Colorado State has yet to lose three straight games under the helm of head coach Steve Fairchild, a trend the Utes will look to reverse in this weekend’s Mountain West Conference matchup.
Although the Rams started the season off with three straight victories, Colorado State is coming off last week’s close 31-29 loss to Idaho and a 43-23 loss to BYU the week before.
Despite the recent slump, Fairchild said he isn’t concerned about his team.
“We are preparing right, and I think we know we are going to play hard,” Fairchild said. “We just aren’t making enough plays right now to win every game, but there is no panic amongst the players and coaches.”
Colorado State is being led on offense by senior quarterback Grant Stucker, who took over the starting job at the beginning of the season.
Stucker is averaging 249 yards per game and has thrown 10 touchdown passes on the season.
Stucker’s game has been improving steadily throughout the season. He had the two best games of his career in the recent losses to BYU and Idaho, in which he threw for 372 and 297 yards, respectively, and a combined six touchdowns.
“I will tell you what, (Stucker) is as big of a surprise as there is,” Fairchild said. “I don’t want to anoint him anything special because he is a new starter and he is going to struggle at times, and we know that, but boy, he has certainly played well.”
The Rams have three wide receivers who are averaging more than 14 yards per catch. Rashaun Greer is leading the way with 403 yards on 19 catches for an average of 21.2 yards. Dion Morton averages 19.8 yards per catch, and Tyson Liggett averages 14.2.
Colorado State’s rushing game is led by Leonard Mason and John Mosure, who average 4.5 and 4.6 yards per carry, respectively.
Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham said the combination of the pass game and the rush game is what has made the Rams so successful this season.
“Their bread and butter is to pound you with the run game, then play action and go deep,” Whittingham said.
Although the Rams are averaging twice as many passing yards than rushing yards per game, Fairchild said they go into every game balanced.
“We try and go into a game not leaning too heavily on one thing,” Fairchild said. “It is just the nature of our scheme. All these games are played different.”
The Rams have nine players who have more than 10 solo tackles on the season. They are led by Klint Kubiak, who has 23 solo tackles and 18 assisted tackles on the season. Mychal Sisson leads the team in sacks with three on the season for a loss of 25 yards.
Although the Utes will be without star running back Matt Asiata for the first time this season, Fairchild said the Utes’ depth will make up for the injuries and losses they have suffered throughout the season.
“Kyle has been loading up there for a while,” Fairchild said. “So they are at a stage now where if a guy goes down or a guy graduates, they will have a guy coming up that will do just as well or better. They have talent on that team and will be fine at the running back spot.”
How well the Utes fare without Asiata will be seen at 4 p.m. on Saturday, when Colorado State kicks off against Utah in front of what is expected to be a record-breaking crowd for Colorado’s Homecoming Game.