College Football Preview: Colorado State

The Rams are looking to get over last season's 3-9 debacle, which saw them start 3-0 before losing nine straight. Coach Steve Fairchild enters his third year as head coach and is looking for his team to overcome all the inconsistencies and injuries of last season.

Offense - Much uncertainty encompasses this year's offense. The strongest area will be the running backs, but the rest of the side of the ball is really up for grabs.

For the first time since 2004, Colorado State might start a freshman quarterback. Only one quarterback on this year's roster returns with starting experience and that is Jon Eastman. The Rams return 92 percent of their rushing yards from last year, including their top two rushers. Despite playing in only 10 games and not starting, Leonard Mason led the team with 766 yards in 2009. He also had two touchdowns. Last year's primary starter, John Mosure also returns after rushing for 650 yards and seven touchdowns. They will be pushed by sophomore Lou Greenwood or junior Raymond Carter, a transfer from UCLA.

Wide receiver will also be a position of question as they lose both their starters and lose 1,227 yards and four touchdowns. Among the group of receivers who are returning, they have a combined 27 catches, led by walk-on Tyson Liggett's 20. Liggett caught 17 passes for 253 yards and three touchdowns. Byron Steele looks to be the starter outside of Liggett, but he will be pushed by younger members of the team such as Vernon Scott or Marquise Law.

Defense - Unlike the offense, the defense returns nine starters and looks to be the stronger unit on the team.

The linebacker spot brings back three of the top five tacklers from last season, including top gun Mychal Sisson, who is coming off of a second-team all-conference season. Sisson had 91 tackles, 15.5 tackles for loss and six sacks last season. His six sacks were a team-high. Chris Gipson had quite an impressive redshirt freshman season, finishing with 56 tackles, four tackles for loss and three sacks. Alex Williams looks to overcome injuries to both knees as he returns to take his middle linebacker spot. In only nine games, he pitched in with 55 tackles and three and a half tackles for loss.

While the secondary might be young, they are anything but inexperienced. Many of the younger players got major playing time due to injuries. An upperclassman who returns for his junior season, Elijah-Blu Smith, finished second on the team in tackles with 74, His three interceptions were also second on the team. Two players who saw major playing time, junior safety Ivory Herd and senior DeAngelo Wilkinson, return for their first chance to win the starting job. Momo Thomas returns opposite Wilkinson after coming up with 43 tackles and an interception.

The defensive line also comes back with tons of experience. End Cory Macon and tackle Guy Miller return to their starting spots. Miller stopped 39 opponents last year, including six and a half tackles for loss and two sacks. Macon had 35 tackles, five tackles for loss and two and a half sacks.

Recruiting - Colorado State raided Florida for a good number of their top recruits. Possibly their top recruit, Pete Thomas, comes from California as a rivals.com and scout.com four-star quarterback. As a senior he threw for 2,392 yards and 24 touchdowns. He will push for early playing time after enrolling early and taking part in spring practice.

Eric Niederberger comes in as one of the top defensive recruits after an impressive career in California. He played a little bit of everything but had a nice stat line as a senior linebacker. He finished the 2009 season with 107 tackles, nine sacks two forced fumbles and an interception for a touchdown. He was named the Delta Valley Conference Defensive Player of the Year as a senior.

Schedule - The team starts the season with three games away from home. The annual rivalry game against Colorado is in Denver, while back-to-back games against Nevada and Miami (Ohio) are at the respective schools home fields. The teams' first home game is against another WAC team, Idaho. Then the team jumps right into conference play against possibly their toughest opponent of the year, TCU. Luckily for the Rams, they get the Horned Frogs at home. Including the game against TCU, the team does not play consecutive games on the road or home for the rest of the season.