Fort Collins – Most seasons, Colorado State heads into the final game in dire need of a victory to make it to a bowl game.
Postseason hopes ended weeks ago during the current six-game losing streak. Thanks to UNLV’s shocking upset of Air Force on Friday for the Rebels’ first Mountain West Conference victory, visiting CSU (4-7, 1-6 MWC) needs to beat San Diego State in Saturday’s 6 p.m. finale to avoid tying UNLV (2-10, 1-7) for last place.
Other than avoiding the cellar, a victory wouldn’t benefit the Rams much. The best CSU can finish is tied with San Diego State (2-9, 2-5) for seventh place.
More important than its placement in the league standings, CSU needs to stop the bleeding. The current losing streak is the school’s longest since 1988, when the Rams went 1-10 in Leon Fuller’s final season. The Rams’ lone win that year came against San Diego State. For a seven-game losing streak, one has to go back to the 0-12 campaign of 1981 that ended the Sark Arslanian era.
After playing the three-team strength of the league in successive games, the Rams finally draw the first breather since the league opener against UNLV. But in Chuck Long’s first year as coach, San Diego State had been showing signs of improvement before yielding 93 combined points to TCU and New Mexico. The way CSU is playing of late, the Rams wouldn’t be a lock against Division I-AA Weber State, their opening opponent.
Still, CSU coach Sonny Lubick goes back to two games in midseason – the second-half collapse at Air Force and the last-minute loss to New Mexico on a field goal – as pivotal.
“When I go back over the season, there’s maybe one or two games we had a chance to win. I’m not saying we deserved (to win),” Lubick said. “Had we won those two, we’d be 6-5 heading into San Diego with a chance to go to a bowl game. We didn’t win them; we’re not going to a bowl game. We’re going home (after the finale).”
In what has become a pattern this season, Lubick’s postgame news conference in the media room off the tunnel at Hughes Stadium was nearly drowned out by the sound of a raucous visiting locker room nearby.
One of TCU’s offensive standouts, running back Aaron Brown, was gracious in the 45-14 rout.
“They kept playing,” Brown said. “They hit harder in the second half than they did in the first half.”
CSU’s defense, mostly solid for the first nine games, gave up repeated big plays for the second straight week. The defense clearly missed linebacker Jon Radford, who has sat out the past two games with a knee injury. Defensive end Jesse Nading, positioned to become a team leader for next season, hasn’t been the same since an ankle injury at Air Force in mid-October.
Although several Rams players and coaches insisted TCU is a better team than conference champion BYU, CSU hasn’t been as outclassed by a Mountain West opponent since a 63-31 rout by undefeated Utah in 2004.
“We’re only good on two or three drives,” CSU offensive coordinator Dan Hammerschmidt said. “I don’t know why.”
The offseason will provide plenty of time to search for the answers.
EYE ON … The Aztecs
COLORADO STATE AT SAN DIEGO STATE
Qualcomm Stadium, 6 p.m., Saturday, MTN
For the record: San Diego State is 2-9 overall, 2-5 in the Mountain West Conference.
Streaking: San Diego State has lost its past two games by a combined 93-14.
Who’s hot: The Aztecs are 7-0 – in men’s basketball.
Who’s not: Quarterback Kevin O’Connell was intercepted three times in the first quarter and later fumbled away a would-be TD run against New Mexico.
Key stat: San Diego State is 114th nationally in scoring offense at 13.9 points a game. Colorado State is 101st at 17.8 points a game.
FYI: New Mexico turned those three interceptions off O’Connell into 17 points.
Coachspeak: “I told our team after the game that we could be a pretty good football team if we just stop beating ourselves.” – San Diego State first-year coach Chuck Long
Natalie Meisler can be reached at 303-954-1295 or nmeisler@denverpost.com.
