Rams getting run game in gear
FORT COLLINS» The total wasn’t the most impressive the offense has had this year.
Colorado State rushed for 180 yards in its 27-24 victory over New Mexico last weekend, a figure that is in the bottom three for the season. Yet in some regards, it was one of the Rams’ more impressive performances of 2017, considering the circumstances.
The Rams were having trouble throwing the ball,
CU FOOTBALL
and the Lobos were stacking the box. Izzy Matthews did the math — he counted 10 defenders there at times. He checked with running backs coach Bryan Applewhite; he saw 10, too.
That was the high point, as most of the night the CSU offense was looking across at eight or nine defenders near the line of scrimmage. But at game’s end, the Rams had averaged 5.1 yards per carry (up a tick from the season average). The Lobos wanted the Rams to run, and they did.
“When you’re talking about putting 10 guys in the box, it’s about executing your assignments and rules, and these guys couldn’t be better at it,” said the junior who rushed for 116 yards against the Lobos. “These guys work their tails off. Coach (Will) Friend (the Rams’ offensive coordinator and line coach) has it in their head drilled to a point that they have to know what they’re doing, and I think all eight of them that play know exactly what’s going on every single play.”
From the time the Rams took the lead for good, they ran the ball 12 times against a stacked front, with only two going for a loss. On the drive that produced the deciding points from Wyatt Bryan’s 52-yard field goal, the Rams ran the ball six times without a loss.
At home Saturday against Air Force, the Rams expect the Falcons to take a similar approach. CSU head coach Mike Bobo knows his team has quick-strike capabilities, but he also wants the Rams to earn the reputation that they can get the tough yards when needed.
“We’re going to be ready. I think we’re built to be able to do both, and that’s always our plan every week to do both,” Bobo said. “There are certain times, and I’ve said it since Day One when I got here, if you want to be a team that contends for championships and wins championships, you’d better be able to run the ball when they expect you to run the ball.”
The offensive line had injury issues early in the season, but tackle Zack Goldtich says the group is now working in concert, no matter who is rotating in and out.
It’s the teaching and the mentality coming together, and while he was pleased with the results, he would still prefer to see the Rams rush for 200-plus yards every week, especially with the tailbacks they have.
“If you know what you’re doing, that’s 80 percent of the task. I think it’s good when you have a backfield that clicks with the offensive line, that has the same mentality,” Golditch said.