New Mexico Bowl Preview: Colorado State vs Marshall
The Colorado State Rams look to snap a 3 game bowl losing streak.
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New Mexico Bowl Preview
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Game Day Basics
Marshall Thundering Herd (visitors) vs Colorado State Rams (home)
Time and Location: 2:30 pm (MST) December 16th at Dreamstyle Stadium in Albuquerque, New Mexico
Weather: Partially Cloudy with a high of 48 F
TV: ESPN
Spread: Colorado State -5.5
The Colorado State Rams head to their fifth straight bowl game, tying a program record. The Rams have lost in their past 3 bowl games however. They head to the site of their last bowl win, a 48-45 come from behind win against Washington State, in the New Mexico Bowl.
The Rams are slated to face the Thundering Herd of Marshall from Conference USA. This game is a match-up of two similar yet opposite teams.
Both CSU and Marshall finished the regular season 7-5. Both got out to a hot start, CSU 5-2 and Marshall 6-1. Both had a slide at the end of the year, CSU 2-3 in their last five games and Marshall 1-4 in their last five games.
Colorado State is an offensive team with a weak defense and Marshall is a defensive team with a weak offense. This game will be strength vs strength and weakness vs weakness. It’s going to come down to whose strength works best and whose weakness makes the least mistakes.
Three Keys for a CSU victory:
Run The Offense
The Rams offense is one of the best in the country. Averaging 500 yards a game, the Rams have a balanced offense with nearly 300 yards passing a game and over 200 yards rushing a game. The Rams will face a stiff test in the Marshall defense, who allows less than 340 yards a contest. If the Rams can maintain their high powered offense the Rams will be in this one and could run away with the game.
Defense Steps Up
The CSU defense has looked really bad for a good portion of the year. The offense has given the Rams a chance to win most games and in some cases the defense has cost the Rams a victory. Two factors for the Rams defense in this game, Marshall has an ok offense and defensive coordinator Marty English is set to retire after this game. The defense will want redemption for this year and they’ll want to send Marty English out with a win.
Finish
Early in the season the Rams, didn’t get out to good starts. They eventually figured that out. The Rams problem for the majority of the year has been finishing. They have had the lead in the 4th quarter in a couple of games, and lost two of them and nearly lost a third. If the Rams can stay consistent the whole game and finish strong then the Rams should be heading back to Fort Collins with another addition to their trophy case.
Prediction
With the meeting of strength vs strength and weakness vs weakness, this should be a good game. However, the Rams have too much firepower on offense. Michael Gallup is one of the best receivers in college football. If you double team him, you leave the Rams other receivers open and potentially open up holes for the Rams running game. This should be an even contest for the majority of the game, but the Rams should pull away in the end.
Colorado State 45, Marshall 30