2011 Colorado State Football Predictions

Written by Steve Janus

The Colorado State Rams really struggled to get anything going in 2010. They finished 2-6 in the Mountain West Conference and were just 3-9 overall. Head coach Steve Fairchild has now went just 6-18 after leading the Rams to a bowl game and a 7-6 finish in 2008. With 14 starters back for the 2011 season, the hope is that Colorado State can once again be competitive in the MWC. Here is a look at who they will be sending to the field, plus my prediction on where they finish the year in the Mountain West.

Offense:

The Rams struggled through the growing pains of freshman starting quarterback Pete Thomas in 2010, but behind the struggles there were a lot of signs that point to a much better sophomore season. Thomas threw for 2,662 yards with just 11 touchdowns to 13 interceptions, but at the same time he completed 64.7% of his passes, which was the highest ever for a Division 1 freshman. Look for Thomas to make some big strides in 2011, which should have the Rams scoring well above their 16.5 ppg in 2010.

Thomas didn’t get a whole lot of help from the running game in 2010. Leonard Mason led the team with just 513 yards and five touchdowns, while the Rams averaged just 113 yards a game. Mason has departed, which opens the door for senior Raymond Carter to start.

While the Rams also lose wide out Tyson Liggett, they bring back Juniors Lou Greenwood and Byron Steele. Greenwood led the team with 34 catches for 474 yards and Steele finished third on the team 313 yards on 20 catches. Sophomore Tony Drake is expected to start in Liggett’s place. With the expectations that Thomas will be much improved this season, look for this unit to really improve as well.

Senior tackle Paul Madsen, senior guard Jake Gdowski, and sophomore center Weston Richburg lead an offensive line that returns four starters from last season. This unit should go from a weakness in 2010 to a strength in 2011.

Defense:

The Rams gave up a whopping 34.7 ppg in 2010, and will need to to be much better on this side of the ball if they are going to compete with the top teams in the MWC this season. Looking at the defensive line, the Rams return junior defensive tackles Broderick Sargent and C.J. James, but will have to find two new starters at defensive tackle. The leading candidates heading into the fall are junior Zach Tiedgen and redshirt freshman John Froland. Even with the two new starters in the middle, this unit is more experienced than it was a year ago.

At linebacker the Rams bring back senior weak-side linebacker Mychal Sisson, who led the team with 10.5 tackles for loss and was second with 4.5 sacks and 95 tackles. Added to the miss is junior middle linebacker James Skelton and sophomore outside linebacker Mike Orakpo. As a freshman Orakpo had 37 tackles and two sacks as a backup, and really looks like he has the potential to become a great player.

In the secondary the Rams return the starting corner duo of junior Momo Thomas and senior Elijah-Blu Smith, along with senior strong safety Ivory Herd, who was third on the team with 81 tackles in 2010. The Rams as a team had just four interceptions in 2010, a number they need to improve on if they are going to finish better than 3-9 in 2011.

2011 Prediction: 5th MWC – I don’t think there is any doubt that the Rams will win more than three games in 2011. While I have them picked to finish fifth in the MWC, they could finish much higher if they can beat Air Force and San Diego State at home. Overall I think this team will go 6-6 and should find themselves playing in their first bowl game since 2008.

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