Coming off its second bye week of the season, the Colorado State football team is looking for something positive in its final four games under interim head coach Tyson Summers.
The Rams (2-6 overall, 1-3 Mountain West Conference) spent the off week preparing for Saturday’s game against UNLV, recruiting and trying to get into a normal routine as the end of the season nears.
“I think the focus for us has to be us,” Summers said. “Obviously, we’ve got four games left and we’ve got really good opponents that we’re going to play. But I think the ability for us to get back to the organizational flow that we wanted to have with our offense and our defense and our special teams, I think it gave us a chance to also look and evaluate the things we were doing well and the things we weren’t doing well.”
The last time the Rams took the field, there was plenty they weren’t doing well. CSU lost the Border War game against Wyoming, 28-0, in Laramie on Oct. 25.
Wyoming completely shut down the Rams’ offense while finding its own opportunities to score.
Coming off that loss, CSU hasn’t given up hope it can finish the season strong, and the Rams hope some structural and organizational normalcy can get the team going in the right direction.
“We keep trying to change and adjust and adapt to the things that give us the best chance to win, and prepare the best to be able to do that,” Summers said.
Tight ends coach Grant Chesnut will get his second opportunity to call offensive plays this week. In his first game calling plays after being given the opportunity by Summers, the Rams had 305 yards of offense and failed to get into the end zone against the Cowboys.
Summers said he believes, given the extra week to prepare, the offense should fare better this week against the Rebels.
“Like anything, we want to see progress,” Summers said. “We talked to our team a lot about being able to take what we’ve done on the field, and how we’ve practiced and how we’ve tried to evolve into some things, and then being able to translate that into some points.
“I’m really proud of our offense. I’m really proud of those players and I’m proud of our coaches. I think that we’ve made a ton of progress the last two weeks. We just want to be able to see it translate.”
While the offense looks to get back on track this week, Summers continues to praise his defense, many of whom have had to step up due to the number of injuries on that side of the ball.
That unit starts with linebacker Owen Long, who is third in the nation in total tackles (103) and first in tackles per game (12.9).
“He’s had a great season,” Summers said. “Some of what has been helpful for him is that he’s been able to be one of the few that’s been able to stay healthy, and he’s done a great job with that. Owen has really stepped up into a leadership role.”
Summers hopes the extra week of preparation for the offense and the defense translates into something positive against UNLV and beyond, with contests against New Mexico, Boise State at Air Force still coming up.
The Rams and Rebels will kick off at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Canvas Stadium.
Scouting UNLV
The Rebels enter Saturday’s game with a 6-2 overall record and a 2-2 mark in the Mountain West. UNLV is coming off back-to-back losses, against Boise State (56-31) on Oct. 18 and New Mexico (40-35) last Saturday.
Offensively, the Rebels are led by junior quarterback Anthony Colandrea, who has passed for 2,000 yards and 15 touchdowns. He has also rushed for 450 yards and four touchdowns. Junior running back Jai’Den Thomas leads the ground attack with 649 yards rushing and seven touchdowns. Senior Jaden Bradley leads the receiving corps with 586 yards and three touchdowns.
Senior linebacker Marsel McDuffie leads the defense with 62 tackles, three tackles for loss, one sack and two interceptions. Senior defensive end Tunmise Adeleye has 25 tackles and three sacks, while senior defensive back Aamaris Brown leads the team with four interceptions.
CSU leads the all-time series between the two teams, 17-7-1. They haven’t played since 2023 when the Rebels won, 25-23, in Las Vegas — a game that at the time snapped a four-game winning streak by the Rams. The teams haven’t played in Fort Collins since 2019, a 37-17 victory for CSU.
Injury report
The first injury report ahead of Saturday’s game lists seven players out for the contest against the Rebels: offensive linemen Chandler Brown and John Holthaus; running back Keegan Holles; wide receivers Jordan Ross and Petey Tucker; defensive back AJ Noland; and tight end Jaxxon Warren.
Defensive backs Dagan Myers and Elijah Brown are off the report after missing the game against Wyoming. Tucker, Warren and Chandler Brown are still on the list after missing multiple games already. Holthaus, Ross and Noland are new to the report this week.