Beat the Frogs

When I started this blog, I hoped that it would provide me with many opportunities to talk about CSU football, some positive, and some negative.

I have, after three weeks of trying to find a silver-lining to escape my natural cynicism, run out of positives. It really is now or never for this year’s Rams.

If they can’t beat TCU, then they will be in line for a terrible season.

Enough talk of how a win will come.

Enough talk of trying hard.

Enough talk of how the streak doesn’t really matter because this team is different than last year’s.

It is the same. Losing games the same.

Until they prove differently.

Ten games. Basically a whole year.

CSU is truly in a must-win game. Last week was close, but this week CSU must start conference play 1-0, or they will not recover.

Preview:

When CSU is on offense: One-third of the way through the season, the Rams offense is their strong point. They have put up points and controlled the clock most of the time. Now, they face a very strong test.

TCU is tough to score on, but they are weakened by the loss of stud Tommy Blake. CSU is thrilled with his absence, as he has been instrumental to the last two TCU beat-downs of CSU.

Advantage: Rams CSU will score 20-plus points on this defense. They have the skill to do so, and if Air Force can get 17 with their anemic offense, the Rams better get more.

When TCU is on offense: TCU is stable on offense, but their key will be the play of redshirt freshman quarterback Andy Dalton. He has struggled thus far this season, throwing costly picks and missing on some big plays. The key to TCU will be running back Aaron Brown (Brown Back, CSU section), who has been nursing an injury all year.

Meanwhile, CSU has let two redshirt freshman quarterbacks, Cody Hawkins and Case Keenum, look like all-stars. They need to force Dalton into at least three turnovers (they had chances versus the first two) if they have any shot at a victory.

Advantage: Push The Horned Frogs will move the ball, but hopefully the Rams can bend, but not break. Forcing turnovers will be the key for the Rams.

Coaching and other intangibles: TCU’s coach Gary Patterson always seems to have the Frogs ready to go, and Saturday will be no different. The problem will be the lack of experience at some key positions. Sonny Lubick and his staff have struggled lately to call a complete game, but they are getting close.

CSU also will not be shocked by the Texas heat, as this is their second game in as many weeks in the Lone Star State, and it will take place closer to evening.

Advantage: Horned Frogs Home-field advantage is huge, along with a team that knows how to finish, against one that has failed for 10 consecutive weeks.

Prediction: 28-20 Horned Frogs
Maybe if I boldly predict the Rams will lose, fortunes will reverse. It is worth a shot?

Sonny needs to pull a Joe-Pa

CSU lost again.


I don’t even know where to begin. Even with a 14 point lead going into halftime, I knew CSU would lose. It seems like it is now a constant.


I predicted that the Rams would win in a shootout, and I was close to my projection, as the Rams trailed Houston 31-27 late, but they were driving for what could have been the game-winning score.


With the Rams at midfield, they faced a third-and-5, after Hanie just missed Damon Morton deep. So they ran Kyle Bell up the middle. He got three yards. A questionable call, but it did make the fourth-down manageable.


That brought up a fourth-and-two, with just over three minutes remaining. CSU called a timeout to talk over the strategy.


So far in the game CSU couldn’t run very well when they had to (they had converted zero third-and-short rushing attempts, and barely converted a fourth-and-1 quarterback sneak), but had gained yards through the air, and Caleb Hanie, for the most part, had rushed the ball effectively when pressured.


So why not play-action fake and roll Hanie out in an attempt to take advantage of Houston’s fast, over-aggressive defense, while giving him a run-pass option? Or even spread Houston and pound Kyle Bell to the outside, hoping to get him isolated on a smaller cornerback or safety?


Or just go with a QB sneak on a fourth-and-two. That will fool ‘em. Hanie was stuffed on the obvious, unimaginative play, and then the CSU defense put up no fight in allowing another Houston touchdown.


Thankfully Florida International also lost, or else CSU would be on the worst losing streak in the nation.


During this 10-game losing streak the Rams have led four games in the second-half (Air Force and New Mexico in 2006, CU and Houston in 2007), and they have let them all get away.


Every game in the streak has seen costly turnovers, poor play calling, an overmatched defense in the second half, and a promise that things will get better soon.


But why would they?


The only way for Sonny to save his job is to go the Joe Paterno route; fire some assistants and tinker with new strategies, while hoping to bring in a couple of playmakers just off your name.


