Colorado State University Athletics
Colorado State Postgame notes
9/4/2010 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 4, 2010
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TEAM NOTES
One game: Head Coach Steve Fairchild said entering this week that one game does not define a season. And if his first two season openers are any indication, fans should be optimistic. After the teams’ last meeting in Denver, Aug. 31, 2008, CSU rebounded from a 38-17 loss to earn a berth in a bowl game. Last season, CSU registered a 23-17 triumph in Boulder, but wound up the year 3-9.
- In fact, the Rams opened their last three bowl seasons (2003, 2005 and 2008) with a loss in their opener. They also lost the opener in 2001 before rallying to go to a bowl.
Penalties: CSU’s primary goals entering the contest were simple, avoid penalties and turnovers. While the Rams did throw three interceptions, they also committed just two penalties, something impressive considering 13 freshmen were on the field for the first time.
- CSU’s two penalties were the fewest by the Rams in a game during the Steve Fairchild era, and fewest since Nov. 11, 2006, at Utah, where the Rams committed just one penalty in a 35-22 loss.
True freshmen: The following seven true freshmen made their college debuts today…LB Mike Orakpo, QB Pete Thomas, LB Charles Favors, CB Shaq Bell, DE Nordly Capi, RB Tony Drake, and DE Crockett Gillmore, the most anyone can remember in one season (the SID staff will research that this week).
- Colorado State used only three true freshmen in 2009 (P Pete Kontodiakos, RB Lou Greenwood and DE C.J. James).
- The year before, five true freshmen hit the field: Ben DeLine, Marquise Law, Adam Wilson, Momo Thomas and Michael Kawulok. Thomas and Kawulok started, while DeLine had served as the primary kicker after a preseason injury to Jason Smith.
- Over the previous two years combined (2006-07), the Rams used just two, both in 2007 (tight end Eric Peitz and long-snapper Steve Bryan). In 2006, CSU and Wake Forest were the only Division I programs that did not use a true freshman.
- Over the previous three years (2005-07), the number was just five, including S Klint Kubiak, DT Shaun McGoveran and DE Wade Landers in 2005.
- The last time CSU used as many as five true freshmen in an entire season was six in 2004 -- WR Damon Morton, RB Gartrell Johnson, DE Matt Rupp, TE Kory Sperry, QB Caleb Hanie and RB Kyle Bell.
More debuts: All told, 13 freshmen played for CSU, including the following redshirt freshmen, who made their college debut: S Ezra Thompson, TE/FB Joe Brown, CB Immanuel Mitchell, OL Weston Richburg, OL Jared Biard and TE Matt Weems.
- In addition to those 13 freshmen, 16 total players made their CSU debut today, including three transfers: CB Dominique Vinson, RB Raymond Carter and LB Austin Gillmore.
Sacks by freshmen: Each of CSU’s two sacks were by true freshmen, LB Mike Orakpo and DE Crockett Gillmore.
Seven points in second half: The Rams held the Buffs to just seven points after halftime, fewest by a Rams opponent since CSU allowed Weber State only three points in the third and fourth quarters on Sept. 12, 2009, in Fort Collins.
Another first-year starter: The Rams, who started fifth-year seniors Billy Farris in 2008 and Grant Stucker in 2009, are one of only six programs in the nation that open a third consecutive season with a first-year starter. CSU joins Auburn, North Texas, Mississippi State, Buffalo and Purdue in that category. The last time a CSU passer returned to claim the starting quarterback role was Hanie in 2007, just before he signed with the Chicago Bears, where he now backs up Jay Cutler.
Honoring McGregor: The Rams displayed No. 88 decals on their helmets for the first time, a mark of respect for Keli McGregor and his lifetime contributions to the CSU football program. McGregor, who passed away unexpectedly in April, went from walk-on to All-American as a CSU tight end in the 1980s, then became president of the Colorado Rockies Baseball Club. The Rams, who will wear the decal all year, also will hold Keli McGregor Day at their Sept. 25 opener vs. Idaho. The program also began naming a scholarship after McGregor, given to a walk-on player, to preserve his legacy in perpetuity.
Three points: The Buffs held the Rams to their fewest points in a game since a 27-3 loss to Utah on Oct. 27, 2007, in Fort Collins. Prior to the CU game, the fewest points in a Steve Fairchild game were at No. 12 TCU, a 44-6 loss on Oct. 17, 2009.
- With regard to the series with Colorado, CSU’s three points were its fewest since a 31-3 loss at Folsom Field, Sept. 17, 1983.
INDIVIDUAL NOTES
Pete Thomas: According to team historian John Hirn (coloradoaggies.com, Aggies to Rams), Thomas became the program’s youngest starting quarterback since Mark Miller on Sept. 26, 1981. Thomas (18 years, 10 months, 24 days) is only four days older than Miller (18 years, 10 months, 20 days) was 29 years ago as a true freshman at West Virginia, the third game of the ’81 campaign. Colorado’s top prep quarterback in 1980, incidentally Fairchild’s senior year as the CSU signal-caller, Miller hailed from Grand Junction, Colo. He started one other game that season, the following week at Air Force.
- The youngest starting quarterback in program annals was Bob Hainlen, an 18-year-old true freshman from Trinidad, Colo. At age 18 years, nine months and 11 days, he led the Aggie-Rams to a 33-0 home triumph over Northern Colorado on Sept. 29, 1945, the team’s first game in three years due to World War II. Hainlen went on to start at quarterback in the Raisin Bowl, on Jan. 1, 1949, with Fum McGraw and Eddie Hanna, the only two players to have their numbers retired in program history.
- Hainlen and Thomas are the only two freshmen to have ever started a season opener in the rich history of the CSU football program.
- Thomas won’t be the first, or the last, true freshman to start a major college football game. The long list includes John Elway (Stanford), Peyton Manning (Tennessee), Kevin Kolb (Houston), Jamelle Holieway (Oklahoma), Chad Henne (Michigan), Jimmy Claussen (Notre Dame), Brady Quinn (Notre Dame), Terrelle Pryor (Ohio State) and Matthew Stafford (Georgia). In 2009 alone, Matt Barkley (USC), Jordan Wynn (Utah) and Tate Forcier (Michigan) joined the list.
Brewer against the Buffs: Ricky Brewer, a product of Denver’s Mullen High School, played his first game since the 2008 New Mexico Bowl, and picked up right where he left off, with a team-leading 10 tackles, one for loss.
- He played his second final game against Colorado (didn’t play as a redshirt freshman in 2007), and finished his career with 21 tackles in two CU games, both in Denver.
Other individual notes:
- Thomas began his college career with an incompletion, then completed four straight, and eight of his first 10, until the interception by Travis Sandersfeld. With three interceptions, he still completed 72.7 percent of his passes (24-of-33).
- DT Guy Miller and FB Zac Pauga have played in every game of their college careers, 38 entering the Nevada game.
- TE Eric Peitz has caught a pass in nine straight games, a streak that began Sept. 12, 2009, vs. Weber State. Rashaun Greer had a 19-game streak from 2008-09.
- LB Mychal Sisson has started 24 straight games entering the Nevada game.
- CB Momo Thomas, in the first quarter on his first return of the year, registered his longest career punt return, 24 yards. Previously, his longest punt return was 18 yards, at Colorado, Sept. 6, 2009.
- Momo Thomas had 64 return yards on the day, including a 20-yard interception return, also the longest of his career. Prior to Saturday, his longest career INT return was 16 yards, Nov. 1, 2008, vs. BYU.
