ALBUQUERQUE — On paper, Saturday’s matchup (5 p.m., ROOT) at University Stadium appears to favor Colorado State, with CSU’s strengths going against vs. New Mexico’s weaknesses.
With CSU’s Kapri Bibbs coming of a school-record 312 yards rushing, the Rams (5-5, 3-2 Mountain West) are running the ball as well as they have all season. And they’ll be going against a New Mexico rush defense that ranks No. 120 nationally.
On the other hand, New Mexico (3-6, 1-4) tries to control the ball with its option running attack, and CSU’s rush defense ranks third in conference and No. 32 nationally.
Las Vegas oddsmakers have Colorado State as much as a 7-point favorite here, but during the week Rams coach Jim McElwain appeared to be treating this game as if the Rams were two-touchdown underdogs.
“It’s hard for me to look at where we’ve been and to be overconfident about anything,” McElwain said, referring to the team’s roller-coaster season. “If we’ve proven one thing, we’ve proven that we’re not able to sustain.”
Colorado State comes off a 38-17 home win over Nevada, but the Rams have won consecutive games only once this season — at Wyoming and at Hawaii last month.
The Rams must win two of its last three regular-season games to become bowl eligible for the first time since playing in the 2008 New Mexico Bowl in this stadium. Upcoming is a road game at Utah State (Nov. 23) and a home finale vs. Air Force (Nov. 30).
“We know we have to look one game at a time,” CSU junior linebacker Aaron Davis said. “If we look past one, we’ll get beat.”
Tom Kensler: tkensler@denverpost.com or
