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Colorado State was wildly inconsistent in 2016 with the Rams’ performances ranging from the 44-7 thrashing at the hands of the Buffaloes in the emotional opening game to near flawless victories over New Mexico and eventual MWC champion San Diego State to end the regular season, finishing 7-6 in Mike Bobo’s second year as head coach.
Optimism is high in Fort Collins for many reasons. First, CSU’s sparkling new $220 million, 41,000 seat on-campus stadium debuts in August. Second, most of the skill position players return from a Rams offense that scored 37 or more points in each of the last six games in 2016, including a 61-50 loss to Idaho in the Boise bowl game, and averaged 35.3 points and 462.5 yards per game.
After struggling in the season opener against the Buffs, quarterback Nick Stevens was demoted, first in favor of Faton Bauta and then one week later by Collin Hill. However, Stevens made the most of his second chance when Hill suffered a season-ending torn ACL in October.
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Stevens, a rising senior, sizzled down the stretch, posting the best passing efficiency rating over the final six games, completing more than 70 percent of his passes for 19 TDs compared to just three interceptions. With Hill presumably still rehabbing from his injury, Stevens has already been declared CSU’s starting QB heading into fall camp by Bobo.
Stevens finished the 2016 season with 1,936 yards passing, 19 touchdowns, five INT, 64.2 completion rate and a 171.3 efficiency rating.
Michael Gallup (76 receptions for 1,272 yards and 14 TD in 2016) is possibly the best returning receiver in the Mountain West Conference, earning First-Team honors a season ago. He is a home run threat every time he touches the ball. Gallup tied for the MWC lead in receiving yards per game (97.8) and was second in receptions per game (5.8).
The new look Colorado secondary will undeniably have its hands full trying to guard Gallup.
Bobo was pleased with how the CSU offense performed in the spring with Stevens at the controls, saying the senior signal caller made significant strides.
“We’re playing at a pretty high level offensively and I want to see that continue,” Bobo said towards the end of spring practice. “When he (Stevens) came back (in 2016), he took the reins. That has been the same approach for him this spring. You see a guy that communicates with his players, and knows more about how he wants things and where he expects them to be.
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“You see a confident guy. He has always done a good job in the run game, getting us in the right play, but he has performed extremely well throwing the ball and improved last year and this spring.”
While Colorado State loves to throw the football, one offensive statistic from 2016 stands out above the rest: The Rams were 7-0 when they rushed for 200 or more yards, 0-6 when they didn’t. All three primary running backs return. The trio of Dalyn Dawkins (919 yards), Izzy Matthews (734) and Marvin Kinsey (546) combined for 2,199 yards and 24 touchdowns in 2016.
Colorado State was the only team in the nation last season with three running backs with 500-plus rushing yards and at least three touchdowns apiece.
“I feel good about what we can do,” Stevens said after CSU’s spring game. “We can make a lot more progress in the offseason, and we’ve got some new guys coming in that might have the opportunity to play. We are going to continue that into the offseason and grow a lot from now until then.”
Defensively, it’s a good news, bad news situation for CSU. The good news is nine starters return from last season. The bad news is the CSU defense allowed 419.2 yards per game, and an average of 43 points over the final four contests. The run defense was horrendous at times as CSU allowed 200+ yards on the ground right times. Red zone defense (36 TDs allowed in 47 trips inside the 20 by opponents) was a major issue too. Thus, improvement on the defensive side of the ball, especially the front seven, is necessary if the Rams want to progress from a won-loss record standpoint.
Colorado State could have one advantage coming into the Sept. 1 matchup in Denver. The Rams host Oregon State at their brand-new stadium on Aug. 26, giving them one game under their belt before they square off with the Buffaloes.
COLORADO STATE 2017 FOOTBALL SCHEDULE:
Aug. 26 OREGON STATE, 1 p.m. (CBS Sports Network)
Sept. 1 vs. Colorado (at Denver), 6 p.m. (Pac-12 Network)
Sept. 9 ABILENE CHRISTIAN
Sept. 16 at Alabama
Sept. 23 Bye
Sept. 30 at Hawaii
Oct. 7 at Utah State
Oct. 14 NEVADA
Oct. 20 at New Mexico, 8:15 p.m. (ESPN2)
Oct. 28 AIR FORCE
Nov. 4 at Wyoming
Nov. 11 BOISE STATE
Nov. 18 SAN JOSE STATE
(All Times Mountain)
