Colorado State University Athletics
2007 football season review
12/31/2007 12:00:00 AM | Football
Complete Release in PDF Format 
Dec. 31, 2007
The record...
Colorado State finished its 115th season of college football with a 3-9 record, including a 2-6 mark in conference play. Officially, the school finished in eighth place among the nine Mountain West Conference teams, but the Rams' season-ending win over arch-rival Wyoming (2-6) actually gave CSU the MWC's seventh-best conference record, when factoring in the head-to-head tiebreaker. CSU was 3-3 over the season's final half, including wins in its last two games, the school's first winning streak since Sept. 30-Oct. 7, 2006.
Coaching change...
On Nov. 18, with average home attendance its lowest since 1992 and a string of four non-winning seasons, the school made the difficult decision to relieve Sonny Lubick as head coach. Lubick leaves Colorado State after the most successful era by a football coach in school annals. In 15 years, he guided CSU to six conference titles and nine bowl games. On Dec. 12, CSU named Steve Fairchild the program's 19th head coach. Fairchild, most recently the Buffalo Bills' offensive coordinator, was an all-conference quarterback at CSU in 1980 and coached under Lubick from 1993-2000.
2008 personnel capsule...
Fairchild, an offensive coach since his days as CSU's field general, inherits on offense what figures to be a strong running game. The Rams return four of the five starting offensive linemen who laid asphalt for honorable mention all-conference RB Gartrell Johnson, a senior-to-be. And with former 1,000-yard rusher Kyle Bell, CSU could sport one of the nation's stronger running games. The Rams, however, need to replace the conference's leading passer in Caleb Hanie and three stellar WRs, all lost to graduation. Fairchild also returns TE Kory Sperry, the team's top NFL prospect before a knee injury ended his 2007 season in Game 2. On defense, the Rams return a second medical hardship in starting safety Klint Kubiak, hospitalized prior to Game 3 last year. All-heart Mike Pagnotta, also hampered by injury in `07, returns to full health at the other safety spot. MLB Jeff Horinek, another honorable mention all-conference choice, rounds out a talented senior class. Lost to graduation are three starting defensive linemen and both starting cornerbacks. All told, the Rams return 12 starters, seven on offense and five on defense. Lost are 10 starters, four on offense and six on defense. On special teams, the Rams lose honorable mention all-conference P Jimmie Kaylor, but return K Jason Smith, who enjoyed a solid 2007 season. CSU will need to find a new punt returner, losing both Johnny Walker and Damon Morton, but the Rams return Morton's brother, Dion, on kickoff returns.
