Colorado State University Athletics
Colorado State
TCU
Football recap: Rams fall to No. 5 TCU, 27-0
10/2/2010 12:00:00 AM | Football
Oct. 2, 2010
Final Stats | Quotes | Notes | Photo Gallery 1 
| Photo Gallery 2
By Zach Balside
Athletic Media Relations
FORT COLLINS, Colo. – The CSU Rams (1-4, 0-1 Mountain West Conference) lost 27-0 on Saturday afternoon to No. 5 TCU (5-0, 1-0 MWC), behind 346 Horned Frog rushing yards, at Sonny Lubick Field at Hughes Stadium.
The game marked the first time since Oct. 21, 2006, at Wyoming that the Rams were held scoreless, and the first time at home since losing to Air Force 24-0 on Sept. 20, 1997, breaking a streak of 68 consecutive home games in which the Rams had scored at Hughes Stadium.
At halftime, the Rams found themselves within reach of an upset of the fifth-ranked Horned Frogs, as they only trailed 6-0. CSU held TCU’s quarterback Andy Dalton, who was named Preseason MWC Offensive Player of the Year, to just 50 yards passing in the first half, and TCU failed to score a touchdown in the first 30 minutes for the first time this season. The Rams also held TCU, which came into the game with the nation’s No. 23 offense, to just 164 total yards in the half.
“I thought our football team stood in there and played well in the first half, particularly keeping them out of the end zone,” Head Coach Steve Fairchild said. “We were just inept offensively with three-and-outs.”
Horned Frogs head coach Gary Patterson, last season’s National Coach of the Year, was also impressed with what the Rams defense was able to do in the first half.
“You’ve got to give a lot of credit to Colorado State’s defense,” Patterson said. “I thought they played hard. They did some things scheme-wise that really bothered us in the first half.”
The crowd was noticeably appreciative of the effort that the Rams defense put out in the first half, as CSU left the field to a standing ovation.
“That was a moment of excitement,” senior linebacker Ricky Brewer, who led the Rams with nine tackles in the game, said. “Running off that field, Hughes Stadium was loud and pumping, and a big contributor in the first half was that we had the student section behind us and that all comes with making plays.”
CSU’s offense could not get things going early to put pressure on TCU, having collected only 51 total yards and two first downs by halftime.
TCU started to dispel the Rams’ upset hopes with the first touchdown of the game, an 8-yard run by running back Ed Wesley early in the third quarter, to make the score 13-0. The touchdown came after the Horned Frogs moved the ball 80 yards in less than 3 minutes to start the second half.
Two more touchdowns in the second half by TCU finished the scoring for the game; the first on a Wesley 3-yard touchdown run, and the second on a 39-yard pass from Dalton to receiver Jimmy Young. The touchdown pass gave Dalton the TCU career passing touchdown record with 50.
In the fourth quarter, the Rams were putting an impressive drive together that started at their own 9-yard line. CSU collected five first downs behind several completions by Pete Thomas and strong plays by freshman running back Chris Nwoke. The Rams drove all the way to the TCU 26-yard line, before a Nwoke fumble was recovered by TCU.
The Rams did not find the same success rushing the ball as they did against Idaho last week, when Raymond Carter collected 104 yards on the ground. CSU tallied just 45 yards on the ground as a team, partly due to Carter leaving the game during the first quarter with a knee injury.
Freshman quarterback Pete Thomas finished the afternoon with 116 yards passing on 17 completions out of 29 attempts, leaving him just 8 yards shy of CSU’s all-time freshman passing record.
At No. 5, TCU tied for the highest-ranked team to ever play at Hughes Stadium. Colorado was also ranked fifth when it visited Fort Collins on Sept. 7, 1996.
In association with the school’s annual campus food drive, Cans Around the Oval, Steve Fairchild and his wife Nancy pledged to donate 10 cents for every person in attendance at Saturday’s game. Their total donation ended up being $2,255, which will go to the Food Bank of Larimer County.
Next on tap for CSU is an in-state road contest Saturday against rival Air Force in Colorado Springs. The game will be televised on The Mtn. at 12 p.m. MT.
