It's been an impressive turnaround from the Rams but CSU's next challenge begins with Utah State

DENVER — After a less than ideal start to the 2021 season, Colorado State football (3-3, 2-0) has done a tremendous job of continuing to compete and putting themselves back into contention. 

As the standings currently sit, the Rams hold sole possession of first place in the Mountain Division — something that would have shocked most people if we would have told them it was coming a month ago — but that’s the craziness that is college football. 

Looking past the inherent quirkiness of CFB, anyone that’s watched the first six games can see that the Rams have made steady progress each week. It started with a quality win against Toledo, continued with a competitive showing at Iowa, and culminated with two of CSU’s most impressive performances this season, the wins over San Jose State and New Mexico. 

Having said all of that, while the turnaround has been encouraging, there’s no time for the Green & Gold to get complacent or start feeling themselves a little too early. Again, the wins have been solid and the battle against the Hawkeyes was damn impressive, starting with Friday night’s matchup at Utah State (4-2, 2-1), though, the Rams are entering the most challenging portion of the schedule. 

Over the next six weeks CSU has to play at Utah State, Wyoming and Hawaii, none of which are easy places to win a game. Sandwiched in between the road games the Rams host some of the best offenses in the Mountain West. Boise State comes first, then Air Force, and CSU closes out with Nevada on Senior Night. In order to be a relevant program, obviously you need to be able to make it through these types of challenges with decent success. But no matter how you look at it, this is a brutal six game stretch. 

Now that we’ve set the scene for the second half of CSU’s 2021 season, let’s dive into the game that matters most right now and that’s of course the one that the Rams are playing Friday night. 

The Aggies have been one of the most explosive offenses in the conference this year, led by Logan Bonner (QB), Calvin Tyler Jr. (RB) and Devin Thompkins (WR). USU also has one of the most electric kick returners in the country in Savon Scarver who is 5-foot-11, 175 pounds, but has housed seven kickoffs in his collegiate career. Going back to 2017, Scarver has returned at least one kickoff for a touchdown every single year, including against CSU in the 2019 contest at Canvas Stadium. 

After giving up a punt return for a score in last week’s blowout of UNM, Steve Addazio spoke about the importance of tightening up coverage lanes, particularly against a team like the Aggies. “We were disappointed with a few coverage issues,” Addazio said. 

CSU’s head coach explained that there were penalties that his team got away with in addition to the big play allowed. But just overall, Addazio wants to see a cleaner game from the unit that’s actually performed pretty well in 2021. 

“I told our team, we’ve got to execute in all three phases at a high level this week,” Addazio said. “There’s got to be tremendous execution. And that’s kind of our mindset right now. Because, you know, the offense has got to take care of the defense. Special teams are going to need to create great field position. We’ve all got to work together to have a chance to win out here.”

According to Addazio, one of the things that’s impacted the special teams units greatly is the shuffling of the players that the staff has had to deal with due to injuries. Jaylen Thomas (RB) was a guy that was playing extremely well for CSU on special teams. After Marcus McElroy transferred out and injuries to David Bailey and A’Jon Vivens increased Thomas’ role on the offense, though, Addazio didn’t feel comfortable keeping Thomas on the coverage unit. They simply cannot afford to lose him that way. 

“You substitute a guy and now you lose a little bit of chemistry and timing,” Addazio said. “We had a couple of issues like that during the game. We had to substitute some guys. Guys go in and all of a sudden it’s not quite the same level. That’s why I tell our team the twos have got to be as ready as the ones. You’ve got to have game snaps, you gotta be on top of your game.” 

Another area where Addazio would like to see his team improve is inside the Red Zone. CSU has scored on just shy of 90 percent of its trips into the Red Zone but the problem is that they have predominantly been kicking field goals. Addazio is proud of the way that Cayden Camper has stepped up and there’s no doubt that he’s been a real weapon for this team. Eventually, however, not capitalizing with touchdowns is going to come back to bite the Rams like it did against Vanderbilt. 

Addazio explained that CSU is driving the football extremely well. He said they have a lot of offense right now and it shows in the numbers. The Rams have recorded 440 or more yards of offense in four of the six games played. As much as he likes what he has seen, though, from a balanced approach to controlling time of possession, ‘Daz’ wants the group to stop leaving so many points on the table. 

“We want to score touchdowns in the Red Zone, especially the low red. That’s an area we should be able to do well in,” Addazio said. 

One way Addazio would like to see his offense shake some things up is by spreading out the defense more when they’re deep in enemy territory. CSU tends to operate out of 13 personnel, with three tight ends on the field in the Red Zone, but as Addazio explained that doesn’t mean they necessarily always have to go with a tight formation. Trey McBride, Gary Williams and Cam Butler are proven pass catchers, so even with heavier sets they can spread the guys out and let Todd Centeio get them the ball. 

“Those three guys are tough on a defense, because they’re great receivers, and they’re great blockers,” Addazio said. 

CSU is definitely going to have to execute at a high level if the Rams want to leave Logan, UT. with a victory this week. It’ll be interesting to see if they can improve in the areas Addazio emphasized in his presser. At the end of the day, though, it doesn’t need to be pretty. All that matters is the Rams find a way to scratch out another win. They’ve dug themselves out of the hole they put themselves in early, now is the time to ascend even higher. This is what college football is all about.