CSU-BYU: The Rams Attempt to Climb a Steep Mountain in Utah Vs Cougars

The Colorado State Rams woke up this morning at the dawn of the biggest game of their season against a ranked opponent and their first Mountain West Conference foe in No. 19 Brigham Young.

There is no doubt in the minds of the Rams coaches and players that LaVell Edwards Stadium will be rocking with its over 60,000 person capacity as the loyal Cougars fans saw their once mighty team demolished on their home soil at the hands of the Florida State Seminoles 54-28 last week.

BYU is definitely the top team in the MWC, as they do many things excellently, but the Cougars are not perfect and they do struggle in some aspects of the game as well. Their greatest strength is their No. 7 passing offense with over 350 yards per game through the air, which gives their overall offense a boost to No. 20 in the nation. BYU quarterback

Max Hall is a game-breaker, a playmaker, and could be the game decider when all is said and done. Hall has passed for 944 yards and six touchdowns in his first three games which is good for a 155.5 QB rating, making him the 21st rated quarterback in the nation.

Hall likes to hook up with O’Neill Chambers (13 catches) and his leading tight end Dennis Pitta (16 catches) often, but McKay Johnson may be his favorite receiver with nine catches for 259 yards and three touchdowns in 2009 thus far.

Hall though, is not perfect. To go along with his six touchdowns, he has thrown six interceptions and has also been sacked five times. This may not seem too bad, but his three interceptions last week were a major reason the Cougars faltered against the Seminoles.

The Rams on the other hand, are 88th in the nation on pass defense, easily their biggest weakness which could be CSU’s downfall today. Although, the Rams have shown early this season that they have some solid playmakers themselves in the secondary in Klint Kubiak and Elijah-Blu Smith. Smith leads the team in interceptions at three, and CSU has a total of five in their first three games.

The strength of CSU’s defense though, is their defensive line that is aggressive against the pass, and strong against the run (No. 24). Since BYU will likely run little, Guy Miller, James Morehead, and others must consistently be a presence in the Cougars backfield, pressuring and sacking Hall.

Along with that, CSU averages 2.33 sacks per game and will likely have to get some pressure on Hall to force mistakes and hopefully for the Rams, an interception or two.

CSU’s offense is not quite as potent as BYU’s as the Rams are 76th in the nation in total yards per game at 350 yards per. But what the Rams do have is a balanced attack as they pass for 213 yards and rush for 137 yards per game.

Quarterback Grant Stucker has shown he has progressed in Steve Fairchild’s offense, making plays and avoiding mistakes. Stucker has passed for 576 yards and four touchdowns while only throwing three interceptions. Stucker has a plethora of receivers to throw to, in team leader Rashaun Greer (11 rec. 259 yards), Dion Morton (3 rec. 120 yards), Mosure, Mason, and others.

But, the Cougars are No. 20 in the nation in pass defense, giving up only 120 yards per game in the air. If Stucker is not lucky, he could have a game similar to the one against CU in which he threw two interceptions which could have cost the Rams the victory. Stucker must not allow the crowd noise to phase him and he has to have an efficient day passing for CSU to have a chance against BYU.

But he isn’t the only passer for the Rams, as Fairchild has uncorked trick plays against every opponent this year.

Receiver Dion Morton has shown he can toss the ball relatively accurately as he took a reverse only to pass it deep to Stucker against Weber State, and last week took an end around only to pull up and pass for another touch down to a Rams tight end as well. CSU will likely need a trick play or two to work for them to pull this game out today.

In the running game...

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