Morning, Rams. Ansel Rimrock here, writing from a trailhead at Horsetooth Mountain with a thermos of coffee, a green-and-gold beanie and a set of boots that have seen a lot of switchbacks. I've got a motto, and I've had it for years: thin air, thick defense. Right now, I'm going to have to be honest with you. The air's still thin. The defense needs work.
But a mountain man doesn't quit on the climb because of one rockslide. Let's look at Thursday night in Texas, and then let's talk about coming home.
Part 1: Texas State 66, Colorado State 27
On Thursday, Oct. 15, at UFCU Stadium in San Marcos, Texas State beat Colorado State 66-27. Per the AP, the Bobcats ran for a school-record 503 yards and piled up a school-record 716 yards of offense.
I'm not going to dress it up. Torrance Burgess Jr. ran for 224 yards and four touchdowns. Brad Jackson ran for 181 and three touchdowns and threw for 213 more. Texas State led 28-0 early in the second quarter and 45-21 at halftime, and it scored touchdowns on six straight possessions, per the AP. That was a rockslide.
Now here's what the Rams did right, because they did some things right. K'saan Farrar completed 26 of 41 passes for 289 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions. Durell Robinson ran for two touchdowns, from 15 yards and 1 yard. Farrar hit Nader Chirchi for a 21-yard score and Terrence Smith Jr. for a 37-yarder. Jackson Harper caught five passes for 91 yards, and Tommy Maher had a 57-yard catch. The Rams gained 437 yards, held the ball for 30:36 and didn't turn it over once.
And from 28-0 down, the Rams scored three touchdowns in the second quarter alone. They didn't fold. That counts for something up here.
Defensively, Tre'Shawn Moore led the Rams with nine tackles, and Oumar Diomande added seven. They kept chasing all night. The effort was there. The tackling angles need a tune-up, and that's what a week of practice at altitude is for.
But you can't win giving up 9.1 yards a carry. Colorado State is 2-4 and 0-2 in the Pac-12. The Rams beat Wyoming 35-13 and Southern Utah 58-24, then lost 41-23 to BYU, 59-45 at UTSA, 56-26 to Oregon State and 66-27 at Texas State. That's a tough stretch of trail.
Part 2: San Diego State at Colorado State
Saturday at 6:30 p.m. Eastern, which is 4:30 here, at Canvas Stadium. It's on The CW, per the AP. San Diego State (3-4, 2-1 Pac-12) at Colorado State (2-4, 0-2).
Our Rams
Let me get the hard truth out of the way. Colorado State's defense ranks 138th in FBS in yards allowed at 530.3 per game, 138th against the run at 274.3 and 138th in scoring at 43.2 points per game. Opponents convert 43.7 percent of third downs, 133rd. That's the bottom of the canyon.
But the offense is a different story. The Rams gain 445.3 yards per game, 34th in FBS, and throw for 274.7, 26th. They score 35.7 points per game, 29th. They're plus-8 in turnover margin, sixth in FBS, and they average just 42.3 penalty yards per game, 17th. RJ Vick has 24 catches for 367 yards and four touchdowns. Farrar has five touchdown passes and two interceptions.
The Aztecs
San Diego State won a 26-23 thriller over Fresno State last week on Cooper DiLeva's 53-yard field goal with 57 seconds left. Lucky Sutton ran for 110 yards. Credit where it's due.
But look at the Aztecs' offense. It ranks 133rd in FBS at 292.9 yards per game. Its passing attack is 132nd at 148.4 yards per game. It converts 29.3 percent of third downs, 135th. Its red zone offense is 126th. And it holds the ball for 24:47 a game, 138th, dead last.
Its defense isn't stout either. The Aztecs allow 449 yards per game, 133rd, and 276.6 passing yards, 131st. Farrar is licking his chops.
And the Aztecs' starting quarterback, Jayden Denegal, left last week's game with an ankle injury. Per the AP, his X-rays were negative. I hope the young man is healthy. But whoever takes the snaps for San Diego State, the Rams have a chance to make it a long afternoon.
The Altitude
Canvas Stadium's field sits at 5,003 feet, per Wikipedia. San Diego is at sea level, more or less. Thin air, Aztecs. Bring a deep breath and a little extra ambition.
The Series
San Diego State leads the series 23-15, per CollegeFootballData.com, and won 45-24 in 2025. Time to climb.
One more thing about this matchup. Both of these teams know how to light up a scoreboard against a soft defense, and both have soft spots. San Diego State gave up 66 points at Oregon State two weeks ago. We gave up 66 to Texas State last week. Somebody's defense is going to have a good day on Saturday, and I'd like it to be the one wearing green and gold. A mountain man always believes in the next switchback.
Town Report: Fort Collins vs. San Diego
Fort Collins. Fort Collins had 169,810 people at the 2020 census, per Wikipedia, the fourth-most populous city in Colorado. It sits on the Cache la Poudre River, at the base of the Rocky Mountain foothills, about 4,982 feet up. Horsetooth Mountain, named for a tooth-shaped granite rock, watches over the western skyline, and on a clear day you can see Longs Peak to the southwest. Horsetooth Reservoir stretches about 6.5 miles through the foothills just west of town.
Our Old Town sits right next to the original 1864 Army post. And per Wikipedia, Fort Collins is known as one of the towns that inspired Main Street, U.S.A., at Disney's theme parks. That's right. Walt's people looked at a lot of towns, and they took notes on ours.
And CAM the Ram? Per Wikipedia, the live mascot has been played by Rambouillet sheep since 1947, and the name came from a 1946 contest, an acronym for Colorado Agricultural and Mechanical College. Canvas Stadium opened in 2017, right on campus, with 36,500 seats and room for as many as 41,000, per Wikipedia. It replaced Hughes Stadium, the Rams' home since 1968. Sit up high on a fall evening, watch the light fade on the foothills, and tell me there's a prettier view in college football. I'll wait.
San Diego. San Diego is a big, sunny city. Fine. But per Wikipedia, when Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo claimed the bay in 1542, he named it "San Miguel." Then Sebastián Vizcaíno came through in 1602 and renamed it. San Diego couldn't even keep its first name! Fort Collins has been Fort Collins since the 1860s.
And the Aztecs' stadium, Snapdragon, opened in 2022 on a parcel west of the main campus, per Wikipedia. You take the trolley to get there. Our stadium is on campus. You walk.
Oh, and San Diego is known for its mild Mediterranean climate. Mild. That's the word they lead with. Up here, we lead with mountains. Mild is a salsa, my friend. Fort Collins is the main course. You don't come up here for mild. You come up here for the Poudre, the foothills, Old Town and a kickoff nearly a mile up.
Summit Plan
Here's the plan. Let Farrar throw at the 131st-ranked pass defense. Keep protecting the football. Make the 135th-ranked third-down offense earn every inch. And let the thin air do its job in the fourth quarter.
Thin air, thick skin. That's this week's motto. Go Rams.
My call: San Diego State Aztecs 32, Colorado State Rams 31.