8th Place MWC 3-9 (2-6)
The Rams were primmed to return to their place at the top of the conference, and with stud RB Kyle Bell coming back after an ACL injury he suffered during 2006 camp he looked ready to go. Coming into the season the Rams were riding a 7 game losing streak and looked to end it early. The Rams opened up with rival Colorado and had their offense clicking but their defense was something to be desired. They lost that game in OT due to Cale Hanie's turnover problem which happened to be a theme for CSU all season long. In my preseason article where I was hyping up the Rams to have a solid season, but they fell into my worst case scenario pile by winning only 3 wins and one came against I-AA Georgia Southern. This was not the season that Sunny Lubbick hoped for but during his tenure he took the Rams from obscurity to 6 conference titles, shared and outright, plus 9 bowl games as well, and for the best tribute he had the field bear his name while coaching.
Best win of the year: Defeating UNLV 48-23 and this game ended the Rams 13 game losing streak.
Worst loss of the year: This would have to go to the 24-20 loss against San Diego State. The reason is that this game was at home and San Diego State was not good this year.
Offense: While the offense was their bright spot, it was not as stud TE Kory Sperry went down in the first half of the Cal game. This loss was huge because Sperry was a dominate force in the Colorado game and looked to be one of the keys to the passing game. I have heard no word if he was granted a medical redshirt for another year. Also RB Kyle Bell who came back after ACL surgery was not too effective for very long, could have been because of sitting out a year but he was not good. Same can be said for Senior QB Caleb Hanie who threw interceptions at the worst possible time, in the redzone late against Cal and Colorado are prime examples. The best surprise from the offense came from RB Gartrell Johnson III who stepped in when Bell was struggling who once started to get significant playing time became the featured back. Johnson had 957 yards, 8 TD, and an average yard per carry at 8.6. Out of those 957 yards 883 came in the last 7 games where he averaged over 120 per game during that stretch. This running offense next year should have one of the best duos in the league and also help ease in the new QB since Hanie graduates this fall. One final note on CSU is WR Johnny Walker, coolest name in the league.
Defense: Well to be nice the defense was not good, the gave up 30.75 points per game! With that number it is hard to win any games. Their defense was giving up big plays through the air and on the ground and had trouble stopping most teams.