Catch this recap at MWCConnection.com over at SBNation.com!
The San Diego State Aztecs (3-4, 1-2) won 42 - 28 at Fort Collins against Colorado State (3-5, 0-4). The Aztecs victory was their first in conference and extended the Rams losing streak to 5 in a row. Ryan Lindley threw a career high 6 touchdowns in the victory. Catch more after the jump!
SDSU scored on a DeMarco Sampson touchdown pass with 9:39 left in the 4th quarter and never looked back. They were down by 14 at one half and by one going into the final quarter before Lindley put the team on his back. It was the ninth most receiving yards in Aztec history by Sampson.
Ryan Lindley behind great protection all game threw six touchdowns for 459 yards and a 67% completion percentage. Most of those passes targeted DeMarco Sampson, 15 catches for 257 yards. Most of these yards came after stud WR Vincent Brown went out with an injury. The SDSU passing game clicked all game and they had no need to rely on a running game except to throw in a different look ever so often. They picked up 72 yards on the ground, most for show.
The CSU Rams were actually up 21 - 7 at half and it looked like they were headed to victory. Grant Stuckers 48% completion percentage and two interceptions would have something to say about that. John Mosure ran for a career high 130 yards while emerging freshman Lou Greenwood got zero carries. Mosure also connected on a 23 yard pass. Once again the Rams snatched defeat from the jaws of victory as the blew another lead, the forth game in a row.
Next week the Aztecs host New Mexico and look to go .500 in conference. Colorado State will host Air Force in a in-state rivalry.
Rams Notes:
That was unacceptable for a team trying to break into the top tier of the conference. Blowing a six point lead to TCU is no shame or a lead to Utah. However a 14 point lead at home against a two win SDSU team is unacceptable. After a SDSU scoring drive that took the lead in the 4th quarter the defense came off to... nothing. It was a 38 yard pass down the middle and three tackles were missed. They were not yelled at by the coaching staff nor did a defensive leader step up and rally them. That could be the biggest problem with Klint Kubiak going down. CSU needs a leader, it won't be Stucker, Kubiak, or Blu-Smith. That coaching staff seems to be missing a piece.
I am not huge believer in veteran leadership or teams losing cause they didn't care. Skill/game plans will win out 95 out of 100 times. However this team needs a fire under its butts right now or it will miss the bowl season after a 3-0 start. They lack a killer instinct on both sides of the ball right now, obvious from the four blown leads in a row. I did not expect this out of a Steve Fairchild coached team. Fairchild and Steve Kerr need to get their players back on track as the wheels have completely fallen off. The rest of the season could be embarrassing if they don't get it turned around now!
So at 3-5 should the Rams fight for a bowl or look to next year? Well go for a bowl, but I am not sure that getting there with Stucker and your seniors is the way to go. Jon Eastman can be a "game manager" at the least or he wouldn't be on the team. Give him a shot next time Stucker throws a pick and looks to be heading down hill, i.e. the last three weeks. Give Lou Greenwood a chunk of the carries and see what he can give you, better now then spring ball after a 6-6 season.
Saturday, October 24, 2009
CSU SDSU Game Thread
Few quick notes of things to look for.
- Leonard Mason's ribs... or Lou Greenwood's finish on runs.
- Stucker's confidence, he has had a rough few weeks.
- Ivory Herd and Blu-Smith as safeties, who takes the run who takes the pass.
- The play calling, will they try to put up a huge number once they finally face a defense that will allow it? Or control the clock and get their running game going?
Go Rams!
- Leonard Mason's ribs... or Lou Greenwood's finish on runs.
- Stucker's confidence, he has had a rough few weeks.
- Ivory Herd and Blu-Smith as safeties, who takes the run who takes the pass.
- The play calling, will they try to put up a huge number once they finally face a defense that will allow it? Or control the clock and get their running game going?
Go Rams!
Friday, October 23, 2009
A Few Quick Ram Notes
The volleyball team dropped 3 straight sets against TCU, their worst loss of the year by far. It snapped their 12 game winning streak.
7 O Clock Rock Results:
Womens 3 Point: Chatilla van Grinsven
Mens 3 Point: Wes Eikmeier
Overall 3 Point: Wes Eikmeier
2 Ball: Andy Ogide and student
Slam Dunk: Harvey Perry
Bad news, Wes Eikmeier is inneligable to play this year. No suprise seeing Harvey Perry win the dunk contest as he is the best athlete on the squad.
