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Colorado State’s 2023 football schedule is finally here and while it’s far too early to make any type of bold predictions, there is a lot to like about the slate for Ram fans.
Starting with the season opener against Washington State on Sept. 2, CSU plays a pair of power five opponents to kick off the year before leaving the state for the first time with a trip to Middle Tennessee.
After rounding out the non-conference schedule by hosting Utah Tech for Ag Day, CSU will kick off Mountain West action with a road game at Utah State on Oct. 7. This will be the third time that the Rams have begun conference play with a trip to Logan since the Aggies came over from the WAC in 2013. CSU is 0-2 in the previous two (2015 and 2019). The Rams have lost four straight to Utah State overall, with the last win coming in 2017.
The first league game in Fort Collins will be against Boise State on Oct. 14. This will be the earliest in the year that the Rams have faced the Broncos since 2016 and the first time that they’ve hosted them on Homecoming weekend. CSU, of course, is still looking for its first win over Boise State. Maybe the big crowd will help the Rams break through that ceiling though.
The Rams will finally take on UNLV at Allegiant Stadium for the first time on Oct. 21. CSU was originally slated to go there in 2020 before COVID-19 threw a wrench into the entire season. Funny enough, the only time that the Rams have played UNLV in Las Vegas since the conference expanded was back in 2016. And they’ve only played the Rebels twice in Sin City since 2010. The other four matchups were all in Fort Collins.
Following the trip to Las Vegas, the Rams will host Air Force on Oct. 28 and then travel to Wyoming for the Border War on Nov. 4. CSU has really struggled against both of its Front Range rivals over the last half decade, so Ram Nation would love nothing more than to see the first sweep of those two since Mike Bobo’s first season back in 2015. Going back to 2016, the Rams are 0-6 against the Falcons and 1-6 against the Cowboys. Simply put, something has got to change.
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Following the rivalry games, the Rams will then host San Diego State and Nevada in back-to-back home games on the 11th and 18th of November, respectively. CSU last beat the Aztecs in the 2016 regular season finale, however, they did take down the Wolf Pack in Jay Norvell’s return to Reno this past fall.
Finally, CSU will conclude the regular season on the island with a Week 12 game at Hawaii. The Rams lost a shootout in Honolulu in 2021 but did manage to beat the Warriors when they came to Canvas Stadium in 2022. CSU still holds a 16-11 advantage in the all-time series.
Here are a few more thoughts on the 2023 CSU football schedule.
On the early bye
Playing 11 consecutive weeks is not exactly ideal, however, I do like that the Rams will get to gain game experience against a talented Washington State squad in Week 1 and then have two full weeks to prepare for the first trip to Boulder since 2009.
With the Buffs playing TCU and Nebraska over the first two weeks, the Rams will have an opportunity to learn quite a bit about their in-state foes. And just being honest about the situation, it feels like CU very easily could overlook CSU after putting so much focus into Nebraska the week before.
On the possibility of playing Week 0
When the non-conference dates were originally announced and we knew that the Rams would not be playing Week 2, like many of you, I wondered if CSU might move the Utah Tech game to Week 0 in order to not have to play 11 straight weeks.
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According to an inside source, CSU did explore the possibility of playing in Week 0. Unfortunately though, the logistics of the situation did not work out. There would have needed to be TV interest for the matchup, which is likely not going to be the case with a lowly FCS opponent like Utah Tech. And while they did look around, CSU was unable to find somebody else to play in Week 0.
Way-too-early outlook
The Rams will play seven opponents that qualified for the postseason in 2022. On paper at least, it’s definitely a challenging schedule, especially with the possibility of starting 0-2 against a pair of Pac-12 teams.
The bright side is that unlike last fall, CSU will not be playing a pair of National Championship contenders in the non-conference slate. Even if Sacramento State was at the FCS level, facing the Spartans and Michigan Wolverines in September was a rough way for the Norvell era to begin.
Ending the regular season with three of the final five games in Fort Collins is definitely exciting as well. The hope is to be in the mix this year under Norvell, so it could be a big advantage to have those home games in November if the Rams are actually in contention.
Ultimately we’ll have to see how everything plays out. My gut says that with a revamped offensive line though, it doesn’t feel unreasonable to expect CSU to push for a bowl game in 2023.
2023 schedule
Sept. 2 – Washington State (Youth Sports Day/Faculty and Staff Appreciation)
Sept. 16 – at Colorado
Sept. 23 – at Middle Tennessee
Sept. 30 – Utah Tech (Ag Day/Spirit Day/Young Alumni Day)
Oct. 7 – at Utah State
Oct. 14 – Boise State (Homecoming and Family Weekend)
Oct. 21 – at UNLV
Oct. 28 – Air Force (Hall of Fame Weekend/All Sports Reunion)
Nov. 4 – at Wyoming
Nov. 11 – San Diego State
Nov. 18 – Nevada
Nov. 25 – at Hawaii
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