at Fresno State on a 69-yard touchdown to @mcbtrey

It's #TopShotTuesday presented by @canvasfamily! pic.twitter.com/fhigiCA5Pc

— Colorado State Football (@CSUFootball) October 29, 2019

• Patrick O'Brien played one of his better collegiate games. Despite having a bad interception (more on that later), O'Brien looked the most comfortable he has ever looked behind center. He threw for over 300 yards and tossed a couple touchdowns, including the late six-pointer to Warren Jackson that put the Rams ahead for good. 
• The offensive line play was much improved against the Fresno front. The Bulldogs generated one sack and one QB hurry. For the whole game. That's it. The Rams can win games with that offensive protection up front.
• THE RAMS FINISHED AN ENTIRE FOOTBALL GAME IN 2019 WITHOUT COMMITTING A SINGLE FUMBLE!
• The running game could have been a disaster with the announcement during the week that the Rams were losing their leading rusher for an indefinite amount of time to a suspension. Instead, Marcus McElroy (Mullen, Mullen!) decided to announce his arrival with a bang. McElroy recorded his first career 100+ yard rushing game, his first career touchdown, and showed the strength and explosion that we were promised as an underclassman. 
• Logan Stewart singlehandedly won the turnover battle for the Rams. His two fourth quarter interceptions sealed the game for the Rams and earned him MWC Defensive Player of the Week honors. 
• Warren Effing Jackson. Once again, Jackson was a man playing among boys. His stat line is ridiculous (9 receptions for 178 yards and a touchdown), but it is not the most impressive thing about Jackson. Jackson makes this offense a completely different animal. Since his return from injury, Jackson has 392 yards receiving on 18 catches with three touchdowns. His physical stature and athletic ability make him a coverage nightmare and he has become the most dependable receiver on this Ram squad. Good luck, defensive backs. 
• Mike Bobo has never lost a game to Fresno State. 

The Negatives: 

• About O'Brien's interception: his lone giveaway came at a terrible time (4th quarter) in a terrible situation (a tie ball game) in a terrible location (on the Fresno 14 yard line). 
• The start to the second half. As I have mentioned before, this coaching staff struggles to make adjustments at halftime to combat whatever the opposing team comes up with in their locker room. This game was no exception. Fresno's opening drive was too easy and resulted in 7 points. The quarter score was 14-3 in favor of the Bulldogs. If CSU wishes to turn the corner with this program, figuring out how to stop other teams from fighting back into games will be pivotal. 
• While the offense did gain abundant yards and score abundant points, their struggles on third down cannot be ignored. They finished 6-16, failing to deal the crushing blow until late in the contest. 
• No more negativity. A win over the defending MWC champions is worth celebrating. 

Up Next - Week 10:

The Rams have one game remaining on the schedule where they will be favored. This weekend, the Rebels of UNLV roll into Fort Collins and they are baaaaaad. With a victory against UNLV, the Rams will ride a three game winning streak into the heart of their schedule - closing out the season with games against two bitter rivals in Air Force and Wyoming and a team they have yet to beat in Boise State. A victory on Saturday gives them the slightest hope that a bowl game is possible, but it will take winning two of the following three. But the Rams have won two in a row. Win again Saturday, that's called a winning streak. It HAS happened before. I've got a feeling things are about to turn around for us...

Week	Opponent	Prediction	Result	Flick's Picks
1	Colorado (Denver)	L	CU 52 - CSU 31	1 - 0
2	Western Illinois	W	CSU 38 - WIU 13	2 - 0
3	at Arkansas	L	UA 55 - CSU 34	3 - 0
4	Toledo	W	UT 41 - CSU 35	3 - 1
5	at Utah State	L	USU 34 - CSU 24	4 - 1
6	San Diego State	L	SDSU 24 - CSU 10	5 - 1
7	at New Mexico	W	CSU 35 - UNM 21	6 - 1
8	BYE	--	--	--
9	at Fresno State	L	CSU 41 - FSU 31	6 - 2
10	UNLV	W
11	BYE	--
12	Air Force	W
13	at Wyoming	W
14	Boise State	L

2019 Ram Recap - Week 7 - Little Wolf Pups

As discussed last week, the Rams' last victory against an FBS team was against the University of New Mexico Lobos in October of 2018. After this past weekend, we can now say that the Rams' last victory over an FBS team was against the University of New Mexico Lobos in October of 2019. Thank you, Lobos, for giving me something positive to write about each of these seasons. In fact, we should thank the Lobos for a historically bad run against our Rams. With Saturday's victory, CSU has won the last ten (TEN!) meetings between the two teams. Regardless of how far the programs have fallen, that is an impressive stat. 

