BYU Cougars: Three keys to the Colorado State game

By Todd Erickson  |   Friday, October 31, 2008  |  Comments( 6 )

BYU Cougars
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Cougar fans, if you think playing Colorado State in Fort Collins is going to be a cakewalk, think again. The Rams are 3-1 at home, including wins over two above-average passing teams in UNLV and Houston. Their only loss at home was to TCU, 13-7, and they blew ample opportunities to win that game.

Colorado State is a Jekyll and Hyde outfit. Put them on the road this year and the result is completely opposite. They struggled at San Diego State in their only win, and got creamed by Cal (42-7), Utah (49-16) and by Colorado in Denver (38-17).

Expect the Rams’ better half to show up Saturday.

Cougar keys to the game

1. Shut down the Rams’ playmakers. The math is simple in breaking down the Rams’ offensive equation. CSU has relied on five key players to provide nearly 90 percent of its scoring power. Bottling up these playmakers is easier said than done, but if the Cougars can manage to minimize the contributions of Gartrell Johnson on the ground, and two of Billy Farris’ three favorite receivers, mission accomplished.

Johnson is a solid running back, averaging 4.6 yards per carry (161 tries, 746 yards, six TDs) and he has good hands (17 receptions, 115 yards). Farris averages over 212 yards passing per game, completing his attempts at better than a 65 percent clip (148 for 227, 1,703 yards, nine TDs).

His three targets that are eager to shred BYU’s suspect secondary are wideouts Rashaun Greer (40 grabs, 17.9 yards per catch), Dion Morton (26 catches, 15.7 yards per) and tight end Kory Sperry, who leads all Ram receivers with five TDs (30 receptions, 12.4 YPC).

2. Go plus-2 on turnovers. More simple math. Colorado State has capitalized on turnovers in each of its wins this season. Conversely, they haven’t held on to the ball very well in their losses. In their close loss to TCU at home a few weeks ago, they lost a close turnover battle, 3-2.

The Cougars need to make sure they protect the ball on offense and get really nasty with some takeaways on defense. They’ll need the plus-2 margin in turnovers to win this one because it should be close.

3. Keep that offensive machine running. BYU’s balanced attack last week against UNLV was vital to winning the shootout. The Rebel defense was visibly fatigued in the final quarter, giving up 14 points and relinquishing the lead for good. Don’t overlook the fact that 209 of the Cougars’ 454 total yards came on the ground.

BYU’s offensive linemen take pride in their pass protection abilities, but they love to run block where they can thrust their massive frames around and stick it to their opponents. They look like a gridiron version of the bulls of Pamplona when the linemen truly go on the offensive and scatter defender bodies left and right, opening up lanes that baby bulls Harvey Unga and Fui Vakapuna can burst through.

When the running game is moving the ball well, Max Hall and his receiver corps reap the rewards, and the scoreboard gets more exercise.

Prediction

The weather in Fort Collins on Saturday will be conducive to moving the ball through the air. Partly cloudy temperatures are expected to reach a high of 74 and then gradually start cooling down into the low 60s before game time. I don’t have a lot of faith in BYU’s pass defense right now and I don’t see quick improvement happening in that area for this matchup. The Cougars should be able to contain Johnson, but unless they get some serious pressure on Farris, he could have a career day passing. Look for another shootout this weekend that could come down to the leg of Ram kicker Jason Smith. BYU 42, Colorado State 39.

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About Todd Erickson

Todd Erickson is a member of the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) and pens the RealFootball365 Top 25 college football power rankings and "Fourth and inches..." weekly columns from August thru January. He is currently working on the second edition of Road to the Rose Bowl...
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CommentsComments: 6  |  Sign Up  View all comments
No.1
Bart Doan		01:48 AM
11/02/2008
BYU nearly got goosed. The shine is off a team that looked for 6 games like it hadn't returned only 3 starters to one...
No.2
Todd Erickson		06:38 PM
11/02/2008
You know, Rudy...watching BYU's defense the past couple games gives me a sense of uneasiness about their ability to...
No.3
Todd Erickson		04:30 AM
11/03/2008
Spawn, most team's schedules are planned years in advance. Next year, BYU plays Florida State and Arizona State in...
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