What We Saw: Rams Play Complementary in Win

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The performance is all a team could ask for, and no one was more appreciative than their offensive teammates.

Colorado State's defense allowed just 76 of total offense in a 36-7 win to New Mexico, where the only points for the Lobos came off a punt return. It was the second-best outing for the defense in regards to total yards allowed, and the 1.4 yards per play were the lowest ever.

On top of that, interceptions by Marshaun Cameron and Logan Stewart returned the ball back to the Rams' offense, the first leading to David Bailey's first touchdown of the night, the second to a Cayden Camper field goal. Then there was a Dequan Jackson fumble recovery which led to an additional field goal.

The Rams are playing complementary football.

"It's unbelievable. It makes it easy on us when you have guys out there making plays, getting interceptions, doing things like that," tight end Trey McBride said. "When we have a short field, we can just go down and punch it in. The defense is playing out of their mind right now, and I'm truly thankful for that, because it gives us a lot more opportunities to play and score the football."

Colorado State owned time of possession at 34:16 as the Rams ran 85 offensive plays in the game.

Three times the offense started a drive on the New Mexico side of the field, and eight of 15 drives the Rams had less than 65 yards to reach the end zone.

The performance was historic, but it wasn't out of the blue. In the past four games, Colorado State's defense hasn't allowed more than 283 yards of total offense, not more than 113 yards of rushing to a team.

"You can see with them, they're growing," running back David Bailey said. "The defensive front, I can say with confidence that's the best defensive front I've seen in our conference. I can say this is one of the best defensive fronts I've played with, too. Just on the sideline, knowing our defense is going to make stops, that's a great feeling."

Hitting Big

Colorado State knew the running game would be challenged by New Mexico's defensive system, and they were right. It means an offense has to take some shots, but head coach Steve Addazio said that can be a challenge, because the Lobos' blitz package is just as varied.

But the Rams and quarterback Todd Centeio had their most explosive performance of the season passing the ball, hitting four plays of 35 yards or longer.

With the running game averaging 3.0 yards per carry, the two plays Centeio hit to Trey McBride and the two others to Gary Williams (a 43-yard score) and Ty McCullouch shortened the field, which is exactly what the Rams had to do.

"They run a really weird defense. It's tough," McBride said. "They do a lot of things, they twist a lot, they have a lot of movement, so hitting those big explosives were big for us. He had a couple of plays, he had me on a couple, Gary, Ty McCullouch. The guy was on it tonight, so I was really happy with how we played offensively."

As tough as it was at times, the Rams still produced 452 yards of total offense, their second-best output of the season behind the 462 the opening week. Centeio threw for 289 yards, adding another 35 on the ground, including a 26-yard run.

Addazio credited the backs for helping in pass protection, specifically Jaylen Thomas on the touchdown pass to Williams. McBride said forget the numbers, the guys up front did their job.

"I'm really proud of how they played," McBride said. "The offensive line did a good job of picking up all the blitzes they throw at you, and Todd threw the ball great."

Zoned In

The Rams rank 36^th nationally in red zone offense, converting at an 88.9 percent clip. And it's never a bad thing to end a drive with points, and the recent surge in production by kicker Cayden Camper has made him a weapon, even outside of the 20-yard line, which he showed again with a pair of field goals longer than 45 yards in the win.

However, CSU's touchdown conversion rate sits at 44.7 percent, which ranks 125^th, a number Addazio wants to see improve. What has hampered them, he said, was taking some untimely sacks and drawing unnecessary flags, as well as simple execution.

"We always want to get more points in the end zone, get touchdowns, but if we can and want to be safe, we know we have a kicker who can nail anything," running back David Bailey said. "I wouldn't say everything, but most everything we kick now."

The positive is the Rams definitely have something to work with, as their 27 trips to the red zone are tied for 37^th in the country. They are moving the ball better, but they'd like to move it a bit further to flip the ratio of 11 touchdowns and 13 field goals in the 24 times they've succeeded.

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