Leaving Albuquerque with a 𝓦.

Start the ✈️

FINAL
CSU 35 // UNM 21#EDGE | #CSURams pic.twitter.com/PmnkjcJ2JU

— Colorado State Football (@CSUFootball) October 12, 2019

The Positives:

• The return of Warren Jackson was good for the Rams, good for Patrick O'Brien, and good for a win. Jackson tallied nine receptions for 214 yards and two touchdowns in his first game back from injury. He was, without a doubt, the best player on the field and the New Mexico secondary could not stop the 6'-6" receiver from California. On plays that Jackson was not catching the ball, he was drawing defensive pass interference calls. Jackson's talent has always been there and this year he has been able to showcase it regularly. 
• Patrick O'Brien looked vastly improved over the previous weeks. Whether it was the return of Jackson to the lineup or the quality of defense lining up across from him, O'Brien had his best game of his collegiate career. His pocket presence looked better - he made good decisions, had some really pretty and accurate throws, and [MOST IMPORTANTLY] did not turn the ball over. 
• True freshman pre-med student and lightning-bolt-in-human-form Dante Wright had yet another solid game, accumulating over 100 yards receiving. Wright continues to be a steady offensive threat for this offense. And he is a true freshman. Who wants to go to med school. 
• For the first time all season, the Rams improved as the game progressed. After a shaky first quarter, the coaching staff made quality adjustments that resulted in a win. 
• I correctly predicted this game as a Rams victory. 

The Negatives:

• The first quarter was not good. After a opening drive that resulted in a touchdown, the Rams offense reverted to what we have witnessed the last few weeks. Punts and fumbles. Funts and pumbles. 
• Marvin Kinsey is explosive. He is strong. He runs with a purpose. He always runs leaning forward. He cannot hold onto the ball to save his life. He leads the nation in fumbles lost. Bobo has to gamble every week if the productive plays are worth the risk of turning the ball over. 
• Bryson Carroll ran roughshod over the Rams defense, carrying for nearly 200 yards. In the first quarter, Carroll exploded around the corner and ran into the end zone. Fortunately for the Rams, Carroll celebrated early and dropped the ball at the 2 yard line. Unfortunately for the Rams, they did not fall on the ball and the Lobos retained possession and scored on the next play. A little awareness of the situation would have turned the tide for the Rams early in the game.
• We should not dwell on the negative. The Rams won a damn game. 

Up Next - Weeks 8 and 9 

The Rams will carry the momentum of victory into a bye week. Sweet. After a weekend off, the Rams head to California for a matchup with defending MWC champion Fresno State. The Bulldogs have endured a Jekyll and Hyde type season - losing their two opening games against USC (good team) and Minnesota (currently undefeated and ranked #20) before beating Sacramento State (Stingers out) and New Mexico State (bad team). They followed those wins by getting thumped by Air Force. I have no idea what CSU can do against Fresno on the road. Turnovers will probably dictate the outcome, so Kinsey and company better hold onto the pig.

If my limited recap of the Ram game did not fully satiate your weekly Ram hunger, take a look at this series of tweets and read the article in the last tweet below. As always, #FearTheMu11et.

the thing is, he was incapable of getting photographed in a moment where he didn't look hype as hell pic.twitter.com/ASfWugoQnT

— BUM CHILLUPS (@edsbs) October 18, 2019

It’s time for a better college football award. Introducing The BVP Award: Celebrating college football’s most college football players https://t.co/IAU2dyQdJ1

