LAS VEGAS — Colorado State’s bye week has come late this season, but the break is sorely needed for a team riding a seven-game losing streak.
The Rams get a week off to interrupt the free fall that began Sept. 26 in Provo, Utah, with a 21-point BYU first quarter. A cumulative 110-46 loss to the Mountain West’s big three was not unexpected. However, CSU hasn’t competed well against the rest of the league, either.
In the wake of Saturday night’s 35-16 loss to UNLV — CSU’s first defeat at Sam Boyd Stadium — coach Steve Fairchild said the bye “could have come at a better time, like earlier in the year. But the schedule is what it is.”
Although his career is down to just two remaining games, cornerback Nick Oppenneer doesn’t mind the interruption coming now, “especially after the way that one ended. I’m pretty embarrassed (by some end- zone pushing and shoving).”
The Rams don’t return to the practice field until Wednesday. Extra time off might be best for a team in total disarray. CSU and UNLV were each penalized nine times, and there were several flags for personal fouls.
However, the Rams gained 424 yards and controlled the ball for nearly 38 minutes. When UNLV struck, it did so fast. A 49-second, six-play drive before the half effectively closed the door on the fragile Rams.
UNLV coach Mike Sanford worked a two-quarterback system with some success. Fairchild is back to the first day of fall camp, dissatisfied with season-long starter Grant Stucker and his backup, Jon Eastman.
“We made a change, but we couldn’t produce the results that I maybe thought we should have, so we went back to Grant,” Fairchild said.
The QBs will continue to compete in practice.
Fairchild can’t promise a turnaround in the last two games — the battle to avoid the MWC cellar at winless New Mexico on Nov. 21 and the Nov. 27 Border War with Wyoming.
“I knew there would be some rocky times,” Fairchild said. “I thought there would be last year. I thought there would be this year. There might be next year. That part is not as big of a concern. I thought we lost our composure out there tonight in the second half.”
For the players, especially the upperclassmen staying home for the third time in four seasons, their goals are dwindling.
“It is definitely frustrating for us right now because we didn’t really play together, we played really undisciplined,” junior defensive lineman Guy Miller said.
Oppenneer, who had his best game in several weeks, said, “It seemed every time we’d do one thing right, they’d go the other way and catch us in something different.”
Natalie Meisler: 303-954-1295 or nmeisler@denverpost.com
