Rams look to snap rivalry skid
F ORT CO LLINS» The Rams cannot replay their season-opening defeat against Colorado. Head coach Mike Bobo’s 10th consecutive rivalry defeat certainly stung, but when Air Force (7-2, 4-1) appears at Canvas Stadium on Saturday, CSU (4-5, 3-2) has another chance to claim victory over a bitter foe.
As one of the three games the Rams annually mark on their calendars, the battle to hoist the Ram-Falcon Trophy holds significance, regardless of the circumstance.
“I think there is a different kind of juice at practice this week with a rivalry game, playing Air Force,” Bobo said. “Our goals are winning some of those games, our big rivalry games — Colorado, Air Force, and Wyoming.
“At the team meeting on Monday, I talked about we can’t go back and play the Colorado game over. But we do have an opportunity to reach two of our goals.”
A few weeks ago, it seemed that knocking off the Falcons for the first time since 2015 would be the only thing at stake for CSU.
Now, having rattled off three consecutive wins, Bobo’s squad not only enters the clash with rivalry-produced motivation, but with postseason aspirations and a four-game winning streak in mind.
Reaching .500 will require a disciplined effort as head coach Troy Calhoun’s squad has proven to be one of the toughest outs in the Mountain West Conference.
“We have to be tough, we have to be nasty, we have to match their physicality in this game,” Bobosaid.
“Words aren’t going to do anything…It’s gonna come down to the grit of our football team to win this game.”
Offensively, quarterback Patrick O’Brien’s unit faces a direct threat from Air Force’s stout defense which ranks third in the Mountain West, allowing only 20.9 points per game.
The Falcons’ veteran-led defensive backfield – highlighted by seniors Jeremy Fejedelem and Grant Theil — boasts the thirdmost efficient pass defense in the conference (216.6 yards surrendered each week).
Air Force has accumulated six performances in which it’s conceded less than 100 yards on the ground – including a recent 18yard showing versus Army.
Air Force leads the MWC in time of possession (nearly 35 minutes per contest), meaning capitalizing on offense is imperative.
“If we have to punt, we might not touch (the ball) for eight minutes,” Bobo said. “It might get into the next quarter. We have to go out there with the right mindset the next time and realize that we have to execute and play ball one snap at a time.”
The question remains as to whether or not CSU can solve the Falcons’ triple-option offense after Air Force ran all over the Rams for 393 yards in 2018 and 413 yards a season prior.
While the Falcons boast six players who have amassed more than 120 rushing yards this season, junior running back Kadin Remsberg and sophomore fullback Timothy Jackson represent the athletes whom CSU particularly must contain.
Both have tallied at least 600 yards along with 13 touchdowns combined, while junior quarterback Donald Hammond III owns eight rushing scores to his name.