DENVER—Colorado State is off to a 2-0 start and Colorado is 0-2 under new coach Jon Embree heading into their annual Rocky Mountain Showdown at Sports Authority Field on Saturday.
Yet, it’s the Rams who are reeling.
They lost standout senior linebacker Mychal Sisson to a broken ankle during their 33-14 win over Northern Colorado last weekend.
“It’s going to hurt them having Sisson out, he’s a great player,” Buffaloes quarterback Tyler Hansen said. “The last couple of years we had to account for him on every play. But they do some good things and it’s going to be a challenge for us.”
Sisson leads the nation with 40 career tackles for loss and had an NCAA-best seven forced fumbles last season. He was on several preseason award watch lists but now his contributions will be limited to his locker room leadership and his advice to teammates from the sideline.
“Mychal Sisson was such an outstanding leader for us, a guy the team rallied around, not only by his play, but by his emotional leadership and who he was,” Rams defensive coordinator Larry Kerr said. “When he’s able to, he will be back out there. He will play a huge role with our football team because he will continue to have a voice on this football team.”
He’ll be sorely missed on the football field, however.
Sisson, who underwent surgery to have a plate and screws inserted into his ankle to help it heal, was one of four Rams who sustained significant injuries last week. Fullbacks Austin Gilmore and Jake Levin and defensive lineman Scott Carter all injured knees against the Bears.
The Rams also lost star defensive end Broderick Sargent to a torn ACL in their opener at New Mexico.
“That’s what the game of football is,” Rams coach Steve Fairchild said. “You look at the Packers last year. They had I don’t know how many guys on IR right out of the gate and they play in the Super Bowl and they lose two marquee players in the first half. That’s the game of football. Broderick was our best pass rusher. He went down in the New Mexico game. Somebody had to step up.”
Sophomore Nordly Capi did, setting an NCAA record that day with four forced fumbles, including one in the closing seconds to preserve Colorado State’s victory.
“Somebody is going to have to fill Mychal Sisson’s shoes,” Fairchild said. “They’re big, but that’s just the game of football. Injuries occur, not just on our team, but on other teams. You have to deal with them. You have to deal with them in a positive way. I’m sure we’ll do that.”
A bevy of backups will try to make up for Sisson’s absence, and sophomore linebacker Mike Orakpo, who led the Rams with 10 tackles last week, will step into the Rams’ leadership void along with James Skelton.
“Mychal has been a tremendous guy for us for so long,” senior cornerback Elijah-Blu Smith said. “We have some young guys who are ready to step up. I definitely feel that the chemistry might have stopped a little bit. But we have a nice system where young guys can come up and be very productive. We have some good guys ready.”
Among them is redshirt freshman Max Morgan.
“Mike is a great player,” Morgan said. “There’s no way we can replace what he did for us on the field as a leader or player, but we’ve got five or six of us that have seen time these first two games and all of us feel pretty comfortable with our assignments and where we are at, so we’re going to do our best to step up.”
What concerns Fairchild is the Buffaloes’ 1-2 punch of senior tailback Speedy Stewart and sophomore wide receiver Paul Richardson, who’s coming off a school record 284-yard receiving day against Cal, when he caught 11 passes, two of them for touchdowns.
Richardson leads all BCS wide receivers with 333 yards receiving and his four touchdowns so far are two fewer than he had all of his freshman year.
“Paul Richardson is a star in the making and we’re seeing it,” Embree said. “He’s learned so much and I’m confident that he’ll just keep growing.”
Fairchild is just as effusive in his praise of Richardson, calling him an “elite receiver” who has “all the tools.”
Not the least of which is an ability to get behind the safeties for deep passes like he did against the Golden Bears last week.
“He got loose in that game,” Fairchild said. “He probably changed that whole game in the second half. We’d like to keep that in front of us if we can.”
Asked how he would slow down Richardson, Kerr said: “I haven’t seen anybody do it yet. He’s pretty darn good. In both games, he is their playmaker at wide receiver. Very talented, great ball skills. He goes up and gets it. He’s tough to defend and we’ll have to figure out a way to cover him. He is definitely a point of emphasis.
“And you look at Speedy, their tailback. What great vision and ability to cut back. He can stick his foot in the ground and change direction on you,” Kerr said. “He’s a threat not only running the football, but catching the football. He’s been extremely productive in their screen game, as well.
“You’ve got two really big playmakers. They stand out.”
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AP Sports Writer Pat Graham contributed. Connect with AP Sports Writer Arnie Melendrez Stapleton at
