Moving the ball against a Gary Andersen defense is no easy task.

While Colorado State football coach Mike Bobo tries to figure out how to attack Andersen’s Utah State team on Saturday, the rest of us can wonder what might have been had Andersen accepted Bobo’s offer to become CSU’s defensive coordinator two years ago.

Bobo said he had “a couple conversations” with Andersen following the 2017 season, when the CSU coach was replacing his entire defensive staff following a third straight 7-6 season ending with a loss in a bowl game. Andersen, known nationally as somewhat of a defensive guru, had just been fired after three seasons as the head coach at Oregon State.

Bobo said he has “a lot of respect” for Andersen as a head coach and defensive coordinator, and marvels at what his teams have done defensively over the years.

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During his four seasons as Utah’s defensive coordinator from 2005-08, the Utes went from No. 59 nationally in total defense to No. 11. During his first stint as Utah State’s head coach, the Aggies went from No. 113 in total defense in 2009 to No. 14 in 2012. His Wisconsin teams ranked among the nation’s top 20 in every defensive category and were No. 7 in total defense in 2013 and No. 4 in 2014.

“You just look at what he did there at Utah State and the defense he built and the coordinators that came through that ran that system,” Bobo said. “All were very, very, very good coordinators, but it’s a very good defense, and it’s been effective.”

While the CSU coach didn’t say whether an actual job offer was made to Andersen, it’s clear one would have been had Andersen, who went 7-23 overall in his three seasons as Oregon State’s head coach, shown interest in coming to Fort Collins.

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Andersen, who guided Utah State to a Western Athletic Conference title in 2012 and Wisconsin to a Big Ten West Division crown in 2014, instead chose to return Utah as the assistant head coach and a defensive assistant under Kyle Whittingham.

“That’s where he played, and his wife wanted to go back there,” Bobo said.

Andersen, through a school spokesman, declined comment.

And after what Bobo said were further discussions with Andersen about other potential candidates, CSU hired John Jancek as its defensive coordinator.

Jancek, who had success as a defensive coordinator at both Cincinnati and Tennessee, hasn’t been able to fix CSU’s defense. The Rams were No. 111 among the nation’s 130 Football Bowl Subdivision schools in total defense in 2018 and are No. 106 this season. They were No. 117 in scoring defense a year ago and are No. 123 this year.

In its three games against FBS competition, all losses, the Rams (1-3) have given up an average of 514 yards and 49.3 points a game.

“We are what we are right now, and I can sit here and say, ‘Well, I thought we’d be this; I thought we’d be that,’ “ Bobo said. “We’ve got to fix what we’ve got. We’ve got to put our players in position to make plays, and then when our players are in position to make plays, they’ve got to make the play.”

Players aren’t lining up right before the snap, blowing their assignments and missing tackles.

Mistakes you don’t often see on Gary Andersen’s defenses.

“I think he does a great job of mixing four-down (linemen) and three-down, and his guys playing hard,” Bobo said. “Defensive line has always been a strong suit when you watch his teams play, and it carried over at Utah State even after he left.”

Kelly Lyell covers CSU and other local sports and sports-related news for the Coloradoan. Follow him at twitter.com/KellyLyell and facebook.com/KellyLyell.news and help support the work he and his fellow journalists do in our community by purchasing a subscription at coloradoan.com/subscribe.