SAN ANGELO, TX — The Angelo State Rams’ home debut Saturday suddenly feels like a must-win game.
ASU, which began the season ranked No. 24 in the nation, lost a pair of road games to start the year at Fort Hays State (21-7) and Emporia State (17-12).
Both of those were nonconference games, so the Rams’ ultimate goals of winning a Lone Star Conference title and making the playoffs remain intact.
They’ve left little margin for error, however, and beginning LSC play with a win over Eastern New Mexico will be critical to save this season.
The game is set for 6 p.m. Saturday at LeGrand Stadium at 1st Community Credit Union Field.
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“Hopefully the guys understand the urgency of it,” ASU head coach Jeff Girsch said. “We don’t want to be 0-2 right now, but we are and that’s the reality of it. We start conference play this week, and we can get it turned around in conference. At the end of the day, you want to win them all. But our No. 1 goal of winning a Lone Star Conference championship is still in front of us.
“I also think what’s encouraging is we played two really good football teams. We tested ourselves to see where we’re at. … If we go play someone not the caliber of those teams and beat up on them, we don’t see the issues we need to work on right now.”
ASU had a top 10 defense in the country last year, and the Rams have largely taken care of business on that side of the ball.
It’s been a different story on offense, where the Rams have managed only one touchdown in two games.
After being held to 207 yards of offense in the season opener, ASU had 368 yards last week but couldn’t break through for a TD.
The Rams converted only 1 of 20 third-down attempts.
Bradley Larson was 4 for 4 on field-goal attempts, knocking through kicks of 26, 27, 20 and 34 yards.
“We moved the ball up and down the field. We just didn’t score,” Girsch said. “Brad did a great job of kicking the football. I’m proud of him for knocking those through when we called on him. That operation did a great job with the snap, the hold, the kick and the blocking up front.”
The Rams had 239 yards on the ground, led by freshman QB Kaeden Smith with 94 yards and senior running back Brayden Wilcox with 87 yards.
ASU struggled through the air, however, as Smith and sophomore Braeden Fuller combined to complete 13 of 43 passes for 129 yards.
Fuller saw the most action in the passing game and was 11 of 30 for 118 yards.
Girsch said Fuller is making strides, even if the numbers weren’t reflected in the final stats.
“I thought he did a really good job of continuing his progression of being a really good quarterback, because he is. He’s talented and we want to utilize his skill set,” Girsch said. “There are things we obviously still want him to continue to work on, but (offensive coordinator Kevin Kilmer) is going to get him coached up and continue the progression to where we need him to be.”
The Rams’ defense limited Emporia State to 1 of 15 on third-down conversions. All-American cornerback Andrew Pitts returned after missing the first game and intercepted a pass.
Eric Rascoe, a first-team all-conference linebacker the last two years, also picked off a pass.
ASU will need a disciplined effort from its defense this week as the Rams face Eastern New Mexico’s triple option offense.
It will likely be the only time ASU sees that particular offense this year, and it can cause problems for defenses.
The Greyhounds led the LSC in rushing last year with 288 yards per game, and they’ve averaged 445.5 yards through their first two games this season.
Eastern New Mexico won its first two games against New Mexico Highlands (63-37) and Sul Ross State (36-17).
This will be the 48th meeting between the Rams and the Greyhounds with ASU holding a 28-18-1 overall record. ASU has won the last three matchups, including a 23-14 road victory last season.
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