FORT COLLINS, Colo. — Colorado State fans packed Canvas Stadium Friday night, providing an electric atmosphere that legitimately gave chills during the moments leading up to kickoff. A 35 minute lightning delay didn’t damper their enthusiasm. Neither did about 15 minutes of pouring rain.
While the weather didn’t kill the buzz of the 32,327 attendees, the fifth-largest crowd since the Rams returned to campus in 2017, CSU getting absolutely punked by an FCS team did, as the Green & Gold fell 42-23 to the South Dakota State Jackrabbits in a game that really wasn’t even as close as the score may indicate.
Coming into the matchup, everyone was well aware that SDSU was a team that could not be overlooked. On multiple occasions Steve Addazio even referred to them as the best FCS team that he has ever had to prepare for. CSU didn’t just lose this game though. The Rams were pretty much manhandled.
The Jackrabbits gashed CSU for 7.1 yards per carry and 242 rushing yards in total. They were equally as effective with the passing attack though. Quarterback Chris Oladukun completed 64 percent of his pass attempts (18-of-28), had a couple of touchdowns, and finished with an efficiency rating of 155.1. He also successfully evaded CSU’s pass rush, though, there really wasn’t a whole lot of it to deal with down the stretch.
Really, SDSU did whatever they wanted to in this one. They effectively moved the football against man coverage, they dominated the trenches, converted on third down situations, they just looked like the better team overall on both sides of the football.
“I don’t feel like we played at the level that we are capable of playing,” Addazio said postgame. “Give credit to the Jackrabbits. I thought that they played like we knew they would. They’re a really good football team. You can tell they have a great team culture, and they just played hard.”
While there wasn’t a whole lot that went well for the Rams in this one, CSU was able to target Trey McBride 14 times for a result of 13 catches and 116 yards. Dante Wright had a nice game on the outside as well with six catches for 113 yards. He should have had at least one, likely two touchdowns, but Todd Centeio (QB) missed him on a couple of big play attempts down the field.
“I mean early on, Todd missed Dante twice on two touchdown plays,” McBride said. “It’s unfortunate. We’ve got to connect on those. We run the ball so much, you open the play-action up for guys like Dante Wright, who’s crazy fast and can run right by defenders. Todd missed him twice. Those are the things we’ve gotta connect on.”
McBride did add that while the missed touchdown plays were failed opportunities to stretch the field and take the lead early, the silver lining is that it shows the potential for explosive plays is there. He said that they’ve been able to do it in practice, so it’s just a matter of executing at a higher level on game day.
“I know we can hit those plays,” McBride said. “There were a few other plays down the road where we just missed some guys. It’s the little things like that. I know how good our team is, and I know how explosive we can be.”
While Centeio’s performance was likely a reaffirming showing for his biggest critics, especially with the missed throws, the honest truth is he was not the reason the Rams lost this game. After missing a couple of shots early, Centeio actually made a couple of nice touch passes in the second and third quarter. He put the Rams in position to score at the end of the first half but a weirdly-paced missed field goal attempt killed CSU’s chance at recovering a tidbit of momentum before halftime.
Being fair, Centeio probably should have been picked off at least once in this one. But there were also some drops from the receivers along the way, so it goes both ways. In total Centeio finished 30-of-43 for 316 yards, one touchdown and a QBR of 139.2.
Moving forward the Rams are going to need to be able to capitalize on their play-action shots down the field. While I do not want to rip a fairly inexperienced quarterback that is seemingly working his tail off to be a leader for the offense, CSU simply cannot afford to miss those plays. Not only is it deflating but it just puts more pressure on the ground game, and allows defenses to stack the box all night, just like the Jackrabbits did on Friday.
Nobody expects Centeio to be John Elway under center. He doesn’t need to be a quarterback that makes all kinds of crazy throws or tries to defy what we think is possible with incredible arm strength, improvisation, etc. Centeio just needs to be Jake Plummer. He needs to value offensive possessions, limit turnovers, and occasionally open up things for his running backs by beating the defense over the top a couple of times each game. Call me crazy, but I actually think that he can do it, particularly if things improve up front. I’m not the only person that sees it either.
“I have full confidence in him,” McBride said of his starting QB. “He’s the guy that we need.”
McBride continued, explaining that Centeio is a natural leader, a tough football player, and the type of guy that teammates want to give their all for. While I certainly won’t tell anyone how to feel after such a disappointing outcome — any and all frustration is more than warranted at this point —if Ram Nation is going to listen to anyone, it should probably be No. 85.
The fans should also listen to McBride when he tells them to stick with him. Yes, Friday was a living nightmare for a fanbase that had to wait nearly two years to even get the chance to attend a game in person. And yes, it was a terrible way to capitalize on a killer crowd. Good or bad, one game does not define a season though.
“Stay with us. One game is not gonna ruin a whole season,” McBride said. “I appreciate everyone coming out there. It was awesome, you know, the student section was unbelievable. The crowd was electric… We need that. That fuels us to play, gives us momentum, energy and enthusiasm throughout the game. So we appreciate everyone that came out and I’m excited to keep building on this. Keep believing, because we’re right there.”
After a brutal gut punch to open up the 2021 season, the Rams will have to move on from things quickly and turn their attention to beating Vanderbilt. CSU’s schedule only gets tougher after Week 2, so dropping a second consecutive home game would be devastating for their regular season goals.
“We’ll come in and watch film,” McBride said. “We’ve got to correct our mistakes tomorrow and we’ve got to move on and start to focus on Vanderbilt, because ultimately you can’t do anything about it now. It’s in the past. So we’ve got to move on, move forward, and focus on Vanderbilt. They’re an SEC football team. Wherever they’re ranked, they’re an SEC team.”
