FORT COLLINS — As the stream to the exits at Canvas Stadium became a green and gold avalanche, Rams alum Jeff Mehl and his son Boston up in Section 239 had this exchange:
“Hey Boston, what did you think of the game right now?”
“It’s great!”
Dad looked over at scoreboard.
Air Force 35, CSU 21, it read.
Dad looked back, incredulously, at his son.
Then he laughed.
“No, seriously, what do think of the game?”
No, seriously, what do think of the game?”
“The score?” Boston countered. “Or the atmosphere?”
“Everything.”
“It’s a 7.”
“Why?”
“The score isn’t so good. But the atmosphere is pretty good.”
“Because it’s fun to run around in all this space up here?”
“Oh, yeah.”
So there’s that, Rams fans. Plenty of elbow room. Have a picnic. Bring the kids.
Just know they won’t get in for free.
“I spent $246 to bring my family here,” sighed Jeff, a 2008 CSU alum, as his alma mater fell to 3-7 on the season Saturday night, a 14-point setback to the Falcons pushing the Rams’ losing skid to four.
“I wanted to bring my kids, to have them grow up in this atmosphere, and it’s frustrating. I show up and this team doesn’t show up. I’m serious. When I see the effort that I’ve seen (Saturday), it’s super-frustrating.”
Mehl used to be a season-ticket holder. Said it was his first game back since the pandemic hit.
“Now I’m like,” he chuckled, letting out another sigh, “’Why spend the money?’”
And if there’s a recurring theme for CSU football over the past month, kids, it’s probably that.
Well, it’s either that or, “Do you ever wonder what would’ve happened if we’d actually won the Utah State game?”
That 3-3 fork in the road feels like ages ago, doesn’t it? A Rams roster that’s hemorrhaging defenders ran into the wrong buzz saw, surrendering 388 yards on the ground to the Falcons on 69 attempts. Air Force went up 14-0 midway through the first quarter, and a two-score deficit against that option attack feels like a four-score hill against anybody else.
“This is not the week,” CSU coach Steve Addazio groused afterward, “to be without your inside linebackers.”
It wasn’t. But that doesn’t explain, or excuse, the 385 rushing yards given up in that no-show at Wyoming the weekend prior. Or the 178 surrendered on the ground against Boise State here two games ago.
Or that the Falcons, thanks to a 92-yard touchdown heave from quarterback Haaziq Daniels to Brandon Lewis late in the first quarter, now can lay claim to the longest pass play in Canvas history.
Or that the Rams again struggled to maximize tight end Trey McBride, who at this time next year will be blocking Jets, against defenders who will soon be flying them.
Or getting burned on a fake punt. Or watching the Zoomies go for it on fourth down four times — and hit on every single one.
Or that The Addazio Era is off to a 4-10 start after 14 games. Which, if his CSU record falls to 4-12 at the end of 2021, would amount to roughly $763,000 per win.
“It’s unfortunate, but I don’t expect to win,” offered Rian Armstrong, another Rams alum who watched, ruefully, to Jeff’s left.
“But I still want to win, right? I love the Rams. I love CSU. But I don’t show up expecting a win. Or expecting a good game.”
You don’t?
“Nope.”
That’s … not the best.
“It’s terrible.”
Then again, can you blame him? Air Force had the ball for 12:56 of the third quarter, posting two touchdowns on two possessions — with a five-play, 44-yard CSU scoring drive over 1:57 sandwiched in between. The stanza ended with the hosts down 14.
Option football is a test of assignments, discipline and execution. If one person doesn’t do their job, it’s a 7-yard gain. If two or more don’t, the offense pitches it for 56 — which is what the Zoomies on the third play of the tilt, turning a third-and-7 at their own 26 into a first-and-10 at the CSU 18.
Two plays later, the Falcons were in the end zone, again on a pitch to the right side, this one from Daniels to John Lee Eldridge III from 16 yards out.
So, so, soooooo much to fix.
Where do you start?
“It starts at the top with Joyce (McConnell), our president,” Mehl stressed. “It shows disrespect for the program. I think it’s frustrating. They don’t care about the coaches. They don’t care about …”
Todd Centeio’s pass is incomplete, and Air Force takes over on downs …
“… it’s just super-frustrating to spend this money, as an alum,” Mehl continued. “And what we’re used to 15 years ago compared to what we see now.”
At least the beer lines are short. And if form holds, they’ll be even shorter on Thanksgiving weekend, when Nevada comes to town. All of which is great news for Mehl’s son Boston and his pals. Addazio, though, you wonder. You really do.
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