I will not call for Sonny’s head, because CSU football was horrible before Sonny. He needs to have a chance to right his legacy, but there must be some pressure for him to make drastic changes.


If he refuses to do that, then I feel that it might be time for CSU to enter the “After Sonny” era.

Houston vs. CSU preview (aka Anthony Alridge is fast)

NOTE: I wrote a whole big preview of the game at 3 a.m. after coming home from a Cross Canadian Ragweed Concert, but this lovely program decided to delete it, along with my lovely videos, links, and pictures that I worked on until 4 a.m. Then, before I even realized what happened or how to correct it, the thing autosaved. Lovely.

I was barely able to refrain myself from smashing my computer, so this is going to be a very quick preview.


Houston is up this weekend for the Rams, as CSU tries to break their nine-game losing streak.

What do we know about these Cougars?

-Running back Anthony Alridge is one of the top backs in the country, and he is really fast.

-The Cougs have perhaps the most complex offense of any team CSU will face. It is a no-huddle offense, with two quarterbacks rotating, that will line up with five wide recievers one play (think Texas Tech), and go flexbone (think Navy) on the next play.

-It is hot and humid in Houston, something the Rams are not used to.

-Houston lost by 21 points to Pac-10 stud Oregon, then whooped up on hapless Tulane 34-10.

-The Houston mascot (Shasta???) got beat up by the Oregon Duck, and since CAM is way more ripped than the duck, I think he should be favored as well.

Very quick and dirty preview:

CSU can run and pass.
The Cougars can as well.
Turnovers will be the difference.
Sonny is great after byes.
It is hot and humid in Houston.
I think CSU is due.
Rams over Cougs 38-31

0-2 Could Be Worse

I don’t get the continued complaining and disappointment that is coming from so many Ram fans about CSU’s two early losses.

After the last three years, CSU fans should be satisfied with an 8-4 record, a bowl game (hopefully not in New Mexico), and some proof that Sonny hasn’t lost his magic.

CSU is in great position to accomplish this, despite the poor start.

They lost to their archrival CU, in overtime. It is a game that always comes down to the wire, and it is always a toss up.

Then, Cal-Berkley, ranked 10th in the nation comes to town, fresh of a whooping of SEC-power Tennessee, and State loses by six.

Would it have been nice for CSU to win both those games? No, it would have been amazing, and for the course of the season, it would have been relatively inconsequential (look at the early rankings of collegefootballnews.com, CSU is the best 0-2 team in country, better than 2-1 Wyoming).

Winning a Mountain West Conference title should be first the goal of every season, and CSU can still achieve that goal. So fans, don’t give up yet.

The events of college football last weekend (Air Force beating TCU, wounded Utah shocking/destroying UCLA, BYU losing a shootout to Tulsa, New Mexico beating Arizona) proved that everything anyone thought they knew about the Mountain West Conference has been flipped, and the league is up for grabs.

Two of the favorites to win the title, Utah and TCU, have in-conference losses to Air Force, who was projected to finish near the bottom of the conference. The Flacons have taken a very early, but impressive, lead in the conference race.

BYU, also a preseason frontrunner, projected to have a quality defense, just lost to Tulsa, giving up 52 points in the process.

The good news for CSU is that they are still undefeated in conference play (Yes, I am aware they are also winless). They still get to play everybody else, and that is a big advantage over TCU and Utah.

There is no team in this league that CSU can’t beat, and there is no team in the league that can’t beat CSU.

CSU has been in similar situations and come through with amazing years. It is possible they will do so again.

Last year’s collapse by the Rams after a 4-1 start should prove that you can’t but too much worth into the first few games of the year, so don’t fall into the same trap.

It is far too early to lose the gift of optimism.

We Will Fum Again

My plan for this blog is to follow a regular pattern of recapping games played on the past Saturday every Tuesday, and previewing the next Saturday’s game on Thursday. This ensures that I put out consistent information weekly (and more importantly satisfy the requirements a certain journalism class). Unfortunately, my plan hit a snag this week, with CSU having a bye.

Therefore, I decided this was a good time to introduce my readers to Fum’s Song, the reason I named my blog “Fum Again.”

It all revolves around this little ditty (check out some great CSU highlights as well), written by one of the greatest people ever to be involved in Aggie and Ram football, Thurman "Fum" McGraw.

