Game notes: Rams open home slate with Bears

Sept. 5, 2011

This week’s notable storylines…

CSU and reigning MW Defensive Player of the Week Nordly Capi, who broke the NCAA single-game record with four forced fumbles Saturday, begin their home slate.
The schools renew a rivalry that has been dormant for 25 years. Ronald Reagan was President, the Challenger and Chernobyl tragedies occurred, Top Gun and Aliens were box-office hits, Madonna released Papa Don’t Preach and gas was 89 cents per gallon in 1986, when CSU last met the Bears, a 46-14 Rams win at Hughes Stadium.
It’s the 30th annual Ag Day celebration, and the team will wear pumpkin and alfalfa throwback uniforms to mark the occasion. Ag Day began in 1982 when then-Athletic Director Fum McGraw -- an NFL veteran and College Football Hall of Famer -- won the cow-milking contest.
CSU has won three straight and five of its last six home openers.
The Rams’ 16-0-1 record (.971) is its best against any opponent in the nation.
Pete Thomas could become the first sophomore in program annals to reach the 3,000-yard passing milestone.
Mychal Sisson, who leads the nation with 40 career tackles for loss, could crack CSU’s top 10 in all-time tackles.
Austin and Crockett Gillmore could become the first CSU brothers to start the same game since Erik and Morgan Pears in the ‘02 Liberty Bowl.

The setting...
Date: Saturday, Sept. 10
Kickoff: 12:06 p.m. MDT
Location: Fort Collins, Colo.
Site: Sonny Lubick Field at Hughes Stadium
Capacity/Surface: 32,500/FieldTurf
Series: CSU leads, 16-0-1

Broadcast information
Television — The Mtn.
 DirecTV: Ch. 616
 DirecTV: Ch. 616-1 (HD)
 Comcast Digital
  Cable: Ch. 411
 Comcast HD: Ch. 948
 DISH Network: Unavailable
Play-by-play: Bill Doleman
Color Analyst: Todd Christiansen
Sideline Reporter: Darius Walker
Producer: Gavin Bodell

Colorado State Sports Network
 Flagship station: KLZ, 560-AM, Denver
 Internet: CSURams.com/allaccess
Voice of the Rams: Brian Roth
Color Analyst: Kevin McGlue
Engineer: Bob Greenfield

Capi’s NCAA record paves road for honor: Nordly Capi wrote his name in the NCAA record book Saturday, and on Monday morning, the Mountain West announced that he is the season’s first conference Defensive Player of the Week.

A 6-foot-3, 248-pound sophomore from Ocoee, Fla., Capi had four forced fumbles, more than any player ever in a college football game, helping the Rams earn a conference road victory at New Mexico Saturday.
The record, established on the road in one of only three conference games across the country this weekend, wasn’t enough to earn Capi the national Walter Camp Defensive Player of the Week, as the organization instead chose Michigan LB Brandon Herron. Herron was the first player in Wolverines history to post two defensive scores, in a 34-10, weather-shortened game at home against Western Michigan.
Previously, 10 players had recorded three forced fumbles in a game, according to the NCAA Records Book (which is missing TCU’s Alex Ibiyole, who had a then MW-record three forced fumbles against Tennessee Tech last year). Others with three in a game: DeLawrence Grant, Oregon St. vs. San Diego St., Sept. 23, 2000; Antwan Peek, Cincinnati vs. La.-Monroe, Dec. 1, 2001; Mason Unck, Arizona St. vs. Stanford, Sept. 28, 2002; Quintin Mikell, Boise St. vs. Hawaii, Oct. 5, 2002; Grant Wiley, West Virginia vs. Cincinnati, Sept. 13, 2003; Derrick Johnson, Texas vs. North Texas, Sept. 4, 2004; Ramel Meekins, Rutgers vs. Navy, Oct. 14, 2006; Cody Grimm, Virginia Tech vs. North Carolina St., Nov. 21, 2009; and Armond Staten, Central Mich. vs. Western Mich., Nov. 5, 2010.
Capi’s 4½ tackles for loss tied for fourth-most in a single game in MW history. His 3½ sacks ranked fourth in Rams annals, behind the four of longtime NFL players Mike Bell (Nov. 19, 1977) and Brady Smith (Sept. 30, 1995), and the 4½ of Guy Miller, the most recent CSU Player of the Week, Oct. 16, 2010.
Replacing Broderick Sargent, who left with a knee injury in the first quarter, Capi wreaked havoc on the New Mexico offensive line and quarterback Tarean Austin. His motor didn’t stop until the last defensive snap, when he not only forced his record-breaking fourth fumble, but also recovered the loose ball at the CSU 18-yard line with nine seconds left. That play extinguished the Lobos’ final threat and preserved the Rams’ first road victory since Sept. 6, 2009.
He shared MW weekly honors with Boise State’s Kellen Moore (offense) and TCU kick returner Greg McCoy (special teams).
Miller in 2010 was the first CSU individual to claim the MW’s weekly defensive honor since Robert Herbert on Oct. 31, 2005. The last time the Rams secured more than one Defensive Player of the Week honor less than a year apart was the 2002 season, when they captured four such awards: Adam Wade (twice), David Vickers and Benny Mastropaolo. CSU that season won the conference and finished 10-4.
Capi, an undeclared major, played last season as a true freshman. His unique first name translates to mean strength.
A pillar in the Rams’ community service initiative, which requires every player to extend time in the Northern Colorado community three times annually, he helped orchestrate Math Night at Fort Collins' Bauder Elementary, working with youngsters to help them learn math. Prior to 2011 fall practice, he interacted with teenagers at the Boys and Girls Club in Loveland, Colo. The Rams are believed to lead the nation in community appearances, combining for more than 345 each season, with 115 players making at least three.
Capi is contemplating a career as a firefighter after his playing career

