Rams must succeed in containing Rebels’ run game to have chance to get back to .500 record

las vegas» Jakob Buys is confident Colorado State can take the next step. He knows for that to happen, UNLV can’t take extra ones.

The Rebels (3-4, 2-1 Mountain West) feel they are on a bit of a run as they host the Rams (3-4, 1-2) on Saturday, having posted a nice fourth-quarter rally to top Hawaii last week.

The Rebels will look to continue to run the ball, using their backs and quarterback to generate an attack that is averaging 247.7 yards per game.

UNLV likes to spread teams out and create running lanes. Lexington Thomas is up to 601 yards on the season, and Charles Williams has 419, combining for 10 touchdowns. Three weeks ago, the team moved to freshman quarterback Dalton Sneed, and he has kept the offensive flowing, adding 264 yards on the ground (including a 91-yard scoring run) and limiting the turnovers in the passing game, throwing just one interception and completing more than 50 percent of his passes. When he does throw, (and he needed to 27 times last week) he has one of the best targets in the league in Devonte Boyd.

“Those types of offenses always put stress on you, because you’ve got to fit the runs and be able to play the pass and play it with tight coverage,” CSU coach Mike Bobo said. “Then a lot of times it’s just redirecting and covering down and making tackles, not giving up the huge play. They’ve had some huge plays. You keep everything in front of you, you tackle and you make those guys execute. You don’t give up big plays. A ball gets tipped, or you get them in secondand-long or third-and-long when (run-pass offenses) don’t work.”

Sneed can move when he keeps it, and he goes for the chains before he goes to the ground. Colorado State’s defense felt it took a big step forward in containing a running quarterback in the second half of the win over Utah State, and those same principles have to be applied again.

“We have to do the same exact thing,” said Buys, a defensive lineman. “We can’t overlook this guy, or even their backup quarterback. These guys aren’t going to run out of bounds, they’re going to fight for that first down. Once we hit him, we have to grab him and bring him down. We can’t miss tackles on him and let him get more yards.

“We’ve just got to take that step forward and increase our game and get better on the field, be able to play a whole game. That second half against Utah State, we’ve got to come out like that in the beginning. The moment we start breaking down, that’s when they start making plays.”

The last five minutes of last week’s loss, when the Rams scored 20 points in a 28-23 loss at 15thranked Boise State, are being viewed as an opening by quarterback Nick Stevens, who feels a similar approach could serve the Rams well.

“I think we definitely need to get our tempo going,” he said. “Obviously we’re not going to be as fast every play, but there were times we were sitting at the ball a little big too long, and we could have gotten a little faster tempo. Seeing what we were able to do against such a good defense gave me confidence we can do that against almost anybody.”