4 takeaways: The good, the bad, and everything in between from CSU's loss to Vanderbilt

FORT COLLINS, Colo. — Colorado State (0-2) failed to take advantage of its easiest non conference opponent Saturday night, as the Rams were defeated 24-21 by Vanderbilt (1-1) at Canvas Stadium. 

CSU jumped out to an early lead and pretty much dominated the majority of the first half. The Rams outgained their opponent by a significant margin in total yards, kept their offense on the field and the defense off of it, and really just appeared to be in control of their own fate. 

However, the Commodores were able to adjust and respond, outscoring the Green & Gold 24-7 over the final 31 minutes of action. The CSU offense that thrived early was nowhere to be found in the third quarter. Really, other than a late drive to tie the game at 21 in the fourth quarter, the offense as a whole was completely neutralized by Vanderbilt’s defense in the second half. And as a result CSU is now winless heading into what will likely be the toughest three game stretch of the season. 

The outcome was a brutal blow for the program — losing to a team that hadn’t beaten an FBS opponent in close to two years is never an ideal situation — especially when you demonstrate that you have more talent early and then just disappear down the stretch. And at this point it does not look like the Rams will be anywhere near bowl contention in 2021. There were some areas of growth in the game though. So with that in mind, here are the takeaways from Saturday’s letdown loss.

Kicking concerns 

It’s been quite some time since CSU had a truly consistent kicker to rely on. Wyatt Bryan (2015-18) was fairly solid throughout his career but ended with a poor senior season. Jared Roberts (2012-14) was pretty much in the same boat, though he did make some clutch kicks for the Rams in that special 2014 campaign, including a 52-yard field goal to help secure a win over Colorado and a 46-yarder as time expired to beat a good Utah State team on Homecoming weekend. 

So far it’s been a tough start to the season for Cayden Camper, who after winning the starting job back this year is just 1-of-4 on field goal attempts. In the 3 point loss to Vandy, Camper missed wide right twice, once from 39 yards and once from 46 yards. Both came in the first half and were failed attempts for the Rams to further capitalize on a hot start. 

Head coach Steve Addazio talked about the situation postgame. “I was hoping that it wouldn’t come back to haunt us. I really felt like it should have been 28-0 at halftime, and we didn’t do it. We didn’t do it.”

In a perfect world the Rams would have scored touchdowns and it wouldn’t have even come down to Camper, other than to make the extra points. But there are always going to be situations where drives stall, and in those instances you need to be able to count on the kicker. 

I don’t want to make it seem like Camper is individually to blame or anything like that. There were all kinds of missed opportunities in this game. Plus, penalties were much more to blame than any sole individual on the field. But moving forward, CSU definitely needs more consistency from the position. Camper has plenty of leg. He just needs to settle into the groove of the season. 

CSU isn’t good enough to play undisciplined

The Rams were flagged 11 times for a total of 115 yards on Saturday night. It’s a big reason why despite out gaining Vanderbilt by 105 more yards, averaging more yards per play, and not allowing a single sack in the game, CSU still found a way to lose. 

While 11 penalties is far too many, Vanderbilt had nine themselves, so it was honestly pretty sloppy on both sides. The difference was that most of their penalties were things like false starts and general execution mistakes, so it only resulted in 61 yards. CSU on the other hand was called for targeting twice, a pair of unsportsmanlike conduct calls and multiple pass interference infractions. 

Addazio said it himself, the Rams are not good enough to give away yardage like they did against Vanderbilt. This was not a game that was lost quickly, it was death by a thousand cuts. 

Defensive line stepped up 

The defense might have gotten called for far too many penalties in the loss but the defensive line really did play well. After giving up 7.1 yards per carry in Week 1, the Rams held the Commodores to 2.8 yards a pop (104 yards on 37 attempts). And after failing to get after the quarterback against South Dakota State, CSU was able to record three sacks and six tackles for loss. 

At the end of the day all people are going to remember is the final outcome, which is fair considering the circumstances. But seeing the defensive line step up the way they did is at least a silver lining, particularly with next week’s trip to Toledo looming. Bryant Koback (RB) ran all over the Rams back in 2019 and he’s still the lead back in their system. In their near upset of Notre Dame, Koback averaged 5.8 yards per carry on 21 attempts (122 total). CSU is going to need the defensive line to play well again if the Rams are going to have any shot of hanging with the explosive Rockets on the road. 

Trey McBride balled out

Along with David Bailey and A’Jon Vivens, the brightest spot for CSU on offense was obviously Trey McBride. The veteran tight end went over the century mark in receiving yards for a second consecutive game (114) and had some of the most important catches in the contest. 

With CSU trailing by a touchdown with 5 minutes left in the fourth quarter, McBride got the drive started with a 16 yard reception. Four plays later he hauled in another pass for 29 yards to get the Rams close to the Red Zone. And on fourth and goal from the 3-yard line, McBride recorded his first touchdown of the season to tie the game. 

It should be noted that McBride did pick up an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty right before halftime and it took the Rams out of field goal range. But based on how the kicking went for CSU in this one, I’m not sure it really would have mattered anyways. Regardless, he needs to try to limit the silly mistakes because unlike him, the team as a whole is not talented enough to overcome them.