FORT COLLINS — For what it’s worth, the betting lines believe in Colorado State. The Rams are right around a six-point favorite over New Mexico depending on where you look.
The question, however, remains: Just how much do the Rams believe in themselves?
Tough preseason talk fades into actions today in the Mountain West Conference opener for the Rams at New Mexico. And despite New Mexico’s epic dud of a season last year — 1-11 — both teams are going into the game with healthy doses of confidence and hope that this will be the start of something big.
“Our team is very excited about the challenge,” New Mexico coach Mike Locksley said. “I’ve said this (before), this by far is the most talented team I’ve had from top to bottom. The overall depth and amount of skill that we’ve been able to increase through recruiting and through developing players in our system, this by far is our most talented team.”
Good luck trying to figure which team is favored. This is a game of mixed messages. The last game Colorado State won was a 38-14 beatdown of the Lobos on Oct 30. CSU has lost 11 straight games on the road. New Mexico has won just two games in its last 22 dating to the 2009 season — and one of those wins was against CSU (29-27 in 2009).
That was a home game, which was the first win in Locksley’s tenure in Albuquerque. The Rams, in fact, have not won a game at University Stadium since 2005.
And yet, the Rams enter the game with fewer questions than they’ve had in quite some time. New Mexico, meanwhile, is doing more wondering about what all the new talent will look like as Locksley continues to build the program.
Of biggest concern to CSU are the Lobos’ Mackey Award candidate, tight end Lucas Reed, and the quarterback who will try to get him the ball, the elusive Tarean Austin. Reed had five touchdown catches last year, which accounted for nearly half of the team’s touchdown reception total of 11.
Asked what concerned him most about New Mexico, CSU coach Steve Fairchild didn’t hesitate.
“Their explosiveness offensively,” he said. “They’ve got some guys that can create big plays. We’ve got to limit the big plays. And then offensively on the road, not turning the ball over and having a penalty-filled game. If we can just play a clean football game, I think we’ll be all right.”
Defensively, the Rams likely will face a 4-2-5 alignment, basically a nickel back on the field in lieu of a linebacker. CSU quarterback Pete Thomas shrugged when asked if that defensive alignment would force the Rams to significantly change things on offense.
“It’s a little different,” Thomas said. “But I feel like we’re very well prepared for that. And if they try to throw something else out and go 4-3, we’ve been playing against that all of camp. So I think we’ll be ready for anything they throw at us.”
Chris Dempsey: 303-954-1279 or cdempsey@denverpost.com
