Can CSU end the cycle against San Diego State?

FORT COLLINS, Colo. — Following yet another disappointing loss, Colorado State head football coach Mike Bobo sat calmly at the podium Monday afternoon. Wearing a pumpkin orange pullover, Bobo sat with his arms crossed as he addressed a small group of reporters in the lowest level of Canvas Stadium.

“I thought our kids played their hearts out in another close loss,” Bobo said in his opening statement.

“I was especially proud of how our defense played — (they) rebounded after Toledo. I thought they had a solid plan, I thought they executed their plan very well against a very good offense.”

In the 34-24 loss to the Aggies, the Rams intercepted Utah State’s stellar quarterback, Jordan Love, twice. CSU also recovered two fumbles and blocked a punt in what was their best defensive showing against an FBS team since, ironically, the 2018 Utah State game.

Unfortunately for Bobo and company, the offense struggled all night and only scored three points off of those turnovers — so much like last season, a winnable game against a division opponent did not play out in favor of the green and gold.

After watching what feels like a script written to torment the Ram faithful, play out once again in Logan, Utah, Saturday night, it honestly feels like Bobo is Bill Murray in Groundhog Day.

Instead of a cynical weatherman, though, this story is about a football coach doomed to relive the same miserable experience each and every Saturday. No matter what his team does well, some aspect of the matchup will always work against Bobo’s Rams and come back to bite them in the ass.

When the offense totals 700 yards, the defense will forget to show up that night. And when the defense forces a season-high five turnovers, the offense will fail to do anything. If the Rams make a play on special teams, then the opposing team will make two of their own. But at the end of game, the story is always the same — it ends with Bobo having to explain how his team came up short.

In last year’s Utah State game, the Rams stifled the Love-led offense, finished with 506 total yards of their own and absolutely dominated time of possession. CSU lost that game by giving up two defensive touchdowns and then botching their game-winning touchdown with an illegal touching penalty.

“I don’t have a statement,” a dejected Bobo said, after the Rams lost to the Aggies on November 17, 2018.

This time around, the defense didn’t necessarily lock down the Aggies’ offense but did more than enough to put the Rams in position to win. However, an ineffective passing game and two fourth quarter fumbles from a senior running back allowed USU to escape with a Homecoming victory.

Following the game, a soaking wet Bobo credited his defense for showing up but pointed to the turnovers and general lack of offensive success for holding the team back. His frustration was evident as he fielded questions from the local scrum of reporters but he answered them honestly.

“It should have been a fourth quarter game with (us) having a chance to win or be in the lead — and we didn’t do it,” Bobo said.

“It’s very frustrating. The guys are putting in the work, the coaches are putting in the work, and we haven’t found a way to get to the finish line yet.”

The Rams will have another opportunity to reach that finish line against San Diego State on Saturday. The last time that these teams faced each other was in 2016 — on that night, Bobo’s Rams handed Rocky Long’s Aztecs a 32-point beatdown on their own turf.

Along with the 2016 shutout over Fresno State and the 2018 upset of Arkansas, the 63-31 victory over SDSU in 2016 is leading the conversation for the most impressive victory of the Bobo era. On that night, it felt like program was on the verge of turning the corner and that momentum definitely carried over into the first half of the 2017 campaign.

It’s possible that another win over the Aztecs is what it would take to help spark another run by Bobo’s Rams. After all, his teams have been competitive in the majority of the games this season.

But at this point, the excitement that surrounded the program just a few years ago feels like a distant memory. The Rams haven’t beaten an FBS team in almost a calendar year. And after the last two weeks, much of the fanbase feels skeptical about whether the team will even be able to win more than one or two more games in 2019.

Really, the only thing the CSU diehards can do at this point is cheer for their team and hope that this nightmare of scenario ends soon. For now, though, the story goes on. Until Bobo and Co. can see the error of their ways, they’ll be doomed to keep reliving the same scenario — forever stuck on Groundhog Day.