— BUM CHILLUPS (@edsbs) October 18, 2019

Week	Opponent	Prediction	Result	Flick's Picks
1	Colorado (Denver)	L	CU 52 - CSU 31	1 - 0
2	Western Illinois	W	CSU 38 - WIU 13	2 - 0
3	at Arkansas	L	UA 55 - CSU 34	3 - 0
4	Toledo	W	UT 41 - CSU 35	3 - 1
5	at Utah State	L	USU 34 - CSU 24	4 - 1
6	San Diego State	L	SDSU 24 - CSU 10	5 - 1
7	at New Mexico	W	CSU 35 - UNM 21	6 - 1
8	BYE	--
9	at Fresno State	L
10	UNLV	W
11	BYE	--
12	Air Force	W
13	at Wyoming	W
14	Boise State	L

2019 Ram Recap - Week 6 - Sad Diego

Boise State.    Wyoming.    Nevada.    Utah State.    Air Force.    Colorado.    Arkansas.    Toledo.    Utah State.    San Diego State.

Ten teams. Ten games. Ten Football Bowl Series (FBS) opponents.

Zero Ram victories.

The year – 2018. The month – October. The date – Saturday, the 13th. The location – Canvas Stadium. The opponent – the lowly University of New Mexico. The result – a tight 20-18 CSU victory. That game is the last time that the Colorado State University vanquished an FBS foe. It was the worst of times; it was the worst of times.

When Jim McElwain hopped on that private jet to Gainesville, he walked away from the 2014 season with a 10-2 regular season record and a program on the rise. Mike Bobo walked into a dream situation, immediately improved our recruiting rankings, and coached players onto NFL rosters. But the program has regressed overall. The team lacks discipline and the offense and defense can never align their good performances. As much as I like Bobo (he comes across as a genuinely good dude), I am starting to believe that this is the final season under his control.

This weekend was another brick in our wall of frustration.

We left the game early in the fourth quarter. Shout out to ESPN for the late kick time. Shout out to my kids for taking naps on the way up so we could make it that long. The game was still underway as we cruised down I-25 and I flipped the radio to listen to Brian Roth call the rest of the game. It did not take long for me to realize that listening to the game was not bringing me joy, so I switched it back to the XM radio. The first song that was playing?

You are correct - Nick, Joe, and Kevin. I am a sucker. A sucker that keeps coming back for more crappy football.

The positives: 

• My record predicting games (5-1!!). 
• For the second week in a row, the defense played well enough to win the game. The Ram defense limited the Aztecs to a total of 238 yards of offense, including less than 100 yards rushing. On third down, the Aztecs were a putrid 3 of 14. THAT SHOULD BE GOOD ENOUGH TO WIN.
• After several games of offensive struggles, Bobo finally tried something different. Unfortunately, I will be covering this more in depth in the next section. 
• I'm running out of things to put in this section. 
• Traffic going southbound from Fort Collins to Arvada is free-flowing and light at 11:30 on a Saturday night. 

The negatives: 

• The entire offensive performance. For the second straight game, the defense played at a level where a win should be expected yet the offense prohibited that from happening. 
• CSU ended the night with 18 rushing yards on 25 attempts. Hold on while I do some quick math... that works out to approximately 0.7 yards per attempt. One more quick calc... yeah, that's bad. As Robert and I discussed at the game, the quarterback play is partially to blame for the rushing ineptitude. Clearly, teams do not worry about the passing threat of Patrick O'Brien and the defense compresses toward the line of scrimmage. This compacted defensive alignment clogs running lanes and makes blocking for offensive linemen, tight ends, and full backs that much harder. Some sort of downfield threat needs to be established to keep the linebackers and secondary from creeping. 
• This is becoming repetitive, but the turnovers need to stop. Despite the solid defensive effort, they were unable to create any turnovers while the offense gave the ball away four times. Another round of quick calculations... that is a 4:0 turnovers made to turnovers created ratio. More calcs... this is also not good. 
• Two of those interceptions came in back-to-back passing attempts from Justice McCoy, who Bobo inserted into the game late in the third quarter in an attempt to generate something out of his offensive unit. While I appreciate that Bobo heard our pleas to try something different with the offense, I do not appreciate the effort by McCoy to make us look stupid. 
• In the middle of the second quarter, CSU received a punt down 10-3. Dante Wright gathered the ball and ran backwards. A personal foul penalty was assessed during the play and the Rams started at their own 3 yard line. A few plays later, the Rams had marched all the way down the field and had 1st and goal at the 5 yard line. The first down play was a 4 yard Marvin Kinsey run. Second and goal at the one. Marvin Kinsey run up the middle for no gain. Third and goal at the one. Marcus McElroy run up the middle for no gain. Fourth and goal at the one. Marcus McElroy run up the middle for a loss of one. Turnover on downs. Awesome. 
• My faith in this team going forward. 

