Written By Paul Fritz
The Colorado State Rams are set for their 3rd home game of the season where they will take on the Arkansas Razorbacks on Saturday night. The SEC team has beaten the Rams in all three matchups they have had historically. In consideration of this and the slow start they have endured so far this season, the Rams are in dire straits to get their offense back on track and prove that they can be a dominant force in the Mountain West Conference. It’s also worth noting that this will be the Razorbacks first trip to Fort Collins to play in the new Canvas Stadium.
The main factor for Colorado State’s offense will be for QB K.J. Carta-Samuels to start firing early and connect with his receivers in Preston Williams and Olabisi Johnson. They simply cannot afford to play catch-up against Arkansas as they have a high-powered offense in themselves, scoring 55 points in last week’s season opener. The Rams offense is plenty capable of scoring points, but they have shown the tendency to let games get away from them before half-time.
Colorado State will also need to be disciplined on the defensive side of the ball because Arkansas’ will likely employ a 2 quarterback game-plan behind sophomore Cole Kelley and junior Ty Storey. Furthermore, a total of nine returning starters on the Razorbacks offense is a clear sign that they have a developed system that they are confident with.
Overall, this will be a good test for Colorado State and Head Coach Mike Bobo to demonstrate their ability as a team as well as their dedication for a winning season. It will be interesting to see if for some reason Carta-Samuels doesn’t perform to his ability, how quickly Bobo will go to his redshirt sophomore QB Colin Hill who debuted last week against CU Boulder. However, Carta-Samuels has addressed the issues his offense and has the potential to turn their performance around.
The game will start at 5:30 p.m. and can be seen on the CBS Sports Network. Plan to get there early though because it is Military Appreciation Day at the stadium and Colorado State will put on quite the show to honor our veterans and active military.