Entering a Friday night affair between the Colorado State Rams and San Diego State Aztecs, Vegas set the over/under for the game at 40.5, a low total for a MWC game, but a sensible one considering both
the contestants’ prowess on the defensive side of the ball.
SDSU exceeded the projected line by themselves.
In a backbreaking loss, the CSU Rams (1-4, 0-1 MWC) were blown out at Snapdragon Stadium by a final score of 45-24. San Diego State (4-1, 1-0 MWC) amassed 541 yards of total offense, had nearly 300 yards on the ground alone, all while their vaunted defense only allowed 10 points entering the fourth quarter, tallying four sacks of Jackson Brousseau along the way.
It was an embarrassing loss for the Rams, who opened conference play with their largest margin of defeat so far this season. Coach Jay Norvell’s seat continues to get hotter and hotter as his team’s season spirals further and further into despair.
Scoring Summary
1st Quarter
5:56 – Donovan Brown 45-yd pass from Jayden Denegal (Gabriel Plascencia PAT)
Colorado State 0 – San Diego State 7
2nd Quarter
12:33 – Christian Washington 2-yd run (Gabriel Plascencia PAT)
Colorado State 0 – San Diego State 14
11:24 – Armani Winfield 49-yard pass from Jackson Brousseau (Isaiah Hankins PAT)
Colorado State 7 – San Diego State 14
7:28 – Jordan Napier 42-yd pass from Jayden Denegal (Gabriel Plascencia PAT)
Colorado State 7 – San Diego State 21
1:32 – Isaiah Hankins 30-yd FG
Colorado State 10 – San Diego State 21
0:51 – Lucky Sutton 14-yd run (Gabriel Plascencia PAT)
Colorado State 10 – San Diego State 28
3rd Quarter
11:45 – Gabriel Plascencia 53-yd FG
Colorado State 10 – San Diego State 31
4:43 – Lucky Sutton 1-yd run (Gabriel Plascencia PAT)
Colorado State 10 – San Diego State 38
4th Quarter
12:58 – Jackson Brousseau 4-yd run (Rocky Beers 2-pt pass from Jackson Brousseau)
Colorado State 18 – San Diego State 38
10:21 – Byron Cardwell Jr. 20-yd run (Gabriel Plascencia PAT)
Colorado State 18 – San Diego State 45
0:00 – Kory Hall 12-yd pass from Darius Curry (No PAT)
Colorado State 24 – San Diego State 45
Final: Colorado State 24 – San Diego State 45
Offense
On paper, this game appears to be an instance of the offense performing, and the defense letting them down quite severely. This, however, is misleading. While the Rams’ 355 yards of total offense looks promising, 213 of those yards and 14 of their 24 points came in the fourth quarter, which they entered with an insurmountable 28-point deficit.
One true positive of the night for the Rams can be found in Jalen Dupree. The freshman looks better and better as the games go on. Against an SDSU defense allowing under 100 yards rushing per game, Dupree exceeded that total by himself, going 16-for-103 on the night, good for a team-high average of 6.4 YPC.
The problem is the fact that Dupree is the only positive from this game.
At this point, Jackson Brousseau just looks like Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi with a different number. Brousseau went 13-25 for 155 yards and a QBR of 33.5, 49 of those yards coming on a flea-flicker TD in the second quarter to Armani Winfield, whose only other catch of the game went for -2 yards on a well-defended screen pass. Winfield’s 47 yards led the team, and his two catches were only exceeded by the three receptions of Jordan Ross, whose longest of the night (14 yards) exceeded his total (12 yards).
12 different receivers caught at least one pass, which would be great if any of them had exceeded Winfield’s 47 yards or Ross’ three catches.
Part of this can certainly be attributed to the excellence of the San Diego State defense, who entered the game in the top 20 in the FBS in passing yards allowed per game. Two of SDSU’s pass rushers collected two sacks: Niles King and projected first-round NFL draft pick Trey White. SDSU also had a season-high eight tackles for loss, partially thanks to Matt Mumme spamming WR screens as if he was playing Madden on Rookie difficulty.
However, it really would not have mattered all that much if the Rams had the greatest offensive performance they have ever had under Jay Norvell, because that still would not have been enough to exceed the damage done by Colorado State’s defense.
Defense
Owen Long now has 68 total tackles on the season after his 16 on the night (5 solo), which puts him at #1 in the nation, likely to stay there depending on what second-place Ray Coney does in Tulsa’s game against Memphis tonight. That’s all I have to say about the Rams’ defense in a positive way.