Up Next - Week 7

At the beginning of the season, I predicted the Rams would win a road game in Albuquerque in October. I still believe this is possible, not because of my trust in the Rams to win a game but because of New Mexico's ability to actually be worse than CSU.

Shall we be positive for a moment? We shall. The crew of people on the Rams Creative team are so freaking talented. The graphics and videos that come out of that group are amazing.

💡 𝙁𝙍𝙄𝘿𝘼𝙔 𝙉𝙄𝙂𝙃𝙏 𝙇𝙄𝙂𝙃𝙏𝙎 💡

Headed to Albuquerque on Friday for a showdown with the Lobos!

📍 Albuquerque, N.M.
⏰ Friday, 6 p.m. MT
📺 CBS Sports Network pic.twitter.com/zqZyCm2Jk4

— Colorado State Football (@CSUFootball) October 8, 2019

Week	Opponent	Prediction	Result	Flick's Picks
1	Colorado (Denver)	L	CU 52 - CSU 31	1 - 0
2	Western Illinois	W	CSU 38 - WIU 13	2 - 0
3	at Arkansas	L	UA 55 - CSU 34	3 - 0
4	Toledo	W	UT 41 - CSU 35	3 - 1
5	at Utah State	L	USU 34 - CSU 24	4 - 1
6	San Diego State	L	SDSU 24 - CSU 10	5 - 1
7	at New Mexico	W
8	BYE	--
9	at Fresno State	L
10	UNLV	W
11	BYE	--
12	Air Force	W
13	at Wyoming	W
14	Boise State	L

2019 Ram Recap - Week 5 - Aggies, But the Bad Ones

The Ram faithful asked for some semblance of a defense. We got it. The Ram faithful asked for turnovers. We got those. The Ram faithful asked for a road victory as 23.5 point underdogs in Logan. We got greedy.

The defense showed some resiliency for the first time this season. As the teams went into the locker room at halftime, CSU had already doubled their forced turnovers FOR THE SEASON with a fumble recovery and an interception. While the interception was returned for a touchdown, the fumble recovery resulted in 8 yards, a failed 4th down attempt, and a turnover on downs after receiving the ball on the Utah State 35 yard line. In what has become commonplace this season, the Rams failed to do the little things necessary to win a football game. The concern at halftime was that despite the fact that CSU was winning the turnover battle, CSU was still losing by a field goal. They were right there. Within striking distance. With a defense who looked energetic and was flowing to the ball and was not making the same boneheaded positional mistakes of the previous weeks. That dang word reared its ugly head -- hope.

The Aggies got the ball to start the second half and they looked to do what every other team has done to the Rams this season; make adjustments and run away with the game. The second play of the second half was yet another CSU takeaway, a Keevan Bailey interception at the Utah State 30 yard line. Again, the offense sputtered in three plays and took the three points to tie the game. Just minutes into the third quarter and the Rams had generated only 10 points off of three turnovers on the Utah State side of the field. The little things...

The next Utah State drive was efficient as Jordan Love drove his team to the CSU 1 yard line. The sloppy, rainy weather decided to inject itself into the ballgame and CSU jumped on a dropped snap for their fourth forced turnover of the game. How did the Ram offense respond to this gluttony of turnovers? On the next eight drives:

• Three plays, four yards - PUNT
• Three plays, three yards - PUNT
• One play, thirty-five yards - FUMBLE
• Three plays, one penalty, ten yards - PUNT
• Four plays, nineteen yards - FUMBLE
• One play, four yards - FUMBLE RETURNED FOR A TOUCHDOWN
• Three plays, one yard - PUNT
• Five plays, eighteen yards - TURNOVER ON DOWNS

Ball game. 

In the end, the Rams covered the spread through a positive turnover margin and a decent offensive first half. For the first time this season, the defense was good enough to win the game and the offense in the second half let them down. 

