What the win against UNLV means for CSU football

Junior Guerrero

November 5, 2019

After a great showing on Saturday against the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, the Rams improve to 4-5 on the season. This victory marks their third win in a row and shows that this team refuses to give up on the season.

Saturday’s performance might’ve been the best we’ve seen out of this Rams football team. They played fundamentally sound football, took care of the ball and cut back on the mental mistakes that have been their downfall in past games.

With the Rams finding a groove and finally playing good football this season, they proved to everyone that they can play with any team that’s on their schedule. Here are few things that we learned after Saturday’s game.

Marcus Mcelroy (32) runs the ball in for a Colorado State touchdown — Marcus McElroy (32) runs the ball in for a Colorado State touchdown, as CSU takes on the University of Nevada, Las Vegas at home. CSU wins 37-17. (Devin Cornelius | The Collegian)

Special teams

Special teams are important to the Colorado State University football team. The Rams returned the very first kickoff of the game, giving them the lead without having to put the offense on the field. This takes tremendous pressure off the offense and gives the defense confidence.

The Rams also found themselves in a good field position, credited to solid punt returns from Dante Wright. Special teams might not be the most exciting part of the game, but the CSU unit played a big role in the Rams’ victory over UNLV.

Depth

Injuries hit the Rams hard this season, but that hasn’t stopped players from stepping up and owning the “next man up” mentality. This showed on Saturday, when three different running backs got touches in the game. Every back made a significant impact in the ground game, not giving the Rebels’ defense a play off. Having the ability to successfully plug somebody in a position with very little experience is a luxury that Coach Mike Bobo is lucky to have.

Offense

This offense remains explosive and has play makers all over the field. Quarterback Patrick O’Brien is starting to find rhythm with his teammates, especially with Warren Jackson. Jackson is a corner back’s nightmare. CSU’s premier wide receiver provides height and big play ability that no other receiver in the Mountain West provides.

The Rams are off this week until Nov. 16 when they return home to host Air Force.

Junior Guerrero can be reached at sports@collegian.com or on Twitter @juniorg45.

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About the Contributor

Devin Cornelius, Digital Managing Editor

Devin Cornelius is the digital managing editor for The Collegian. He is a fifth-year computer science major from Austin, Texas. He moved to Colorado State University and started working for The Collegian in 2017 as a photographer. His passion for photography began in high school, so finding a photography job in college was one of his top priorities. He primarily takes sports photos, volleyball being his favorite to shoot. Having been on The Collegian staff for 4 1/2 years, he's watched the paper evolve from a daily to a weekly paper, and being involved in this transition is interesting and exciting. Although Cornelius is a computer science major, his time at The Collegian has been the most fulfilling experience in his college career — he has loved every second. From working 12-hour days to taking photos in Las Vegas for the Mountain West Conference, he cannot think of a better place to work. Working as a photographer for The Collegian pushed him outside of his comfort zone, taking him places that he never expected and making him the photographer he is today. As the digital managing editor, Cornelius oversees the photos, graphics and social media of The Collegian along with other small tech things. Working on the editorial staff with Katrina Leibee and Serena Bettis has been super fun and extremely rewarding, and together they have been pushing The Collegian toward being an alt-weekly. Outside of The Collegian, he enjoys playing volleyball, rugby, tumbling and a variety of video games. When in Austin, you can find him out on the lake, wake surfing, wake boarding and tubing. You can expect that Cornelius and the rest of The Collegian staff will do their best to provide you with interesting and exciting content.

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