Steve Fairchild Addresses Rams' Disappointment After CSU's Third Straight Loss

Colorado State started on fire in 2009, going 3-0, and everyone in Fort Collins was wondering how high up the Mountain West the Rams could climb.

Then CSU ran into a roadblock in BYU, lost late to Idaho, a WAC team, and fell to a much better team Utah on Saturday.

Now, at the halfway point in the Rams' season, they are at 3-3 overall, without a win in the MWC at 0-2.

Arguably, the biggest loss of the season was last Saturday’s tough one, a late 24-17 defeat on homecoming that was thrown away by CSU quarterback Grant Stucker. Following the loss, this week has seen some interesting gripes in the Rocky Mountain Collegian, Colorado State’s daily newspaper.

"RamTalk," a rant/rave section that is written by students wanting to voice their opinions, has seen multiple complaints about the Rams football team.

Two particular students to voice their opinions said, “Dear Rams, Please show up to the second half of the football game on Saturday. Love, your loyal and frustrated fan,” and “Who would have thought that Utah's secret weapon wears green and gold and the number 18.”

Really, the grievances are valid. First of all, the game against Utah was lost on turnovers, specifically Stucker’s three interceptions, two of which came in the second half. Secondly, in four of six games so far in 2009, the Rams have all but not shown up after halftime—either letting teams back into games or allowing opponents to pile up their winning margin over CSU.

Against Weber State, CSU had to win the game at the very end by jumping on a muffed snap by the Wildcats. Against CU, Idaho, and Utah, the Rams let comfortable leads slip away and only won one of the three games, against the Buffaloes.

The problem is, even when CSU can come out strong against opponents to start the game, they show signs of fatigue and make mental errors late in contests—during crunch time. That is exactly what has happened to the Rams this year; they’ve been crunched down the stretch, losing games they should have won.

Luckily for CSU fans, head coach Steve Fairchild realizes and recognizes the glaring problems and addressed some of them during this week’s press conference on Monday. “We are obviously disappointed with the outcome of the game last Saturday..."

To continue reading and to see all of what Fairchild said, continue reading here.