FORT COLLINS, Colo.—Georgia Southern has Colorado State’s attention. Earlier this year, the Eagles knocked off Appalachian State, which sprung a huge upset by defeating Michigan the first week of the season.
“This isn’t a team to be a team to be taken lightly,” Colorado State coach Sonny Lubick said. “I assure you we won’t take them lightly.”
Colorado State (1-9) hosts Georgia Southern (7-3) of the Division 1 Football Conference Subdivision’s Southern Conference at high noon on Saturday.
“That team has some players from a real football hotbed,” said Lubick, who knows about the talent in Georgia and Florida. He was the defensive coordinator at the University of Miami from 1988-92.
One of the Eagles’ standouts is Jayson Foster, a quarterback who plays bigger than his 5-foot-9-inch, 164-pound frame. Foster has thrown for 1,096 yards and six touchdowns and is the team’s leading rusher having run for 1,649 and 21 touchdowns.
“He’s a very elusive runner,” Lubick said of Foster, who also handles Georgia Southern’s punt return duties. “I was watching film, and in his last three games, he’s had at least one 60-yard touchdown run.”
Foster has four, 200-yard rushing games to his credit. The team averages 324 yards on the ground per game, which could be a problem for the Rams.
The Rams allow 204 yards per game to rank dead last in the Mountain West Conference defending the run. They rate 100th nationally.
“We know we have to do a better job stopping the run this week,” Lubick said.
Lubick feels better about the Colorado State offense. The Rams are coming off a game where they had a 100-yard rusher, Gartrell Johnson (172 yards), and a 100-yard pass receiver, Johnny Walker, (177 yards) for the fourth time this season.
“Johnny has impressed me with the way he reacted when he got hurt against Air Force on a play when he was blocking and the whole team rolled up on him,” Lubick said. “Most guys would have gotten out of his way, but Johnny stuck to his block.”
The two programs have enjoyed totally opposite success. The Rams are 1-16 in their last 17 games while Georgia Southern has won 97 of its last 128 games.
Colorado State is 6-0 against Division 1AA and FCS teams in Lubick’s 15 seasons at Colorado State.
