That being said. The Rams might be one of the hardest teams to predict given Addazio has not had a full off-season, and last year was such a small sample size.

The biggest question marks are obviously QB and special teams play, followed by the new offensive coordinator, and lack offensive firepower/depth at skill positions.

7 wins are possible if we beat

-South Dakota State in the opener. What a shitty opening game! A buzzsaw FCS team. Lose and you're embarrassed. Win and you escape unscathed.

Suprise the HELL out of Vanderbilt. They open with East Tennessee State at home and will be looking past us for Stanford, their next opponent on the road before they start SEC play.

for that to happen

- Todd Centeio has to have a great year, limit turnovers, and can get the offense scoring 28pts per game under Jon Budmayer(Also a QB coach so I like that) Maybe Addazio did his homework after all and knew he needed his next OC to be a great QB coach as well.

- Special teams have a complete overhaul. They were one of the worst units in college football last season. It did not help that one of our 4 games was against the nation's #1 Special teams unit in Boise state. If the rams play in 1-2 very tight games this season, Special teams are key.

- We have an excellent turnover margin. We're going to have to surprise some teams. And to do that, we need strip-sacks, INT's, and solid 3rd down defense to keep games low scoring. (example - Wyoming game last season)

That's it. We have a ton of experience in the trenches, a stud transfer at running back, and a defensive line that is going to cause a lot of issues.

If those three don't come together we are looking like more of a 5 win team. Here is why.

The tough road ahead highlighted by Phil Steele:

Wyoming is listed as one of the most improved teams in the nation coming in at #4. Why is this bad news? Phil is notorious for getting his most improved teams dead on. Often predicting major turnarounds.

Air Force also comes in at #10 as 2021's most improved. Ouch. We play them and Wyoming back to back!

Nevada has one of the nation's top QB's in Carson Strong and they are loaded with talent on offense and defense. They will challenge Boise and San Jose State for the title.

San Jose State - 19 returning starters from that team that won the MWC last season.

Boise State - returns 17 starters and Sophmore QB who one the job as a freshman last season. We play them after their bye-week. Another ouch.

What we are seeing is CSU's lack of consistency in recruiting, coaching, and wins catching up to us. Addazio has a major uphill battle and we'll know if he is THE guy by half-time of the opening game.



[Post edited by Irish40backer at 07/09/2021 10:04PM]