Monday Presser: Addazio Knows Track Record with Boise State

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Colorado State (3-4, 2-1) vs. Boise State (3-4, 1-2)
Canvas Stadium | Fort Collins, Colo.
Saturday, Oct. 30, 5 p.m.

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Elephant in the Room Placed Right in the Middle
GAME RECOGNITIONS
Cannoneers: Paula Edwards and Kirsten Kirkpatrick, Women and Philanthropy Committee Members	Bell Ringers: Kay Edwards, Cancer Survivor and 2015 Henry Recipient

FORT COLLINS, Colo. – Two weeks ago, Colorado State traveled to New Mexico with 10 consecutive wins in the series history. This week, with Boise State coming to town, the story is reversed.

Head coach Steve Addazio isn't ignoring the elephant in the room, and during his Monday press conference, the distain in his voice when mentioning a 0-10 all-time mark against the Broncos was evident he's putting it right in the middle for all to see.

"We are really excited and locked in to get ready for this game against Boise State," he said, then left a dramatic pause, "a team that we have never beaten."

If a chance to be the team which finally beat Boise State isn't a motivating factor for his team, he's not sure what would serve in such an excellent capacity.

"We've mentioned it to the players. We haven't beaten Boise," he said. "That's the high-water mark in the conference. To their credit, they've done it year in and year out. They've established that, that tradition, that watermark. So if you want to build your program, you want to try to get those wins against those premier teams. That's a premier team.

"We haven't don't it. Of course the players need to know we haven't done it. It would be something that's a great accomplishment, but respect how hard that's going to be, because there's a reason that hasn't happened."

The other part of that stat is just as telling: The Rams are the only conference team which has not beaten Boise State in Mountain West play.

As it was in preparation for the game with the Lobos, take the streak for what it is, which is not a guarantee. Respect the challenge of the streak – whether to continue or end it – as well as the opponent and the task at hand.

The closest the Rams have come to beating the Broncos was in 2017, when they built a 25-point lead at Canvas Stadium in the first half, only to lose 59-52 in overtime.

Turn Back the Clock

The Boise State game a year ago is what triggered an emotional response from Addazio, and with good reason. In the 52-21 road loss, Colorado State yielded two blocked punts returned for touchdowns, and a blocked field goal returned for a touchdown. He vowed the Rams special teams would improve, and, despite a few hiccups, they have.

"I feel good about. We've done a lot of good things on special teams," he said. "We haven't had a tremendous amount of issues – we've had a couple. Last week, we kicked away from their dominant returner, and that's the first time we've done that, and we had one issue. We're fundamentally playing at a high level; I like our coverage units."

When he looked back at what happened in the loss to the Broncos a year ago, he noted some of the issues were with a constantly changing personnel, and in some regards, that has him concerned this week.

The trickle-down effect of injuries is not just to the starting lineups, but also the special teams units, which are occupied in great part by starters, especially linebackers and safeties.

"Our struggles last year had to do a lot with COVID, because we were constantly hamstrung in shifting personnel," he said. "The only thing I'm a little concerned over right now is lately we've been shuffling personnel again because of injuries. You have a lot of time invested in a certain group of guys, and each week over the last couple, three weeks, we've got a lot of new faces going in there."

Here and There

Addazio addressed what happened at the end of the game Friday, taking the blame for what transpired on the final field-goal attempt and said Sunday team meetings addressed operations so it wouldn't happen again. … Defensively, CSU is in the top five defensively in points allowed (20.4 per, third), sacks (30, first), yards allowed (294.1, third), rushing yard allowed (100.0, third), passing yards allowed (194.1, third) and third-down defense (29.4 percent conversions, second).

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