Colorado State University Athletics
Rams Looking at Unbalanced Approach
10/22/2024 2:00:00 PM | Football
Lobos are prone to creating and allowing explosive plays
Chunk plays. Explosives. Call them what you'd like, New Mexico collects them. On both sides of the ball.
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The Lobos, who have scored at least 50 points in each of the past three games – all wins – is one of the top teams in the nation in producing plays of 10 yards or longer. Chunk plays.
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Explosives require, by most standards, 15 yards by land, 20 if by air. And from 20-50 yards, the Lobos are still pretty good at it. Again, accruing them and dispensing them. They have 118 on offense, 110 allowed by the defense.
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Colorado State is well aware, and it's also an area where the Rams have been improving. It's a statistic coach Jay Norvell is keeping in perspective.
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"I think it all works together. I think a lot of statistics are overblown, to be honest with you," Norvell said. "At the end of the day people get excited, and we've been that team with the flashy stats and not a lot of wins, and that's not always a good thing. The important stats, we like to control the football. We want runs and completions. We have to do a better job of not turning the ball over. We've done a good job with the interceptions, it's the fumbles that have really hurt us.
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"That ball has to be given to the official every play. Eliminate explosive plays defensively. Keeping their rushes per attempt down. That's what we've really been focusing on, and the game is manageable when we do that. Those are the things we want to focus on. We want to keep getting those numbers in our favor and increasing our odds to win."
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The Lobos have received big plays across the board. They have three different players – one of them quarterback Devon Dampier – who have runs or 30 or longer. They also have six different receivers with receptions of that length.
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In comparison, the Rams have two backs with rushes of 40 or longer, six wideouts with catches of 30 or more. And if length matters, Colorado State wins. The Lobos have not hit a play covering 60 yards all year; the Rams have hit four, two of them good for 70-plus, and then there's Caleb Goodie's 85-yard reception last week.
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The Rams really prefer having the best of both worlds.
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"The first thing we want to do is be able to grind and get the run game going and make those passes, but it is nice to have those explosive players and be confident in those guys to go make those plays,"Â guard Drew Moss said.
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The goal is to win the game. Winning the battle of bursts won't hurt the cause at all.
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The past two weeks, Colorado State's defense has played better and the key to those performances is the Rams have been fundamentally sound by not allowing a lot of big plays and keeping yards per rush down. In beating San Jose State, the defense accomplished the goal without a tackle for loss. A week later, against Air Force, they had seven, including an unexpected four sacks.
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It happens to be something the Lobos have done well, not getting stuck behind the chains. They've only had 22 plays go for loss, and thanks to the mobility of Dampier, they've only allowed three sacks in his 239 attempts.
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The Rams produced three turnovers against the Falcons after collecting one from the Spartans, again, something the Lobos have been prone to as Dampier has been intercepted nine times. Defensively, the Rams want to stick to the script that being sound is the route to success.
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"We've played a bunch of teams that are very explosive as well. It really comes down to being fundamental and knowing your job," linebacker Buom Jock said. "We're going to do our best to eliminate the explosives.
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"We know they're really explosive on offense. The quarterback obviously, and I think their running back group is going to be the best we've played all year, the combination of all here of them. They have a real nice group of receivers, (Luke Wysong) is really good. We just have to do a good job trying to eliminate the explosives, limit their best guys."
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Doing so would go a long way toward meeting the goal.
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The Lobos, who have scored at least 50 points in each of the past three games – all wins – is one of the top teams in the nation in producing plays of 10 yards or longer. Chunk plays.
Â
Explosives require, by most standards, 15 yards by land, 20 if by air. And from 20-50 yards, the Lobos are still pretty good at it. Again, accruing them and dispensing them. They have 118 on offense, 110 allowed by the defense.
Â
Colorado State is well aware, and it's also an area where the Rams have been improving. It's a statistic coach Jay Norvell is keeping in perspective.
Â
"I think it all works together. I think a lot of statistics are overblown, to be honest with you," Norvell said. "At the end of the day people get excited, and we've been that team with the flashy stats and not a lot of wins, and that's not always a good thing. The important stats, we like to control the football. We want runs and completions. We have to do a better job of not turning the ball over. We've done a good job with the interceptions, it's the fumbles that have really hurt us.
Â
"That ball has to be given to the official every play. Eliminate explosive plays defensively. Keeping their rushes per attempt down. That's what we've really been focusing on, and the game is manageable when we do that. Those are the things we want to focus on. We want to keep getting those numbers in our favor and increasing our odds to win."
Â
The Lobos have received big plays across the board. They have three different players – one of them quarterback Devon Dampier – who have runs or 30 or longer. They also have six different receivers with receptions of that length.
Â
In comparison, the Rams have two backs with rushes of 40 or longer, six wideouts with catches of 30 or more. And if length matters, Colorado State wins. The Lobos have not hit a play covering 60 yards all year; the Rams have hit four, two of them good for 70-plus, and then there's Caleb Goodie's 85-yard reception last week.
Â
The Rams really prefer having the best of both worlds.
Â
"The first thing we want to do is be able to grind and get the run game going and make those passes, but it is nice to have those explosive players and be confident in those guys to go make those plays,"Â guard Drew Moss said.
Â
The goal is to win the game. Winning the battle of bursts won't hurt the cause at all.
Â
The past two weeks, Colorado State's defense has played better and the key to those performances is the Rams have been fundamentally sound by not allowing a lot of big plays and keeping yards per rush down. In beating San Jose State, the defense accomplished the goal without a tackle for loss. A week later, against Air Force, they had seven, including an unexpected four sacks.
Â
It happens to be something the Lobos have done well, not getting stuck behind the chains. They've only had 22 plays go for loss, and thanks to the mobility of Dampier, they've only allowed three sacks in his 239 attempts.
Â
The Rams produced three turnovers against the Falcons after collecting one from the Spartans, again, something the Lobos have been prone to as Dampier has been intercepted nine times. Defensively, the Rams want to stick to the script that being sound is the route to success.
Â
"We've played a bunch of teams that are very explosive as well. It really comes down to being fundamental and knowing your job," linebacker Buom Jock said. "We're going to do our best to eliminate the explosives.
Â
"We know they're really explosive on offense. The quarterback obviously, and I think their running back group is going to be the best we've played all year, the combination of all here of them. They have a real nice group of receivers, (Luke Wysong) is really good. We just have to do a good job trying to eliminate the explosives, limit their best guys."
Â
Doing so would go a long way toward meeting the goal.
Â
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