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SJSU: Spartans Rammed

As a whole, the Spartans did OK in an expected 42-14 loss to Colorado State in the Rams beautiful, new open-air stadium in Fort Collins on Saturday, November 18, 2017.

But OK is relative for the Spartans, because how the Spartans lost and how they played is nothing new. They are who we thought they were -€ young, inexperienced and undisciplined...top-to-bottom -€ though semblances of shine consistently comes from the Spartans linebacking crew and kicking game.

The Colorado State Rams shine is what you'd expect from a competitive team, but they shined the brightest on this most unique play:

Colorado State Rams OL, Jake Bennett

Photo by Andy Cross, The Denver Post

Spartan's First Half

As with a few games this year, the Spartan's offense and defense each started their first series very strong, then immediately fell of a cliff.

The Spartan's D convincingly held off the Rams run game and 5 receiver sets in their first series, before the Spartan O screened passed, bomb passed and ran their way to a touchdown.

Of the Rams next five series, four of them produced touchdowns, while the Spartans were back to their 3 and outs filled with incomplete and dropped passes, along with Freshman RB Nevens not being as effective on the ground (though he's had a good season with about double the output of any other Spartan back).

The Spartan D was porous, but there were clear chances to help itself with a couple of almost interceptions and almost sacks.

Spartan's Second Half

Starting the second half on cue, QB Aaron led the Spartans on a great 14 play, 69 yard drive THAT ended with a very familiar tipped interception on the Ram's one-yard line. DOH! The killer here was on the previous play, Spartan WR Johnson should have made a short TD catch.

The Spartan D held off the Rams a few times; forcing a few punts, a fumble and a 4th and 1 stop -€ though the Rams earned a couple more TDs in the second half.

The Spartan O continued its struggles and tried more multi-receiver sets and its tandem RB duo of Roberson and Packer. Roberson blasted out an over-celebrated 54-yard touchdown run that was quickly countered when Rams RB Dawkins re-entered the game after a failed Spartan pooch kickoff and scampered for a 27-yard touchdown. DOH, again.

The Familiar

As the Spartan losses have mounted, their short-comings are fairly well-known and understood in Spartan circles, but the little things can be so telling as well. A few quick examples:

  • Excessive celebration when you're down a few touchdowns?!
  • False start out of a deadball timeout?!
  • And many other little examples of getting out-coached and basic player communication errors (too much for drawn out explanations, but it's there, really)

The Spartans last game is against Wyoming next week, where the Cowboys can't win the MW but can be bowl eligible.

Good luck and Go Spartans!