Rams out to find rhythm early after slow start against Hawaii

FORT COLLINS» The final numbers were nice, but in the end, rather empty.

Colorado State scored 34 points, quarterback K.J. CartaSamuels threw for a schoolrecord 537 yards to produce five touchdowns and wideouts Bisi Johnson and Preston Williams combined for 15 catches for 345 of those yards and four scores. But most of the damage came on the wrong end of a 37-7 deficit to Hawaii last Saturday.

They look pretty, but it didn’t change the outcome. The Rams lost, and that’s how head coach Mike Bobo took the news of the record after the game.

“We lost. I’m sure K.J. feels the same way,” he said. “We’re going to try to execute, and that’s his job this week is try to execute. I have confidence in him that he can execute what we decide the game plan is going to be going forward.”

Colorado State scored on its opening possession as CartaSamuels and Johnson broke the ice on the season, but it was a long time coming for the next score. Last year against Colorado, an experienced Rams offense only produced one field goal in a 17-3 loss. There were fireworks that turned out to be duds, erased by penalties, a flag for hands to the face and a few more for offensive pass interference.

Flags were a common sight in CSU’s opener, 12 in all for 120

yards. Eight of them were for holding, four on the offense.

For a team that struggled to start last week, and one that has fought to score points recently against the Buffs, the field has to remain clean Friday night in Denver when the two rivals meet again in the Rocky Mountain Showdown (7:30 p.m.; CBSSN).

“When you’re putting yourself in situations where it’s first-and-15, first-and20, your playbook becomes really, really small,” CSU running back Izzy Matthews said. “There’s not a lot of plays that coach drew up for first-and-20. It’s really just like a shot in the foot; you don’t know what to do. You can kinda chip away at it, but at the end of the day, it’s a disadvantage.

“It’s stupid mistakes, it’s silly penalties, it’s things that aren’t necessary. It’s things that are only going to hinder you.”

Bobo had no trouble counting the ways. Yes, they overcame a holding call on the first scoring drive.

But other times they didn’t, and one flag pushed them out of scoring position.

Seeing it over and over again became nauseating.

“Offense is about execution, and when you get behind the sticks, it’s hard to overcome,” Bobo said. “When you’re in scoring position and you get knocked out of scoring position, it kinda hurts you.”

The “kinda” was kinda facetious.

Guard Tyler Bjorklund asked for calm. Not in the manner of forgetting what happened, but as a way to fix it. With a new group, he felt there moments they were too fired up as an offensive line. Bad technique led to bad decisions, a reach, a grab and a flag. A more relaxed approach, now that they have a game together, is his remedy.

“I think we just need to calm down. It’s our second game, a rivalry game, but we need to relax, understand our technique, understand our assignments and execute them,” he said. “We can’t just go flying down trying to kill someone. We have to understand what (offensive line coach Dave) Johnson has taught us. We need to relax, trust the guy next to you and just play ball.”

For the Rams, the key was the numbers did develop at some point, and even if they were too late for a winning effort, it showed the offense it can once again be explosive.

That gained them some confidence moving forward, but Bobo pointed out it won’t be a loose zone they face at the start Friday night.

“The thing I told (CartaSamuels) the other day is it’s going to be tighter coverage against these guys, tighter windows,” Bobo said. “We have to get the ball out quicker; it will be a faster pass rush, more than likely, but you have to trust what you see. You have to work on the little things of getting the ball out a little bit quicker.”

That works all around, as the Rams look to avoid a slow start to the game, or a drought after early success. Against the Buffs, they need a tempo and a rhythm to the offense.

“We can’t have those slow starts,” Matthews said. “We have to get it together. We have to get it together quick.”