Colorado State quarterback Todd Centeio fires against Hawaii on Nov. 20, 2021, in Honolulu. (AP Photo/Darryl Oumi)
The Nevada Wolf Pack is headed to Colorado State this week a staggered and battered football team.
“It’s been a challenging two weeks,” said head coach Jay Norvell of back-to-back losses to San Diego State (23-21) on the road and Air Force (41-39 in triple overtime) at home. “When you lose tough games when you’ve put so much into it, it takes a little piece of you. We’re fighting hard to get whole again.”
The Wolf Pack, 7-4 overall and 4-3 in the Mountain West, will finish its season in Fort Collins, Colo., against the Rams on Saturday (6 p.m., CBS Sports Network) and in a bowl game next month. Colorado State (3-8, 2-5), one of just three teams (with New Mexico and UNLV) in the Mountain West that has already been eliminated from bowl consideration, will finish its season on Saturday against the Pack.
The Wolf Pack left more than a little piece of itself on the field in its losses to San Diego State and Air Force this past two weeks, as well as a loss at Fresno State on Oct. 23. It left its entire Mountain West title hopes as well.
“We have a lot of seniors who invested a lot in this season and that’s what makes it so disappointing,” said Norvell, whose Wolf Pack has lost three of its last five games with the West Division title on the line. “To lose these close games, it’s real gut-wrenching. It’s tough.”
Colorado State was never a serious contender in the Mountain Division this season but the Rams also suffered the heartache of losing close games. Colorado State has lost three games by five points or less this year and just one of their eight losses this year was by more than 14 points (42-23 to South Dakota State in the season opener).
“We’re a few plays away from this being a completely different season right now,” Rams coach Steve Addazio said. “But you are what you are.”
Colorado State is coming off a wild shootout loss at Hawaii last Saturday night, 50-45. The two teams combined for 1,136 total yards, 932 of which came through the air. Colorado State quarterback Todd Centeio passed for 527 yards and five touchdowns.
“You watch Toddy’s growth and development and what you see now is a quarterback growing in confidence,” Addazio said. “Toddy now understands the throwing game at a high level.”
The Wolf Pack has nearly perfected the throwing game this season. Quarterback Carson Strong has passed for 3,887 yards and 32 touchdowns (Centeio is at 2,773 and 15). Wolf Pack wide receiver Romeo Doubs has 75 catches for 1,012 yards and nine touchdowns. The Wolf Pack leads the Mountain West at 35.3 points a game.
“They probably have the best offense in the conference,” Addazio said. “They have a tremendous quarterback and they are a veteran team with legitimate pro athletes on the field. That is a really great football team.”
Strong could set the Wolf Pack record for passing yards in a season on Saturday. He trails only Chris Vargas (4,265 yards in 1993). He also could break Vargas’ 1993 record of 34 touchdowns. He already owns the Pack record for completions (349) and attempts (501) in a season.
“That quarterback is outstanding,” Addazio said. “He’s tough as hell, he’s resilient and he throws the ball extremely accurately. And he has a lot of weapons. I’ve watched a lot of their games on TV and I’ve watched the film. Those guys you can just tell are ballers. They are real ballers. We’re playing the best offensive team in the conference and they challenge you in every way.”
Addazio, though, also said something this week that will likely hit home with the Pack coaches and players.
“Nevada is a tremendous throwing team,” said Addazio, a former head coach at Temple and Boston College and an assistant at Syracuse, Notre Dame, Indiana and Florida. “But it’s hard to win a championship that way, in my opinion. Some people might have a different opinion but I think the facts bear that out accurately for me.”
Addazio and Norvell have competed against each other once before. Addazio was an assistant at Florida and Norvell was an Oklahoma assistant when Florida won the BCS national championship (24-14) after the 2008 season.
The Wolf Pack, which has lost 12 of 16 games in its series with Colorado State, tried to win the Mountain West by throwing the ball this season. The Pack is the worst rushing team in the nation at 59.9 yards a game. The Pack, which has thrown the ball 522 times, has averaged 2.4 yards on its 271 rushing attempts. The Wolf Pack has gained just 147 yards on 112 carries on the ground over its last five games combined.
“You have to hang in there with the run to be able to run it,” Addazio said. “Otherwise you are just giving up on that run. It’s hard to run that way.”
Colorado State allows 26.1 points and 364.5 yards a game on defense. But their defense has a handful of playmakers that includes 6-foot-6, 270-pound defensive lineman Scott Patchan (15 tackles for a loss, eight sacks) and linebackers Mohamed Kamara (seven sacks), Dequan Jackson (8.5 tackles for a loss) and Cam’Ron Carter (88 tackles, six sacks) and safety Tywan Francis (79 tackles).
“Obviously, we’ve had some struggles on defense the last few weeks,” said Addazio, whose Rams have allowed an average of 34 points a game over their current five-game losing streak.
“They are really a big, physical team,” Norvell said. “They have really impressive personnel. They have a big defensive front, guys who can rush the passer. Their season hasn’t gone the way they wanted but none of that matters at this point.”
The Rams’ offense also poses problems for the Wolf Pack. David Bailey, a bruising 6-foot, 240-pound running back, leads the Rams with 738 yards rushing and 11 touchdowns (two receiving). Centeio also runs the ball well, gaining 447 yards on the ground. Dante Wright is Centeio’s favorite target with 39 catches for 511 yards and three touchdowns in just eight games.
“What you see on film is a real talented football team,” said Norvell of the Rams. “That quarterback can run and throw and they have a lot of weapons. Physically they are an imposing outfit. We have to find the best of ourselves.”
The Wolf Pack, Norvell said, did not present its best the last two weeks and had to spend this week trying to put that reality behind them.
“Your energy is where your focus is,” Norvell said. “We had to get our focus back on practice and get our focus back on our energy. We have to find the energy to play outstanding football. We have to get our energy where it’s supposed to be and get our body language where it’s supposed to be.”
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