Fum was a legendary player back when CSU was still Colorado A&M, and an influential part of the CSU athletics sphere even after his death in 2000, as almost every athletic office of CSU is located in the McGraw Athletic Center.

In 2005, a great tradition seemed to be taking hold, as at the end of the third quarter the scoreboards at Hughes Stadium showed a clip of Fum singing his song to the team, along with the words to the song. The crowd sang along, and erupted into roars of delight. CSU has very few original traditions (example: the melody of our fight song is the exact same as our archrival CU’s), so this was a great idea that brought everyone together.

Unfortunetly, the song was ruled inappropriate to be played the next season after some complaints (never mind the fact that the students of the school voted for it to be used). More info here.

Worse, the school now immediately has the dance team perform at the end of the third quarter, pumping their music over the speakers, making it almost impossible for those who still want to sing to be able to even hear themselves. Tradition killed.

I purpose a solution to this. Since Fum’s old number was 48, I suggest that when 00:48 shows on the scoreboard of each quarter, the students’ section should start singing Fum’s Song. It might be during a play every so often, but if that is the case the fans will just have to be extra loud on the next chance.

Or our Athletic Department could step up and allow the crowd to sing Fum’s Song uninterrupted at the end of the third quarter, without interfering. If we can get it together to sing the song, then let us.

I'll sing you a song of college days

And tell you where to go.

Aggies where knowledge is,

and Boulder to spend your dough.

CC for your sissy boys,

Utah for your times,

DU for your ministers,

and drunkard School of Mines.

Don't send my boy to Wyoming U,

A dying mother said.

Don't send him to old Brigham Young,

I'd rather see him dead.

But send him to our Aggies,

It's better than Cornell,

Before I see him in Boulder,

I'd see my son in hell.

There are no moral victories in football (but this almost qualifies)...

What a difference a week makes, sort of. The Rammies lost again, 34-28 to Cal, but at least this time it wasn't soul-crushing. We lost by six to the tenth best team in the country. No, that doesn't do anything to end our now nine-game losing streak, but it should give the Rams confidence heading into the remainder of their schedule.

The Rams played Cal almost even for three quarters, before falling apart. Then they came flying back with two touchdowns in 53 seconds, but it was too little, too late.

Here are my pros and cons of the game:

Cons (saving the good news for last, is my motto):

- Turnovers. Three of them. One of them at the goal line. Caleb Hanie has to stop doing this, as he is a senior. It is very hard to beat bad teams when you give up the ball, and it makes an upset damn near impossible.

- Speed. We lack it on defense. DeSean Jackson is really fast, but he looked like he had just activated a Mario Kart star as he raced through our defense. Hopefully he is the only Heisman candidate that the Rams see this year.

- Play-calling. Again, it was pretty conservative in the third quarter, and the Rams didn't go deep at all until the end of the game, where it worked beautifully (on what may have been some Cal replacements, but I don't know for sure).

- Kory Sperry. Hopefully he does the Kyle Bell off-season regiment to comeback just as strong next season.

- Fans. Not even selling-out a game versus a top-ten opponent. Weak. Even more weak, leaving with the game not decided. CSU nearly made an amazing comeback, but you were too busy on a Saturday afternoon to hang around to support your team. Small time.

Pros:

- Kyle Bell, and the line. He put up over a 100 yards for the second straight week. Guess what? That is two more games over the century mark than the Rams got all last year. If CSU can keep running like this, we will have a good season.

- Special teams. They didn't let DeSean Jackson get a big return, which is a huge deal. Plus, another recovered onside kick (this one was planned). Too bad Jason Smith couldn't get that last pooch kick to fall a little shorter.

- Defense. It could have been way worse than the 34 points by Cal, as the Rams offense gave the ball up often, and set the defense up in horrible position. Still, they managed to hold the bigger and faster Cal offense in check enough to keep the Rams in the game. They need to force more turnovers.

- The receiving corp. With Sperry gone, they will have to step up, and they did on Saturday. They consistently got open for Caleb Hanie, and proved they have the speed to make plays down the field. Now, we need our coaching staff to do this more often, especially off play-action fakes.

The final word: The Rams are arguably the best 0-2 team in the country (take that Mee-chigan and Notre Lame), and they definitely won't lose this week, but bye is favored to win by one (I kid).

The bye week is at a good time, as it will give the Rams a chance to heal up a little, and the prepare for a very tricky and talented Houston offense in two weeks. This is a winnable game for the Rams, hopefully they know it.