30th annual Ag Day: Ag Day, a CSU trademark event that celebrates the state's agricultural industry and the bounty of food it provides, began as a small beef barbecue launched by legend Thurman "Fum" McGraw.

The event, marking its 30th anniversary on Saturday, has grown dramatically through the years and now annually draws some 3,500 people for a football-day feast of Colorado-grown food. Ag Day showcases many commodities that have blossomed in Colorado with knowledge gained from CSU research.
Even more, Ag Day proceeds provide critical funding for scholarships granted to deserving students in the College of Agricultural Sciences. Each year, the event typically funds between 12 and 15 student scholarships amounting to $2,000 each, said Dennis Lamm, event coordinator.
In just one sign of Ag Day’s stature, Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper has proclaimed Saturday “CSU Ag Day” in the state of Colorado. The official proclamation reads, in part, “CSU and its partners continue to help ensure a positive future for Colorado’s agricultural industry – an industry that plays a vital role in our state’s economy.”
On its 30th celebration, Ag Day is scheduled 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Saturday, and precedes the home-opener. The event will offer a bountiful meal and a variety of entertainment and activities, including a brief program that includes Colorado Commissioner of Agriculture John Salazar and recognizes people who have contributed to Ag Day’s success through the years.
First among those contributors is “Fum” McGraw, a CSU football legend who also served as athletics director from 1976-86. He started a football festivity called “Beef Day” in the 1970s.
At the suggestion of animal sciences professor John Matsushima, a pioneering beef nutritionist who is now retired, McGraw asked the Colorado Cattle Feeders Association to donate a steer for a pregame barbecue. Soon, McGraw and his crew were roasting beef in an underground pit for Ram boosters and ag supporters.
“He would think it’s wonderful to see how it’s grown. He’d be tickled pink – no, he’d be tickled green and gold,” Beryl "Brownie" McGraw recently said of her late husband. She was a longtime Ag Day volunteer herself and recalled serving beef alongside the Larimer County Cowbelles, now the Larimer County Cattlewomen.
Cow-milking contests were among the activities during the event’s early years, and Fum McGraw typically won. “The ag people didn’t realize that the athletics director was also a rancher,” Brownie McGraw said with a laugh.
Ag Day debuted in 1982 with 10 commodity groups. About 300 Rams fans and aggies perched on straw bales at under the Aggie “A” at Hughes Stadium to enjoy the Colorado-grown fare. The event supplied one scholarship.
Fast-forward three decades, and 20 commodity groups serve the Ag Day feast of fresh, Colorado-grown food. Beef remains on the menu – joined by lamb, pork, beans, potatoes, onions, wheat and dairy products, green salad, watermelon, and more.
The event has provided significant scholarship support. Since 2000 alone, Ag Day has funded more than 125 scholarships totaling more than $225,000 for agricultural students, records show.
The event maintains its aggie appeal: Fans still sit on straw bales, and it’s still a day of food, football and fun.
Saturday is an “orange out,” meaning the Rams and their fans will wear throwback Aggie colors of pumpkin orange and alfalfa green.
Country-western band Bob Purcell & The Outriders will perform at Ag Day; Trent Loos, a Nebraska-based radio personality who broadcasts a program called “Rural Route,” will be emcee.
Fans can buy tickets online at www.csuagday.com. Cost for online purchases is $15 for meal only, or $35.50 for meal and ticket to the football game, with seating in the Hughes Stadium north end zone.
For additional ticket options to the football game, call the CSU ticket office at 491-RAMS or 800/491-RAMS (7267).
For more information about Ag Day, call 970/491-6497.

Pumpkin & alfalfa: CSU will pay tribute to its history Saturday, wearing orange jerseys. The athletic department is encouraging everyone in attendance to also wear the color and “orange out” the stadium.