7 O Clock Rock Results:
Womens 3 Point: Chatilla van Grinsven
Mens 3 Point: Wes Eikmeier
Overall 3 Point: Wes Eikmeier
2 Ball: Andy Ogide and student
Slam Dunk: Harvey Perry
Bad news, Wes Eikmeier is inneligable to play this year. No suprise seeing Harvey Perry win the dunk contest as he is the best athlete on the squad.
Thursday, October 22, 2009
7 OClock Rock!
Get a preview of the Rams men and women basketball teams tonight at 7! Here is the link and info you might need. Here.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
CSU Rams host SDSU Aztecs
The Colorado State Rams (3-4, 0-3) host the San Diego State Aztecs (2-4, 0-2) this Saturday at Sonny Lubick Field. The Rams are coming off four straight losses, most recently to #8 TCU. SDSU is coming off a 38-28 loss to #16 BYU. Both teams are currently win less in conference and are hoping to get in the win column.
First a quick look at the Aztecs. Junior Wide Receiver Vincent Brown. That is a good boil down of their team. He is leading the MWC in Yards per game (129.7), receiving yards (778), and touchdowns (6). That is 232 more yards than the next closest receiver. He is a dominate offensive weapon and will be playing on Sundays soon enough. Sophomore QB Ryan Lindley will be taking the snaps and has had an up and down year with a few good games and a few bad ones. He comes into the game connecting on 53.1% pass attempts, he has four games over 60% and one 40% and a 25.9% completion game. He also is sporting a 10 to 11 touchdown to interceptions ratio. These are all good things to hear out of a defense that thrives on turnovers and will be missing safety Klint Kubiak. The San Diego running game is almost non-existent at 119th in the nation. They average 68.33 yards a game, and are less than a yard away from last place.
The Aztec defense runs around the middle of the pack in defensive rankings. They shouldn’t be feared by any means but can’t be considered a team you can just run over. They are adjusting to a new 3-3-5 system on defense this year. The Aztecs have not won a game in which they did not win the turnover margin, so ball security will be a must for CSU.
Rams might be playing running back carousel again this weekend as John Mosure appears to still be in Coach Fair’s doghouse, Leonard Mason has bruised ribs and is questionable, Lou Greenwood is talented but still playing like a freshman, and Alex Square is 4th on the depth chart for a reason. So where do the Rams go with the ball? Square looked decent against TCU so he may get the bulk of carries if Mason is out of action. Mosure will see some action but not the bulk of it the way things have been going. Establishing the run will be key to the Rams getting a win, they stuck with TCU till Mason went out with that injury.
Grant Stucker is taking the bumps against good defenses and needs to use what he learned the last few weeks against the lower level teams in the MWC to boost the offensive production. Pre-season All-MWC WR Rashaun Greer has zero touchdowns, Stucker needs to find him more often. Greer and Dion Morton are averaging 3.3 and 2.6 catches a game, which is simply not enough for your play makers. They both average 19+ yards per catch, some of which they are getting on the ground. For CSU to bust out at the end of the year those two need the ball in their hands.
On defense the Rams could afford to get healthy, Alex Williams returning would go a long way. Klint Kubiak is out for the year as the Rams turn to Ivory Herd at safety. The Rams just need to tackle better as they are not talented enough to make mistakes on the defensive end that allow for 2nd or 3rd and short opportunities.
The Rams should be looking at this as a tale of two MWC seasons. Their first season consisted of the top three opponents; BYU, TCU, Utah. They lost all those games and really only played well against Utah. Against BYU they played ok, but dug a hole too early. TCU just out played them and the Rams lost big. Good news for the Rams though, their remaining teams have a record of (12-21, .364%) and the two teams with winning records they get to play at home. There is a possibility for a five game streak to end at 8-4 and a bowl game. Teams might look down at them seeing the losing streak and the Rams should take advantage of that and get the swagger of the 3-0 team they were back. Six wins for a bowl game shouldn’t be the target of this team. They are good enough to get eight wins and that starts with a win at home against SDSU.
Rams Keys to Victory:
Win the turnover battle.
Find the ground game and put the ball in your play makers hands.