How to Blow a Lead Against CU (2007 Issue)

As it might be well known to anyone reading this blog, CSU lost to CU in OT this weekend 31-28 (And if you didn't know that, I honestly question why in the world you would bother reading this site). I promise you, no, I did not cry, but I came about as close as is physically possible when Kevin Eberhart booted through his third field goal on Saturday. All I could think of is how? How in the world did we blow an 11-point lead?

I have spent most of this week reading the numerous articles from Colorado newspapers and message boards (the Ramnation.com CSU Ramblings board has a great CSU forum, and the homepage has links to almost every article about the Rams), and they are filled with people trying to answer my question. I have compiled what I feel are the three main reasons CSU fans and experts have pointed to as the cause of the Rams loss, along with my reaction.

1. CSU lost because of questionable play calling.

While the Rams put up 28 points in three quarters, they put up zero in the last 25 minutes of the game. It doesn't take a genius to see how they let their lead slip away.

Most point to CSU running the ball on third-and-6 with around 2:40 seconds left in the game as the reason we lost, citing this as one example of CSU not going for the throat down the stretch.

Many claim CSU also failed to look to tight end Kory Sperry, who had eight catches for 103 yards and three scores, enough late in the game. Looking at the play-by-play of the game however, during regulation when the Rams had the ball and were trying to ice the game, they did attack. They called running plays 14 times and they had eight pass attempts. Two other attempted plays pass resulted in sacks. That is pretty good balance, something teams in the lead often do, not the ultra-conservative play calling people are making it out to be. Of those eight passes, three were thrown towards Sperry. He made one catch, and then Hanie just missed him on two more long passes. One of the throws would have gone for a 54-yard touchdown if the pass had been on target.

Those plays show a team that went for the jugular, but just missed. In fact, it shows the fact that fans judge based on their last memories of the game, but they forgot much of what happened before. Perhaps not throwing in the third-and-6 situation wasn't wise, but it wasn't a guarantee that the Rams would get the first down anyway. In a similar thrid-and-9 situation just minutes later in overtime, Caleb Hanie forced a pass into the back of the end zone that was picked. This took away a shot at a field goal for the Rams, making it so the Buffs just had to play for a field goal. Had Hanie done this at midfield with only 2:40 second remaining, it would have been just as disastrous.

But if people feel the Rams offense couldn't close the door on the Buffs...

2. Then it was the special teams that left the door wide open.

After already giving up some big returns to CU, the special teams could've crippled the CU comeback, instead they enabled it.

With just over two minutes left in the game, after the failed third-and-6 run, the Rams had a fourth down at their own 41 yard-line. If the Rams could get a net of about 35 punt yards it, and it would force CU to drive almost 70 yards for a touchdown, and about 45 yards to for a shot at make able field goal, in about 2:15.

It should have been easy for the Rams senior punter Jimmy Kaylor, he of many first or second team preseason MWC selections, but Kaylor shanked the punt. It traveled 34 yards, and was returned 43 to the CSU 34. That's a -9 net, sportsfans, pretty much putting Eberhart in field goal range.

If the Rams special teams left the door wide-open for the Buffs...

3. A lovely official from the Big XII Conference escorted them to OT.

The Rams defense held the Buffs after the special teams gaffe, setting up a fourth-and-4. Dan Hawkins had his team go for it, not trusting his kicker to make a 45-yard field goal. Cody Hawkins lofted a fade pattern toward Patrick Williams, who caught the ball, but landed out of bounds. CSU fans exploded in joy, until a little hanky littered the ground.
Pass interference on CSU cornerback Joey Rucks. Four plays later Eberhart just snuck a 22-yard field goal through the uprights to force overtime.

Yes, it is easily the worst excuse to use in sports, but a bad referee was a killer for the Rams.

CU and CSU played almost an entire game with just one pass interference call, until with 1:16 the second one was called. The call (which CSU is still unsure about) would be questionable at any moment in the game, but at this juncture of the game it was downright ridiculous. But, had CSU taken care of business earlier, they would never have left it in the hands of the refs, who never seem to get it right.

The moral to all this: CSU did a lot wrong in this game, and they lost by just three points, in overtime. The immediate future looks bleak with #10 California coming to town, but CSU looks much better than the team that tanked at the end of last season. While this loss is crushing, the Rams still have a chance to have a successful season.

Don't judge a book by it's cover.