New Mexico Lobos vs Colorado State Rams Football Preview

One of the more fascinating and emotionally urgent elements of each and every college football season is the opening-week conference clash.

On some occasions, this kind of confrontation decides a divisional race and immediately stirs up a pair of restless fan bases that spend a long offseason waiting for one afternoon. On other occasions, the week-one conference tilt gives two downmarket programs the chance to hope for something bigger. The winner of a matchup between two downtrodden teams can dare to dream as September unfolds. It’s this latter scenario which applies to the 2011 lid-lifter between the Colorado State Rams and the New Mexico Lobos. The period of January-through-August inertia, with all of its hopes and fears, will lead CSU and UNM to opposite places on the emotional spectrum.

The opening-week conference game takes all of college football’s energies and passions and magnifies them by a factor of 100 in the Southeastern Conference; in the Mountain West, one can settle for a factor of 10. It still means that when Colorado State and New Mexico open the 2011 season with an in-conference battle in Albuquerque, extra pressure will be felt on both sidelines.

Colorado State arrives after two-straight disappointing 3-9 seasons. Last year, the Rams’ offense was inconsistent, posting big numbers against teams like UNLV (43), New Mexico (38), and Idaho (36), but being held to 10 points or less in seven of the team’s nine losses. However, hope is in the air for CSU: All-MWC freshman quarterback Pete Thomas returns from a 2,600-yard rookie season in which he completed 65 percent of his passes. While the Rams will have to replace leading rusher Leonard Mason, Thomas will enjoy the return of an experienced offensive line and leading receiver Lou Greenwood.

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The biggest reason behind the struggles experienced in Fort Collins, Colorado, is Colorado State’s inability to stop anybody. Last year the defense gave up 35 points per game and 200 yards of both passing and rushing. The new 3-4 defense being instituted by defensive coordinator Larry Kerr will have an opportunity to gain some confidence against New Mexico. The Lobos are 2-22 in two seasons of the disastrous Mike Locksley era. In 2010, “Los Lobos” were – by statistical measures of yards gained and yards allowed – the worst team in the country. The assumed incumbent for the starting quarterback job, Stump Godfrey, received a release from the program in July (that’s how enthused he was about returning to a black hole of a program). Sophomore Tarean Austin will be expected to lead the Lobo offense this season. New defensive coordinator George Barlow is following TCU’s lead and instituting a 4-2-5 defense in hopes of improving upon the 44 points per game New Mexico surrendered last year.

By: Matt Zemek
DFN Sports Senior Staff Writer