Colorado State Rams 2010 Review

Colorado State Rams
2010 Record: 3-9 (2-6), 6th Mountain West
2010 Bowl Game: None

     Something has gone seriously wrong in Fort Collins. Steve Fairchild came in with a bklustery wind, taking the Rams to a bowl in his first season, and now it has been disaster ever since. Fairchild comes into 2011 with a fair amount of heat under his psoterior, and here is a breakdown as to how he got there coming out of 2010.
     Fairchild went the freshman route with his QB, and tabbed Pete Thomas, a high profile recruit for the Rams, to handle the job. Thomas was not always up for the job as a freshman, and he struggled. Thomas opened the season by tossing 3 picks against Colorado, and by the time week three had ended with another loss to Miami (Ohio), Thomas had but 1 TD to his 5 picks. In his final game of the season against Wyoming, Thomas only completed 16 of his 33 pass attempts for 97 yards. Yeah, it was rough. Thomas finished the season having passed for 2662 yards and 11 TDs, but he ended by tossing 13 picks on the year.
     The run game was nothing to shout about either. Leonard Mason was the leader , but he inly rushed for 513 yards and 5 TDs on the year. Not one single Rams back carried the ball 100 times last season, and only Mason and John Mosure played in 12 games, as Chris Nwoke missed 3 games, and Raymond Carter missed 4.
     One good note was that Thomas did happen to distribute the ball to different receivers. Five idfferent Rams caught 20 or more passes, and that is a very good sign. Lou Greenwood was the yardage leader, as he psoted a line of 34-474-2. Tyson Liggett was the receptions leader, as he posted 41-380-0. They were followed by Byron Steele (20-313-0), Zac Pauga (33-308-1), and Matt Yemm (21-265-1). Eric Peltz and Raymond Carter each had 3 Td receptions, but did not claim the 20 reception mark.
     The Rams defense was barely there last fall, as the Rams gave up an everage of 423.8 yards per game. They had 4 defenders who averaged 5 or more tackles per game, but then the production fell off the cliff. Ricky Brewer, a senior LB, led the team in tackles with 105. He was followed by LB Mychal Sisson (95), Ivory Herd (80), and Alex Williams (61).
     Sisson was a credible force up front for CSU, as he collected 15 TFLs on the season, and this was despite the fact that the Rams allowed 197.9 yards per game against the run. Guy Miller came close to joining him in double figures with 9, and Ricky Brewer had 8. The Rams picked up 65 TFLs on the season, but allowed 104 on offense. No blocking! Miller led the team with 6.5 sacks, which is nothing special. The Rams piled up a weak looking 21 sacks in 12 games, while the offense gave up 44. No wonder Thomas was a mess.
     The secondary was open season, as nobody stepped up to make plays, and not one defender had more than 2 passes defended last fall, which is like playing while your arms have been lopped off. Nobody had more than one pick, and the Rams intercepted only 4 passes all season.
     Ben DeLine was one of the only relatively bright spots on the team last fall, as he connected on 16 of his 22 FG attempts, good for 72.7% overall (I know...not great). He missed 3 PATs, which is awful when he only tried 21 of them all year. Here was the real hero for the Rams. Punter Pete Kontodiakos avergaed 44.5 yards per punt. Thank God something went right! The Rams also got solid effort on their kickoff returns, as Tony Drake averaged 24.28 yards per return, and Derek Good averaged 25.75 yards per return. The Rams only managed to return 13 punts all  season.
Final Notes
     Barring a miracle, I believe that last season was the beginning of the end of for Steve Fairchild. Barring a miracle in 2011, I just don't see how things can change wnough to give him a break. I feel badly for saying it, but Fairchild has to be an early Dead Pool candidate for me.