DENVER — 69 yards.
Despite it being his first career start at quarterback, C.J. Montes had a lot to say prior to Saturday’s matchup between Colorado State (3-3) and New Mexico (2-5).
In an interview with the Albuquerque Journal, the freshman quarterback confidently stated that schematically he felt the Lobos should run through the Rams. “I think we should blow these guys out,” Montes said.
Turns out giving extra motivation to a team you haven’t beaten in over a decade was not a wise decision. CSU’s defense absolutely dominated Saturday night, as the Rams were able to hold UNM to just 69 total yards of offense and zero offensive points. The Lobos did score a touchdown to prevent the shutout (36-7), it came via special teams on a punt return though. As an offensive unit, Montes and the Lobos were completely incompetent.
When the beatdown was complete and the game came to an end, Montes was 3-of-19 for 11 yards through the air (16 percent). His QBR was -0.4. And he wasn’t any better on the ground either (-37 yards).
UNM’s 69 total yards of offense is the lowest amount ever by a Mountain West team in a league game. It’s also the second-fewest ever allowed by a Rams team in any game.
Additionally UNM failed to convert on all but two of their 12 third down attempts. They never reached the Red Zone. And the Lobos ran 24 less plays than the Green & Gold in what was a pitiful performance overall for the home team.
Following the 36-7 throttling in Albuquerque, N.M. the Rams players were not shy in letting the world know how they felt about Montes’ pregame remarks. When asked if it impacted the attitude of the defense, Scott Patchan said that any time an opponent gives you bulletin board material it’s going to naturally lead to more intensity.
“It makes for more emotion going into the game, like wow, why would he say such a thing like that? What inclined him to say that? So yeah, we had a little chip on our shoulder coming into the game, especially when someone makes an arrogant statement like that.”
“I’ve seen the defense. I’ve seen the look in their eyes all week at practice,” David Bailey added. “You’ve seen that with the guys, they were hungry.”
CSU’s starting running back continued, explaining that they were prepared as a defensive unit and it showed with the way they were able to ball out on the road. He also said that while they’ll brush off any remarks from opposing teams, it’s natural to get fired up when someone talks trash.
“You always have that in the back of your mind as a player,” Bailey said. “You just want to go out there and prove it.”
Ultimately it’s tough to be too critical of a true freshman for going out and saying the wrong things. He was likely trying to convey confidence and just overstepped a little bit in the process. It’s easy to do, particularly when you’re not yet experienced with dealing with the media.
“C.J. had a great learning moment on Tuesday. You don’t say things in the media that come off arrogant,” UNM head coach Danny Gonzales said postgame. “You don’t say you’re going to run through somebody when you’re struggling. You don’t say those things. That’s arrogance.
“He’s a confident young man,” Gonzales continued. “But he’s got a lot of growing up to do obviously. I should have prepared him better to talk to the media. That’s my fault.”
When you’re playing the big boys, actions have consequences and the Rams put Montes, the Lobos in their place this weekend. There’s a reason that the Rams have not lost to their longtime conference foe since 2009 and they showed it once again on Saturday. Really, Bailey himself said it best. “We showed the other team you can’t just be going out and saying anything.”
After extending the winning streak over UNM to 11 games and bringing CSU’s season record to .500 for the first time this year, the Rams will attempt to go 3-1 on the road when they travel to Utah State (4-2) next weekend.
