FORT COLLINS, Colo.—The attention will be on the running game when Colorado State hosts TCU on Saturday.
TCU (5-1, 2-0 Mountain West) has the best run defense in the nation. Colorado State (3-2, 1-0) depends heavily on its ability to run the ball.
“They will have seven, eight and nine guys at the line of scrimmage based on your set and personnel group,” Colorado State coach Steve Fairchild said. “They are giving up one yard a carry on the ground, so we’ll have our work cut out for us trying to establish a run game.”
Opposing runners have ground out 134 yards on 141 carries against the Horned Frogs. And teams have accumulated only slightly better than 22 yards a game running the ball against them.
Running back Gartrell Johnson spearheads the Colorado State ground game. He’s coming off a game where he ran for three touchdowns and a career-high 191 yards, and Fairchild said he won’t shy away from running the ball Saturday.
“That is our method of operation,” Fairchild said. “We always look to run the football.”
He really has no choice since the Horned Frogs are also No. 1 in the nation in total defense. They give up only 209 yards and 12 points a game.
“They are very talented on defense, very fast on defense,” Fairchild said. “They are good at every position on defense with no real weakness in terms of personnel.”
But is it the best defense in Gary Patterson’s eight-year coaching tenure at TCU?
“You never know that until the end of the year,” Paterson said. “I think this week will be a big test because I think this is the second-best team that we’ve played this year.”
He said top-tanked Oklahoma is the one team on TCU’s schedule that was better.
Led by quarterback Marcus Jackson and the return of running back Aaron Brown, the Horned Frogs have a pretty fair running game of their own. They average 247 yards a game on the ground, second in the conference to Air Force.
The biggest question about the game is who will start at quarterback for TCU. Jackson made his second career start last week when an injury forced Andy Dalton to miss the San Diego State game.
When asked about Dalton’s status, Patterson said, “He could have come in an emergency last week.”
“We’ll see how the week progresses,” Patterson added. “For us, it’s just a great thing to know that Marcus can take the reins.”
The Rams have steadily shown improvement on defense. They rank third in the conference in defending the pass and fifth in rushing defense.
“The things my offensive group has told me is that they are very sound,” Patterson said of the Colorado State defense. “They are playing very hard, they are very physical and they’re getting better every week.”
Colorado State is 3-0 at home this year and overall has won five straight in Fort Collins, its longest home winning stretch since Oct. 28, 1999 to Sept. 8, 2001, when the Rams won six straight.
TCU has won the last four meetings with Colorado State. The Horned Frogs won the 2007 meeting, 24-12.
