(Written by kencraw)

It’s hard to get too excited about the Colorado State game, particularly after last week’s game versus Tennessee. This is not like last year where the game versus Portland State had some intrigue because we didn’t know if the Bears were going to be able to continue their rebound from the Tennessee game. Was Minnesota a fluke? Just how good a I-AA team was Portland State?

This year we get none of that. Cal stomped Tennessee and is set for a great run if it can play up to its potential. Add in that Cal has ZERO history of falling for non-conference trap games, and it’s easy to see why there’s not much talk about Colorado State.

Here’s what we know about Colorado State:

• They’ve lost 8 in a row.
• They collapsed last week versus Colorado, one of the weakest Big 12 teams ever since the scandals of a number of years back.
• Colorado State can’t fill their statium of 34k, even for Cal which is a big enough deal that they’re having some kinda parade in town.
• They play in the Mountain West and aren’t even very good in that conference

That’s about it.

OK, that’s all we know about them that makes them unenviable. We also know this:

• They seem to be a run heavy team, with 55 rush attempts and 27 pass attempts in their last game
• They have a small offensive line with only one guy over 300.
• Their defensive line isn’t so small.
• Their QB was last years starter and had a 61% completion ratio.
• And finally, They won the last meeting versus the Bears 23-21 less than a month before the Bears upset USC in 2003.

Many are predicting a big blowout for this one. Me, while I don’t think this game will ever be in doubt, I suspect that Tedford will call this game very conservatively once he builds a lead. I expect to see a lot of Montgomery in this one. I also expect to see some defensive line rotations to get the young guys some time. Generally, once this one is in the bag, which I expect to happen before halftime, we’re going to see a lot of experience building.

I also expect to see a lot of the run game, even early in the game. The passing game is so much more risky. How often do you see a running back fumble and the ball taken back for a TD? A lot less often than a interception for a TD. Tedford has always been a run first guy and I expect that to continue even if Colorado State loads the box. Until they can prove to Tedford that it’s not going to work, which I doubt they can even by loading the box, Tedford’s going to ram it down their throats.

Call it a conservative blowout: 38-13.