Mike Bobo gets it.
If he’s going to ask his players to do something – like focus on the game at hand and not look forward – he’s got to lead by example. For his Colorado State Rams (5-5, 3-3 MW), this week’s game is the most important because it’s the next game (a catchphrase of sorts), and it’s a key contest if the team wants to make a bowl game.
Of course, continuing the bowl streak is on everyone’s mind, but continuing Bobo’s first ever win streak comes first.
“Nope. I have not. I have not read any bowl predictions,” Bobo said after practice on Tuesday. “I’ve caught myself watching a lot of New Mexico tape and trying to read up on them. And check the weather and stuff like that.
“We’ve got to handle our deal,” Bobo continued. “Our kids know that we’ve got to win a game to go to a bowl game. They know what’s at stake. But, it’s like I told them today, ‘We’ve been playing football for 122 years and only gone to 14 bowls. So, it’s not a guarantee. It’s not a right of passage. You have to earn it in practice every day.”
Bobo’s message is getting through.
“Like Coach Bobo says all the time, you have to earn the right to win on Saturdays,” senior tackle Sam Carlson said Tuesday. “And the game isn’t won on Saturdays, it’s won Monday through Friday.”
“We’ve got a big challenge in front of us with a confident team in New Mexico, on the road,” Bobo said.
The head coach is right, this week’s game will present one of the toughest challenges his team’s faced all season long. While the Rams have won back-to-back games – over Wyoming and UNLV – the Lobos have done the same, over Utah State and then Boise State, in Boise, on Saturday. That 31-24 victory over the Broncos on their blue home field not only made the Lobos bowl eligible (6-4, 4-2 MW) but kept their MW Championship dreams alive as well.
Which prompted this tweet from Vice President for Athletics Paul Krebs:
How about those Lobos!!! Bowling!!!! Not too late to jump on the band wagon. Need everyone next Saturday. MW Championship on the line.
— Paul Krebs (@PaulRKrebs) November 15, 2015
While Rams fans may have fond memories of University Stadium in Albuquerque thanks to New Mexico Bowl wins in 2008 and 2013, it will be a hostile environment this Saturday for anyone in green and gold.
Amazingly, the Lobos didn’t even play well – Bobo said he echoed the stats to coaches all day, like 11 first downs and 0-10 on third downs – but they found a way to win in Boise. Good teams seem to do just that, and the triple-option attack also helps to keep opposing defenses guessing.
“It’s gonna be a challenge,” Bobo said of lining up defensively against New Mexico. “It’s all about your discipline and reading your keys and then winning your one-on-one battle. (Against) teams that run options, guys have to defeat blocks. Guys have to get off a block and make a play, and run their proper angles.
“The main thing is I want us to understand what we’re trying to do so we can play fast and play aggressive,” the Rams head coach continued. “If we’re having to think too much, I think that’s when issues come up. I think we have to limit the big play. The big play has killed us. That’s kind of what they have lived off of, is the big, big play. So, we’ve got to do a better job than what we’ve done all year.”
While Colorado State doesn’t have to win both of their final two games, it would help keep momentum rolling if they were able to carry a win streak through the end of the regular season. That can’t happen without first beating New Mexico this Saturday.
The game kicks off at 3:30 p.m. MT and will be televised on ROOT Sports Rocky Mountain.