The positives:

• THE DEFENSE FINALLY FORCED SOME TURNOVERS!! While the weather most certainly played into this factor, the Rams defense took advantage of some sloppy play from the Aggies and registered four total takeaways in the contest (2 fumble recoveries, 2 interceptions). 
• Andre Neal and Keevan Bailey (along with the rest of the secondary) had their best game of the season. 

Not only is that the first interception for Andre Neal at CSU, it's the first interception of the season for @CSUFootball.

The last time CSU had a pick six was last season at San Jose State. (Rashad Ajayi, 55 yards)

— Colorado State Stats and Info (@CSUStatsInfo) September 29, 2019

• Nate Craig-Myers showed flashes of what got him recruited by Auburn out of high school. 
• I correctly predicted that the Rams would lose this game, putting my season prediction record at 4-1. 

The negatives: 

• The run game was atrocious. The front seven of the Aggies controlled the line of scrimmage and held the Rams to a measly 2.26 yards per carry. Ooof. 
• The offensive production in the second half. I cannot say whether it was play calling or execution, but those second half drives listed above were garbage. Not only could they not score in the second half, the Rams could not even gain enough yardage for a first down. Ugly. 
• Marvin Kinsey has had an incredible season in 2019. Yet he was not on the field for the final drives after coughing up the ball on two consecutive offensive plays in the second half. If you cannot secure the ball, you cannot see the field. (Granted, one of the fumbles sure looked like his forward progress had been completely stopped before Utah State stripped the ball and took it to the house.)
• Terry Frei criticized Ram fans on Twitter for blaming Patrick O'Brien for the loss (and rightly so - it was not completely O'Brien's fault that the offense went belly-up in the second half). 

Was I hearing some CSU folks scapegoating a backup quarterback?

— Terry Frei (@TFrei) September 29, 2019

• But that does not mean that O'Brien does not deserve some criticism. Collin Hill backed up his physical talents with quality decision-making and smooth transitions through his progressions. More often than not, Hill made smart decisions with the football that resulted in productive plays. When you lose your stud starting quarterback to injury, there is bound to be a reduction in those traits and we are seeing that with O'Brien. Late in the game, there were two plays that come to mind - both involve Marcus McElroy sliding out of the backfield as an underneath receiver. The first play, McElroy was wide open - not a defender within 15 yards of him and standing right at the sticks. O'Brien did not make it through his progressions and threw the ball incomplete. A few plays later, O'Brien makes it through his progressions and dumps the ball off to McElroy a few yards short of the first down. Except this time, McElroy was bracketed by two defenders and was immediately tackled. 
• The second half offense.
• Also, the offensive effort in the second half. 
• Did I mention how bad the second half offense was?!! 

Up Next - Week 6

Homecoming!! ESPN decided that the best way to bring Rams back to campus was to schedule an 8:00 kickoff. Blech.

This week, the Rams host San Diego State for the annual "Stripe the Stadium" game. Our section (239) is green, thankfully, as I own far more green CSU apparel than white CSU apparel. As for the football game - whatever. The Aztecs won a barn-burner (final score 6-0) against Weber State to open the season, then won back-to-back road games at UCLA and at New Mexico State before losing to those same Aggies of Utah State in week 4. SDSU will be coming to Fort Collins fresh off a bye week and I do not see this ending well. My original prediction was that the Rams would lose this game and I will stick by that this week.

At least we crush the tailgate each week... #GoRams 

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Tailgating needs tunes and moves. #GoRams

A post shared by Mike Flick (@flickerbock) on Sep 21, 2019 at 6:11pm PDT

Week	Opponent	Prediction	Result	Flick's Picks
1	Colorado (Denver)	L	CU 52 - CSU 31	1 - 0
2	Western Illinois	W	CSU 38 - WIU 13	2 - 0
3	at Arkansas	L	UA 55 - CSU 34	3 - 0
4	Toledo	W	UT 41 - CSU 35	3 - 1
5	at Utah State	L	USU 34 - CSU 24	4 - 1
6	San Diego State	L
7	at New Mexico	W
8	BYE	--
9	at Fresno State	L
10	UNLV	W
11	BYE	--
12	Air Force	W
13	at Wyoming	W
14	Boise State	L