The Colorado St. Rams will be without starting running back Chris Nwoke for their home opener against North Dakota State on Saturday afternoon. Nwoke left last weeks game against Colorado with a lower extremity injury, but that happened to be an ankle injury, the same one he injured back in the preseason.

Head coach Jim McElwain stressed earlier in the week that Nwoke must practice if he is going to play, and now it is official that Nwoke will sit out:

"Nwoke, it doesn't look like he'll (play), but the thing of it is, Donnell Alexander has really stepped up and taken a leadership role," McElwain said after practice. "You have to understand, there are no game-time decisions in this business. If you can't practice and know the game plan from a practice standpoint and execute what's needed, you can't ask (a player) to be successful on a Saturday.

"He's not with us, so the guys who are with us carry the flag."

This is not a huge blow as Alexander played very well against Colorado last weekend, and should be able to handle the North Dakota State defense. The only concern is how long is Nwoke going to be out, and if an injury happens to Alexander then the Rams drop down to their third-string running back.

Here is Nwoke talking about Alexander:

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