All this conference jumping talk makes it feel like the off season. I can't wait for Saturday and get some actual games to talk about. The Utah State Aggies will take on the Colorado State Rams in Utah at Romney Stadium. The Aggies come in at 1-1 and a onside kickoff away from 2-0 and being the talk of the town. After the close loss to Auburn the Aggies destroyed Weber St two weeks ago and have been prepping for the Rams since.
The Rams(2-1, 1-0) are off a tough loss in the Rocky Mountain Showdown to Colorado. CSU blocked a punt in CU territory and it turned in to a late first half TD for the Buffs some how. True freshman Austin Grey got caught being a freshman and let in a TD pass. Those two plays change and its a different game, let's hope the blocked punt gone wrong doesn't become a turning point in the season.
The Aggies might be the best team the Rams have faced all season, CU is nothing special so don't make that argument. The Aggies are allowing a meager 1.97 yards per carry, 6th in the nation. They rush for 6.67 yards on offense. No Aggie has an average less then 4 YPC. That is crazy good. That will allow Utah St to control the clock and allow exciting freshman quarterback Chuckie Keeton to make smart decisions. It will attack the Rams defense who missed Mychal Sisson last week.
Shaquille Barret did a good job filling in at linebacker along with James Skelton, the speed was missing though. I think Mike Orakpo missed Sisson the most as he was targeted and couldn't fly around per normal. It is much easier to stop one fast LB then two fast LB's. They will need help stopping the Aggie run game from the secondary and defensive line. Nordly Capi who leads the nation with 5.5 sacks will need to show he can help stop the run.
On offense Pete Thomas needs help at receiver. Thomas Coffman the speedy red-shirt freshman got some looks but couldn't get separation on any routes. Marquise Law hasn't been good enough to demand the ball. I still think Tj Borcky and Crocket Gillmore could be the solutions. It also looks like they will gget Byron Steele back from suspension. Most importantly the play calling needs to help Thomas out. 3rd and 9 is a tough down, but a screen pass isn't the only answer. The Rams need to start getting risky. They can lose safely or lose trying, they can't win safely though. The Rams have called roughly 742 screen plays this year.
It will come down to the Aggies running all over the Rams or the Rams offense stepping up and getting some big strike plays. Which ever team fails to do those things will lose. Should be a good game for both teams to see where they are at on the early season.