CSU Rams Gameday: Football at New Mexico, Nov. 16, 2013

Nov. 15, 2013

COLORADO STATE (5-5, 3-2 MW) at NEW MEXICO (3-6, 1-4 MW)

LINKS:  Roster | Media Guide | Schedule | Gameday Central Page

KICKOFF:             5 p.m. MT

TV:                         ROOT Sports Rocky Mountain or Mountain West Network/CSURams.com—Mark Neely (play-by-play), Sed Bonner (analyst) and Marc Stout (sideline)

RADIO:                 CSU Flagship: KJAC 105.5 FM  |  New Mexico Flagship: 770 KKOB-AM                                CSU Rams Radio Network: KREL-AM 1580 ESPN (Colorado Springs), KSIR-AM 1010 (Fort Morgan), KRFD-FM 94.5 (Sterling), and KNZZ-AM 1100 (Grand Junction)

TWITTER:             @CSUFootball CSURams 1TTD |  @CoachMcElwain  |  @mountainwest  #MWFB

Weekly Notes (PDF):  Colorado State  |  New Mexico  |  Mountain West

COLORADO STATE FOOTBALL HEADLINES:

Nov. 14: CSU’s Golditch to receive award from National Football Foundations
Nov. 13: Roberts a nominee for the 2013 Burlsworth Trophy
Nov. 13: CSU kicker earns national weekly honor
Nov. 11: (VIDEO) Jim McElwain weekly press conference with OL Ty Sambrailo and LB Aaron Davis

Colorado State (5-5, 3-2) will travel to New Mexico (3-6, 1-4) for the first time since its 2011 season-opening 14-10 victory over the Lobos. Kickoff is set for 5 p.m. MT. Fans can catch the action on ROOT Sports or can watch a free stream on CSURams.com or TheMW.com outside the ROOT Sports carriage footprint.

The Rams have five wins this season, their most since 2008 when CSU finished the year 7-6 with a victory in the New Mexico Bowl. The Rams must win two more games to become bowl eligible. CSU holds a 35-25 advantage in the series vs. the Lobos. 

NOTES IN 140 | #CSURamsNotes | #MWFB | #1TTD

#TEAM

CSU has won five games this season, its most since 2008 as the Rams went 7-6, including a victory in the New Mexico Bowl over Fresno State
Through 10 games the Rams are averaging 201.3 rushing yards, the most since 2002 (205.7)
CSU is currently on pace for the 2nd-most avg. yards/game in program history with 453.3. In 1996, CSU set the bar with an average of 458.9 yards/game
The Rams have recorded 500-plus yards of total offense in five games this season, the most games with at least 500 yards in a single season
CSU is averaging 33.5 points per game in 2013. The last time the Rams averaged 30-plus points per game was in 1997 (36.6)
The Rams have improved their scoring output by 58%, from 21.2 in 2012 to 33.5
Under @CoachMcElwain the Rams are 7-2 when leading at halftime and 8-1 with the lead after 3 quarters
Against @BroncoSportFB CSU registered 35 first downs, a CSU record. The previous high was 33 set twice in 1992
The Rams ran 109 offensive plays vs. @BroncoSportFB, a program record and second-most in #MWFB history
CSU won back-to-back road games (@WYO, @UH) in MW play for the first time since 2002 when the Rams defeated Utah, AFA & SDSU.
The Rams hung 50-plus points on UTEP (59) and Wyoming (52) this year. The last CSU team to score 50 points twice in a season was the 1997 Rams
59 points vs. UTEP was the Rams’ most since Oct. 4, 1997 when they defeated Hawai’i 63-0. The 59 points ties for the ninth-most in program history
Prior to 59-point outburst vs. UTEP the Rams hadn’t scored 50-plus points since Oct. 8, 2003 at BYU, a span of 3,666 days.
Seven true freshmen have made their collegiate debut this season (Berk, Clyburn, Higgins, Lovingood, Schlager, Simmons, Williams)
‘Colorado State’ was trending worldwide for 15 minutes during the Rams’ game at Alabama on Sept. 21

