BYU football looking to tame the Colorado State Rams in Week 3

It’s time to hit the road. No. 11 BYU football will play its second nonconference opponent, Colorado State, and its first game away from Provo. It will look to go 12-0 in nonconference games since joining the Big 12.

The Cougars are fresh off a very important victory against an improved Arizona squad. They will look to ride the momentum of shutting out the Wildcats in the second half into Fort Collins versus that used to be a frequent occurrence on the schedule. 

The Rams are the only undefeated team left in the Pac-12, but their schedule to this point feels pretty light to this point. Both of their wins came against Wyoming, 35-13, and Southern Utah, 58-24. By far, BYU will be their toughest challenge all season as they are the only ranked team on their schedule – a team they have not defeated in 23 years.

Matchup History

Anyone who was born after November 13, 2010, they were not alive the last time these two teams squared off, the year of Jake Heaps at quarterback. It is hard to believe considering it is the 70th time this matchup has happened, the fourth most meetings against any opponent in Cougar history. Only Utah, Utah State and Wyoming beat out that number. 2010 was also the last time BYU and Colorado State resided in the same conference together, the Mountain West.

The Cougars are 39-27-3 all-time versus the Rams, and are currently on a seven-game win streak. BYU can finally go for an eight in a row 16 years later.

What to know about the Rams

Colorado State has found the most success with the ground game in its first two contests. It accumulated 450 rushing yards averaging 6.92 yards per carry. Running back Mel Brown has been the most effective rusher with 228 yards and two touchdowns on the ground, and is second in the nation with 13.4 yards per tote.

Quarterback Hauss Hejny profiles similar to Noah Fifita, who the Cougars just faced. The sophomore is second in the country with nine passing scores to go along with 539 yards through the air and 124 rushing yards. The defense proved its worth last week after a slow start, so let’s see if that worth can travel well. 

Allowing 13 points then 24 points to subpar teams screams a defense that has lots of holes in it. On top of that, the Rams gave up 719 total yards to Wyoming and Southern Utah. The Thunderbirds, an FCS team, compiled 442 yards. Yikes. On the other hand, they seem to risk it for the biscuit as they have forced eight takeaways on the year. The Cougars should still have nothing to worry about when it comes to racking up points if they remain careful on taking care of the ball, so they can really pick and choose who they want to have a huge game. I do not smell a trap game here.

Health Status

The injury report is not extensive, but it still has a few notable ones that mostly serve as reminders with one surprise player. 

Running back Sione Moa’s timetable is really uncertain after going through MCL/PCL surgery last week.

Linebacker Siale Esera was glaringly left off the depth chart. He left the Arizona game early due to an undisclosed injury, making him questionable to play in Week 3. 

Safety Raider Damuni is hopeful to be back sometime mid-October as defensive coordinator Kelly Poppinga stated to the media last week. 

Outside of that, we have a clean slate for Saturday night.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow