COLLEGE FOOTBALL: Colorado State struggling to post eight-win season after third consecutive loss.
When Colorado State escaped Albuquerque with a 2724 victory over the New Mexico Lobos on Oct. 20, one prevailing thought surrounded CSU’s program: This Rams team is different.
Because a sixth win arrived in October and not November, like it had in coach Mike Bobo’s two previous seasons with the Rams, and talk of a Mountain West title hadn’t felt so authentic since 2002 — when CSU last won a conference championship.
And even if the Rams fell short, it would take only two wins in their next five games (including a bowl) to mark improvement on consecutive 7-6 seasons. That seemed a certainty considering the NCAA-leading connection between quarterback Nick Stevens and wide receiver Michael Gallup, plus a suddenly resurgent defense.
But a new reality has quickly set in after three consecutive losses for the Rams.
A season filled with so much hope is now back to the baseline after Boise State forever tainted CSU’s “State Pride” uniforms by erasing a 25-point deficit to beat the Rams 59-52 in overtime Saturday night in Fort Collins.
CSU will enter senior day against San Jose State at 6-5 (4-3 Mountain West), and a win over the Spartans (1-10, 0-6) this week is all but ensured. So, just as has happened in the past two seasons, an elusive eighth win for the Rams will come down to a bowl result. CSU has done nothing this fall to prove it can beat a winning program.
The combined opponent record in CSU’s six victories (Oregon State, Abilene Christian, Hawaii, Utah State, Nevada and New Mexico) is 16-44 — a mediocre .360 winning percentage. Utah State is the only team in that group in bowl contention at 5-5. It’s not much of a résumé to inspire confidence for CSU fans.
Their collective frustration is easily understood.
A seven-win season with CSU’s schedule is a lot like getting a C-plus on a grade-school math test. Sure, you passed. But don’t expect Mom to display it on the refrigerator door.
A football translation? Through nearly three full seasons in Fort Collins, Bobo is still searching for that signature victory displayed proudly for the green-and-gold faithful to admire. CSU is 0-6 in rivalry games over the past two seasons, and now 0-7 all time against Boise State.
The refrigerator door is bare. For years, Boise State has carried the mantel in the Mountain West with at least eight victories in all seven years of league membership. The last time Boise State failed to reach that mark was 1998 as a Big West member.
So how does a football program make the leap from above average to great, or, from CSU to Boise State? Bobo addressed that question in the week leading up to another painful defeat for the Rams.
“You’ve got to learn how to
win,” he said.