New Mexico (0-7, 0-3) will look for their first win since they beat CSU (2-6, 1-3) last year. The Rams are in must win mode if they want to become bowl eligible. Last year the Lobos beat the Rams by two points. This year the Lobos must travel to Fort Collins where the Rams are 2-1 and seem to actually play football instead of whatever they do on the road. On the year the Rams are averaging just 16.4 points a game, however at home against teams not named TCU they are near 40 points. The Lobos have a high score of 14 on the road this year which came against New Mexico State.
The Rams have a shot at 6 wins and the famed bowl eligibility given for winning half your games. The Rams will take on UNM and BYU at home and travel to SDSU and WYO. The easiest of the four games is today at home against New Mexico. The hard one will be next week at San Diego State the surprise team of the MWC. I believe they can beat BYU at home since they seem to be a legitimate football team at Hughes Stadium. That could leave quite a Border War with WYO who is also in must win mode and has a shot as they play SDSU, @Lobos, @Rebels, and host the Rams. If both teams can squeak past SDSU it could be a very interesting game up in Laramie in November.
Catch more pregame after The Jump...
The Rams look to get Raymond Carter back into action this game. With Leonard Mason and Chris Nwoke running just fine the Rams should ease him back into the lineup. Either way the Rams need to have a running game to avoid an embarrassment at home against the Lobos. I think Leonard Mason is the best option and had he not been late to a team meeting the game against Utah might have been less embarrassing, like a 45-10 loss. Pete Thomas will look to continue is legend at home where he is completing 70.9% of his passes at 9.3 yards per attempt and has a 6-1 TD to interception ratio. Talk about a bad year to just get 5 home games when your freshman QB is doing that at home. I don't think those stats will take a hit as the Lobos are 96th in the nation in passing defense which is awful considering the opposing team is usually running the ball on them by half time. New Mexico ranks 100th in rushing defense. If the Rams play their normal home game there should be some big numbers on the CSU side.
The Lobos look to solidify their QB position and doing it against the Rams might help, 89th in the nation in passing defense. The Rams secondary is porus at best as they lack a "cover" corner, Shaq Bell is coming along quick and is getting less targets the last couple weeks. So look for B.R. Holbrook to target Momo Thomas or Wilkinson today. The Lobos are in salvage mode at this point in the season and a win on the road could boost them up from the depths of college football, sorta. The Lobos do have threats, but Demond Dennis was dismissed from the team so they have a little less threat then normal. The Lobos could give the Rams fits with Bryant WIlliams, Ty Kirk, and Lucas Reed all of whom average over ten yards a catch. Kirk and Reed are sophomores giving the Lobos hope in the future.
All the other articles I have read leave these two teams on a even scale for the most part and say both are struggling fighting teams. Maybe it is the Ram fan in me but I think CSU should win easy. The Rams have played well at home and have beaten Idaho and UNLV by putting up big numbers. I don't see the Lobos getting close in this one unless the Rams have a five turnover day.
Am I the only one that thinks the Rams are a step above the Lobos? Let's hear what you have to say in the comments...