Despite being defensive juggernauts, the SDSU Aztecs are not exactly what you would call offensive geniuses. Entering this game, SDSU was averaging 167.5 yards passing per game and 149.3 yards rushing per game, which totals out to 316.8 total yards per game. Those totals ranked 11th, 10th, and dead last in the Mountain West, respectively. All in all, they have had one of the worst offenses in the conference this season.
You would have never guessed that if you had just watched this game.
Not one CSU defender laid a hand on QB Jayden Denegal, the first time since SDSU’s season opener against Stony Brook that he has had a clean pocket all game. Denegal feasted in these conditions, going 13/16 for a season-high 256 yards and 2 touchdowns with a QBR of 99.5.
Most of these yards came from sophomore receiver Jordan Napier, who ran wild on the CSU defense to the tune of a 7-for-153, 1 TD statline. Three other SDSU receivers had double-digit yardage on the night.
Speaking of running wild, CSU’s run defense was absolutely gashed by the Aztecs all night. SDSU’s 47 carries resulted in a staggering 282 yards, and an astonishing 4 TDs, both obviously season-high numbers. Both Byron Cardwell Jr. (15-for-129, 1 TD) and Lucky Sutton (21-for-113, 2 TDs) topped the 100-yard mark, with the longest run for either being just 22 yards from Cardwell, so it wasn’t as if these numbers were propped up by one or two super-long runs, rather the pair simply dominated whatever the Rams tried to throw at them.
San Diego State touched the ball 10 times in the game. Their first and last drives both resulted in punts, another drive was kneeling out the clock at the end of the first half. Their remaining six drives resulted in 489 total yards, one field goal, and six touchdowns. A complete and utter embarrassment by Tyson Summers’ unit, and a game the Rams would surely rather forget.
Final Thoughts
This is indisputably the worst game of the season for the Rams so far. Despite the consistent losses early in the season, the Rams could at least hang their hats on the fact that they had a strong defense, despite the inadequacy of their offense. That is no longer the case.
Perhaps they can still hang their heads on the comeback attempt against UTSA, and keeping it close against a good G5 team? Not anymore, since UTSA’s road curse returned with a road loss to a hapless Temple, who had only beaten an FCS team and UMass (FBS in name only), as I wrote this article.
At this point, the Rams are staring down their worst-case scenario. In my season preview, my worst-case scenario has almost entirely played out, the blowout win by the Aztecs being just the latest example of the Rams following my nightmare prediction exactly. How does this prediction end? At 3-9 with wins over Hawaii and an upset over Air Force, with Jay Norvell being fired, and the Rams entering the Pac-12 with no momentum whatsoever.
Honestly, I don’t even know if I see the wins from that scenario happening. I predicted a CSU win over Hawaii with the impression that the Rainbow Warriors would be the 2 to 5-win team that they have been for almost a decade at this point, but I really missed the mark there, with Hawaii currently being on their bye week while sporting a 4-2 record. Hawaii is going to be a lot tougher to beat than most Mountain West fans thought. As for Air Force, their defense is so atrocious that I could see a world where the Rams do upset the Falcons, even still (they lost another game to Navy as I wrote this to fall to 1-4). Even then, the Falcons’ offense is the best in the conference, specifically on the ground, so CSU’s run defense looks even worse for a game like that after this loss.
As for other potential wins? I really do not see any. Their road games are all no-goes, with the exception, perhaps, of Wyoming, whose offense is even worse than the Rams’ in every aspect, aside from rushing, of course. The Rams’ other home games are against two of the top three teams in the conference in Fresno State and UNLV, which I can’t see the Rams prevailing in, either. I can’t believe I am saying this, but 1-11 is a very real possibility. Rams fans had better thank Mountain West refs for the win over Northern Colorado, or else an unfathomable 0-12 record would be realistic for them now.
Coming Up
The Rams seek refuge at home next week, but will have a tough time finding it while facing their next opponent, the Fresno State Bulldogs, who are likely to enter this game with a 5-1 record, pending their inevitable dismantling of Nevada at home tonight.
The Bulldogs are contenders for the Mountain West crown and possess a defense nearly as stingy as the Aztecs, ranking in the top half of the conference in every defensive category. The Bulldogs’ gunslinging passing offense under E.J. Warner is their one weakness, as Warner’s five interceptions entered the weekend tied for the second-most in the conference, behind only Nevada’s Chubba Purdy. Warner also sports the FBS’s 7th-highest completion percentage of 73.2%, so he is remarkably efficient when he isn’t throwing picks.
The Rams will need to lock in on Warner’s reckless nature to have any chance in this game, though the Rams’ last home game against Washington State did show that even a strong outing by the Rams’ defense may not be enough to claim victory.
Kickoff is scheduled for Friday, October 10, at 7:00 p.m. Mountain Time. Coverage will be provided by CBS Sports Net.
