Rams, Cougars to butt heads

In his 14 seasons at the helm of the Colorado State football program, coach Sonny Lubick has seen glorious times in Fort Collins.

He's also seen some rough times.

And CSU (4-4, 1-3) is experiencing some rough times right now. The Rams are in the throes of a three-game losing streak as they host league leader BYU on Saturday.

Yet Lubick is staying positive. He knows his team can still become bowl-eligible this season, though he's not using that as a rallying cry.

"We're not going to talk about bowl games," he said. "We can't look that far down the road. You just go and try to win your next ballgame. You go out and have fun with it, play hard and let the chips fall where they may."

A few weeks ago, the Rams owned a 4-1 record and had a 21-3 halftime lead at Air Force. That's when their season began to unravel.

The Falcons staged a furious rally in the second half and defeated CSU, 24-21. After that, the Rams were shut out at Wyoming, 24-0, then they lost last week on a last-second field goal at home against New Mexico, 20-19.

"Had we played just a little bit better for five minutes or three minutes in the Air Force game, maybe — I'm not saying we deserved it — but maybe we pull out a victory there," Lubick said. "Instead of sitting with a little bit better record, you're sitting here at 4-4. We're probably not the only team. There's a lot of teams that wish they had a game back here or there."

CSU's woes started back in August, when star running back Kyle Bell, who rushed for 1,288 yards in 2005, suffered a season-ending knee injury. The Rams have missed his production out of the backfield. CSU ranks last in the Mountain West Conference and No. 111 in the nation in rushing, averaging 74 yards per game. Last week against New Mexico, the Rams had 37 yards on the ground.

"The running game has certainly been acknowledged in the past and has been part of the championships that they have won," said BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall. "The schemes are similar, but the yards-per-rush are quite lower than what it has been before and so that is why they might have lost a little balance from the years before ... If you look at the nature of their games, they're playing to their strengths, which is through defense and being able to throw the football."

CSU's offense has been relying on the arm of quarterback Caleb Hanie, who has completed 149-of-229 passes (65 percent) for 1,816 yards and nine touchdowns. However, the Rams are No. 91 in the country in scoring offense, averaging 19.6 points per game.

Defensively, CSU has been solid. The Rams are No. 13 nationally in pass defense (allowing 157 yards per game) and No. 41 in rushing defense (allowing 117 yards per game). CSU is No. 15 nationally in total defense, giving up 274 yards per game.

BYU is No. 6 in the country in total offense, averaging 445 yards per contest.

"They're improved on defense," Mendenhall said. "I see a more confident group and their scheme is almost identical to what we've seen in the past. They play with a different aggressive nature from what I've seen before. Teams have a difficult time running the football against them."

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E-mail: jeffc@desnews.com