#OFFENSE

OC Weston Richburg, cand. for @outlandtrophy & @rimingtontrophy has graded above 90% in every game with 32 knockdowns, incl. 7 vs. Boise St.
SR RB Chris Nwoke ranks 10th all-time in CSU history with 2,402 rushing yards.
SO RB Kapri Bibbs has rushed for 1,148 yards, the most in #MWFB, his 6.3 avg/rush leads #MWFB RBs with 150-plus carries
Bibbs leads the nation in rushing TDs (19) and total TDs (19). The 19 rushing TDs are the most by a CSU rusher since Calvin Branch in ‘96
Bibbs set a school record rushing for 312 yards on 30 carries vs. Nevada on Nov. 9, previously held by Tony Alford in 1989 (28-310)
Bibbs broke off an 85-yd TD run vs. Nevada, the 3rd-longest scoring run in program history and longest play since ‘03 (BVP to Anderson - 86)
Bibbs also set a CSU record, registering his fifth game with at least three rushing TDs, which was previously held by Calvin Branch in 1996
Bibbs has scored at least 3 rushing TDs in 4-consecutive games, which hadn’t been accomplished since Branch did it three consecutive games in ‘96
Bibbs is tied for 3rd on the single season scoring list with 114 points through 10 games, the most since Jeff Babcock (118) in 2002
With 19 rushing TDs Bibbs has more scores on the ground than approximately 61% of FBS teams
In the past 4 games, Bibbs has rushed for 719 yards, an average of 179.8 yards and 13 TDs
CSU’s offensive line starters have a combined 144 starts, which ranks tied for 11th in #NCAA according to @philsteele042
JR TE Kivon Cartwright became the first CSU player to score multiple receiving TDs in back-to-back games (UTEP & SJSU) since Paul Turner in 1995
Cartwright’s six TDs are the most by a Ram pass-catcher since 2008 when Dion Morton had 10 and Kory Sperry had 6
SR TE Crockett Gillmore leads all MW TEs with 346 receiving yards, which also ranks 12th nationally among all FBS TEs
Against Boise State, JR QB Garrett Grayson threw for a career-high 397 yards, the 10th most in program history.
With Bradlee Van Pelt in attendance, Grayson broke BVP’s single-game total offense record accumulating 445 total yards (397 pass, 48 rush)
Grayson threw 3 TDs in three straight games (UTEP, SJSU, WYO), a feat that a Rams QB hasn’t accomplished since Terry Nugent in 1982
FR WR Rashard Higgins had 10 receptions vs. BSU (11/2), setting a career high and tying a CSU freshman record
WR Charles Lovett, who returned vs. SJSU after missing five games with knee injury, has a catch in 17 straight games in which he has played.
Lovett’s last game without a catch was Nov. 19, 2011 at TCU

#DEFENSE

Shaquil Barrett’s 16.5 TFL leads MWFB and is tied for third most in the NCAA while his average of 1.6 per game is ninth in the country
Barrett’s sack total of 9.5 is third-most in the country and he is only a half-sack from cracking top-10 single-season sacks at CSU
Barrett has recorded 16.5 tackles for loss through 10 games, tied for second-most in #NCAA
Barrett’s 13-tackle, 3-sack, 2-FF performance vs. UTEP earned him Bronko Nagurski Defensive POW honors, only the 2nd Ram to earn this award
Confirmed through research dating back to 1970, Barrett is the first Ram to block two kicks in one game
S Trent Matthews has picked off three passes this season, tying for the most by a Ram since 2009 and tied for fifth most in #NCAA
S Kevin Pierre-Louis (vs. CU) and LB Max Morgan (at UH) racked up 15 total tackles in individual games, the 7th-most single-game tackles in #MWFB.
After allowing opponents to convert 48 percent of their third-down tries last season, the #CSURams have reduced the rate to 38 percent this year
DB Bernard Blake intercepted an A.J. McCarron pass in the third quarter. McCarron had only been picked five times in two seasons prior to that point
CSU’s defense held @AlabamaFTBL to 66 yards rushing, the lowest total by the Crimson Tide since Oct. 9, 2010 (36)

#SPECIAL TEAMS

Freshman punter Hayden Hunt downed four punts inside the 20-yard line at Hawai’i (10/26)
WR/KR Thomas Coffman is 3rd in #MWFB with a kickoff return average of 24.6 yards and his long return of 84 yards is 2nd in MW
WR/PR Joe Hansley is one of three #MWFB players with a punt return TD. Hansley’s 74-yard return is the 12th-longest nationally
The Rams are averaging 15.5 yards per punt return compared with a 9.5 average in 2012
Opponents avg. just 7.8 yards/punt return after averaging 12.0 a year ago, and 20.5 yards/kickoff return compared to 23.5 last year.
.@LouGrozaAward candidate Jared Roberts averages 1.5 FGs/game, 2nd in #MWFB and 21st nationally
Roberts’ career field goal percentage of 88.9 percent is 2nd among all active kickers in NCAA FBS
Roberts’ 88.9 field goal percentage makes him the most accurate kicker in CSU history with a minimum of 25 attempts
Shaquil Barrett earned MW Special Teams Player of the Week after blocking two Cal Poly field goals (9/14)
CSU is one of eight teams in the country to block multiple kicks in one game and is 10th in #NCAA with 3 blocks on the year

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