Dentist appointments are less painful than watching CSU last fall, when the Rams and their non-offense never experienced the heady nectar of scoring 20 points. The Rams couldn't protect QB Clay Millen (59 sacks). Passes, then, were mostly short. All of those sacks and short completions, however, simply kept the clock moving in CSU games and contributed to a nation's-best Under mark of 11-1. Jake Dickert's blitz-happy WSU defense ought to have Millen in dink-and-dunk mode again. The Cougars offense also was apt to work downfield slowly last fall. The clock moves in Fort Collins, and this one likely stays beneath 56 points in what could be a preview of a future Mountain West matchup.

All of our books have this at 55.5 except FanDuel, so I'll take this now in case it falls in line with the others. Wazzu probably has little trouble scoring around 35 points but I'm not sure Colorado State gets the 22 or so needed to push this Over. The Rams were Roseanne/Carl Lewis national anthem horrifying on offense last year, averaging 13.2 ppg and not reaching 20 in any game, and I'm not sure much has improved. The CSU defense wasn't too bad. The SL Model has 45 points being scored.

Jay Norvell took over a bad situation in 2022 after Steve Addazio's exit, and CSU's season got off to a brutal start with blowout losses at the hands of Michigan, Washington State and FCS Sacramento State. But things improved on conference play started, and the Rams went 3-5 vs. MW opponents. I think returning production helps Norvell carry over last year's late-season improvement and the Wazzu will find a far better team on Saturday than the one they faced last September.