Wyoming at Colorado State: Keys for a Rams Victory
The Rams are out for revenge and the Bronze Boot.
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Can the Rams get over last week?
WEEK 9: Wyoming Cowboys (1-1, 1-1 Mountain West) vs. Colorado State Rams (0-1, 0-1 Mountain West)
WHEN: Thursday, November 5 — 7:00 PM MT/6:00 PM PT
WHERE: Canvas Stadium; Fort Collins, Colorado (41,000)
TV: CBS Sports Network
STREAM: Get a one-week trial of FuboTV.
RADIO: CSU Rams Radio
ODDS (via ESPN):Β Wyoming -3.5
Three Keys to a Rams Victory
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— Colorado State Rams (@CSURams) November 4, 2020
1. Start Patrick O’Brien
Head coach Steve Addazio made a call he thought was best, in matchup terms, last week by starting Todd Centeio. It seemed like a good idea. Hawaii ran all over Fresno State and for the first quarter CSU was doing similar things. The Bulldogs figured out that the Rams were having trouble throwing the ball and focused on run defense for the rest of the game.
Patrick O’Brien was put in late against Fresno State, led two drives deep into Bulldog territory, and finished one drive off with a touchdown. Wyoming is going to be a different beast to Fresno State. The Cowboys are a disciplined team. They cut down on the mistakes and make the opposing team make the mistakes.
If the Rams want to bring the Bronze Boot back to Fort Collins, O’Brien is the man to do so. There is room for packages for Centeio, but O’Brien needs to be the main signal caller. His accuracy and arm strength are things that were missing last week and will be key this week.
2. Watch The RB Swing Pass
Against Fresno State, the Rams had some decent success on the defensive front. Both defensive ends finished with 1.5 sacks each and helped up decently in the run game. However, the swing pass to the running back out of the backfield killed CSU against the Bulldogs, as the Rams didn’t cover the running back on multiple occasions.
You can be sure Craig Bohl saw that and will call it multiple times against the Rams. We saw him call it a couple times against Hawaii. The swing pass will be a key focus for the linebackers this week if the Rams are to snap their four year losing streak to Wyoming.
3. Feed Dante Wright
Dante Wright was held out of last week’s game against Fresno State due to contact tracing. And it kind of diminished the Colorado State offense. Trey McBride got his touches and so did Marcus McElroy, but the offense was sorely missing the explosive speed of the sophomore from Navarre, Florida.
The offensive playbook of Joey Lynch opens up some more with the addition of Wright to the field. You’re going to have to respect Dante wherever he is on the field because he can burn you if you forget about him. The Rams need to get the ball in his hands and let him do some damage in the stat books.
Need this same energy from @Marcusnochill on Thursday night to get back ππ‘π ππ¨π¨π π€@canvasfamily | #RamClash π€π€ pic.twitter.com/3wuc4UCAi9
— Colorado State Football (@CSUFootball) November 3, 2020
Prediction
This is a rivalry game, so you can throw the analytics out of the window. Michigan State proved this last week. Colorado State and Wyoming always play each other tough and this game shouldn’t be any different. Wyoming will get their shots in, but the Rams are ready to fire back.
The Colorado state offense and defense will be better this week with a game under their belts. The coaching staff and the Colorado kids on the roster have circled this game on the calendar and emphasized what this matchup actually means to everyone else on the roster. Expect a dogfight with the Rams pulling it out in the end.
Colorado State 31, Wyoming 28