Play a complete game, come out with the same fire in the 2nd half as the 1st.
First a quick look at the Aztecs. Junior Wide Receiver Vincent Brown. That is a good boil down of their team. He is leading the MWC in Yards per game (129.7), receiving yards (778), and touchdowns (6). That is 232 more yards than the next closest receiver. He is a dominate offensive weapon and will be playing on Sundays soon enough. Sophomore QB Ryan Lindley will be taking the snaps and has had an up and down year with a few good games and a few bad ones. He comes into the game connecting on 53.1% pass attempts, he has four games over 60% and one 40% and a 25.9% completion game. He also is sporting a 10 to 11 touchdown to interceptions ratio. These are all good things to hear out of a defense that thrives on turnovers and will be missing safety Klint Kubiak. The San Diego running game is almost non-existent at 119th in the nation. They average 68.33 yards a game, and are less than a yard away from last place.
The Aztec defense runs around the middle of the pack in defensive rankings. They shouldn’t be feared by any means but can’t be considered a team you can just run over. They are adjusting to a new 3-3-5 system on defense this year. The Aztecs have not won a game in which they did not win the turnover margin, so ball security will be a must for CSU.
Rams might be playing running back carousel again this weekend as John Mosure appears to still be in Coach Fair’s doghouse, Leonard Mason has bruised ribs and is questionable, Lou Greenwood is talented but still playing like a freshman, and Alex Square is 4th on the depth chart for a reason. So where do the Rams go with the ball? Square looked decent against TCU so he may get the bulk of carries if Mason is out of action. Mosure will see some action but not the bulk of it the way things have been going. Establishing the run will be key to the Rams getting a win, they stuck with TCU till Mason went out with that injury.
Grant Stucker is taking the bumps against good defenses and needs to use what he learned the last few weeks against the lower level teams in the MWC to boost the offensive production. Pre-season All-MWC WR Rashaun Greer has zero touchdowns, Stucker needs to find him more often. Greer and Dion Morton are averaging 3.3 and 2.6 catches a game, which is simply not enough for your play makers. They both average 19+ yards per catch, some of which they are getting on the ground. For CSU to bust out at the end of the year those two need the ball in their hands.
On defense the Rams could afford to get healthy, Alex Williams returning would go a long way. Klint Kubiak is out for the year as the Rams turn to Ivory Herd at safety. The Rams just need to tackle better as they are not talented enough to make mistakes on the defensive end that allow for 2nd or 3rd and short opportunities.
The Rams should be looking at this as a tale of two MWC seasons. Their first season consisted of the top three opponents; BYU, TCU, Utah. They lost all those games and really only played well against Utah. Against BYU they played ok, but dug a hole too early. TCU just out played them and the Rams lost big. Good news for the Rams though, their remaining teams have a record of (12-21, .364%) and the two teams with winning records they get to play at home. There is a possibility for a five game streak to end at 8-4 and a bowl game. Teams might look down at them seeing the losing streak and the Rams should take advantage of that and get the swagger of the 3-0 team they were back. Six wins for a bowl game shouldn’t be the target of this team. They are good enough to get eight wins and that starts with a win at home against SDSU.
Rams Keys to Victory:
Win the turnover battle.
Find the ground game and put the ball in your play makers hands.
Play a complete game, come out with the same fire in the 2nd half as the 1st.
Rams Volleyball Ranked #25!
The Rams volleyball team has jumped back into the top 25 rankings for the first time since the preseason poll when they were listed #24. After two losses in their first two games this season the Rams were dropped. Since then they have gone won a dominate 16 of 17 including 12 straight.
Tessa Nelson's quote basks me up in my claim about the Ewing Theory. "I think that this year our team has really put aside individual goals and statistics and all that stuff and come together as a team" said Nelson. Having Makena Barnes had a effect on the teams play and this year they didn't have that star player to rely on so they have come together more.
Tessa Nelson's quote basks me up in my claim about the Ewing Theory. "I think that this year our team has really put aside individual goals and statistics and all that stuff and come together as a team" said Nelson. Having Makena Barnes had a effect on the teams play and this year they didn't have that star player to rely on so they have come together more.
Fairchild's Week 8 Video Presser
Steve Fairchild talks about the upcoming SDSU game and how one game doesn't define the program.
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