According to team historian John Hirn (Aggies to Rams, coloradoaggies.com), orange was chosen as the school's secondary color prior to the Jan. 7, 1893, game against Longmont Academy.
The players and fans chose green for alfalfa and orange for pumpkin (or squash) and wore a green and orange ribbon on their uniforms during the winter of 1893 games.
Green and orange remained the official school colors until 1909, when school president Charles A. Lory changed them to green and gold.
However, the color orange continued to represent gold in various publications, along with athletic uniforms, until the late 1950s. Yellow was also used to represent gold along with a hybrid of both yellow and orange to represent gold in the school colors.
In 1940, the Colorado Aggies football team took the field in the first-ever orange jerseys. Combined with the orange pants, the team received the nickname of "Orange-clad Aggies" from students and media. The squad continued to wear the all-orange uniforms during various games in 1940, 1941 and 1942, and last wore an orange jersey in 1945 (until unveiling the newest orange threads in 2010).
The team continued to wear orange pants as a uniform option through the 1958 season.

Home openers: Recently dominant in Hughes Stadium openers, the Rams currently have won three straight and five of their last six.

Dating to Sonny Lubick’s second year as head coach, 1994, when the Rams won their home opener en route to a 10-2 finish and a berth in the Holiday Bowl vs Michigan, CSU has won 15 of its last 17 home openers.
Those two losses, though, were to respective ranked Pac-10 and Big Ten opponents.
Year Result Opponent Opponent went on to:
2007 L, 34-28...No. 10 Cal...Armed Forces Bowl
2004 L, 39-14...No. 22 Minnesota...Music City Bowl

Best record against one team: UNC took a halftime lead into the locker room the last time these teams met, a quarter century ago. But behind Steve Bartalo, the Rams stormed back in the third quarter en route to a 46-14 win. UNC is the only opponent in the nation to whom the Rams have never lost while playing at least nine games. Top series winning percentages in CSU history:
Northern Colorado (16 0 1 .971)
New Mexico State (8 1 0 .889)
Nevada (9 2 0 .818)
UTEP (24 9 0 .727)
UNLV (13 5 1 .711)
Pacific (7 3 0 .700)
Montana (10 6 0 .625)
Colorado Mines (27 16 2 .622)
New Mexico (34 25 0 .576)
Wyoming (54 42 5 .559)
Utah State (35 30 2 .537)

Fairchild in home debuts: In his 11 combined years as a CSU assistant (1993-2000) and head coach (2008-10) entering this year, the Rams are 10-1 in Fort Collins openers with Steve Fairchild on their staff. The Rams’ only loss during that span was the first game of the Sonny Lubick era, Fairchild’s first home contest as a Rams assistant, a 23-9 setback to the Oregon Ducks, in 1993. Fairchild has won 10 straight as a CSU coach.

Thomas eyes milestone: CSU quarterback Pete Thomas needs just 160 passing yards to become the first sophomore in program history to reach 3,000. The feat is remarkable considering none of the great passers that came before him  — including first-round draft choice Kelly Stouffer,  conference Players of the Year Matt Newton, Bradlee Van Pelt and Moses Moreno, and CSU Hall of Famer Anthoney Hill, none reached that landmark prior to their junior years.

300 and counting for Sisson: Mychal Sisson reached 40 career tackles for loss Saturday, padding his lead among active national players. He also became just the 14th player in program annals to reach the 300-tackle milestone. At 302, he’s now tied with No. 13 Dale Carr (1982-86) on CSU’s all-time list and could crack the all-time top 10 this week.

Willie Taylor 433 ...1995-98
Jeff Harper 423 ...1980-83
Ron Cortell 402 ...1985-88
Nate Kvamme 385 ...1995-98
Rick Crowell 370 ...1996-00
Brian Schneider 339 ...1990-93
Kevin McLain 336 ...1974-75
Gary Thompson 321 ...1985-89
Eric Tippeconnic 317 ...1987-90
Jeff Horinek 312 ...2005-08
Erik Olson 311 ...1996-99
Steve Krum 304 ...1974-76
Dale Carr 302 ...1982-86
Mychal Sisson 302 ...2008-11

Fun with dates: Some people spend way too much time with things that don’t matter in the long run. So, the CSU sports information office spent only four minutes on this note: Saturday, 9/10/11, is the first time in the school’s rich football history that a game will be played on a month, date and year in sequence. The closest the team has ever come to a similar date is a win over CU on Oct. 12, 1912, and a win over Utah State on Nov. 11, 1913.

2-0 starts: The Rams have an opportunity to start a season 2-0 for only the third time in the last nine years (also 2006 and 2009). CSU’s last six 2-0 starts:

Year Finish Notes
2009 3-9 Lost last nine
2006 4-8 lost last seven
2002 10-4 MW champs, Liberty Bowl
2000 10-2 MW champs, Liberty Bowl
1999 8-4 MW champs, Liberty Bowl
1994 10-2 WAC champs, Holiday Bowl

Interception drought: Over an active 19-game stretch, CSU has only six interceptions. The Rams have picked off their opponent in only four games during the streak, which began at TCU Oct. 17, 2009. During the same stretch, the Rams have recovered 15 opponent fumbles.

Non-conference: The Rams have won five of their last nine and seven of their last 12 non-conference games. They’re 7-6 overall under Head Coach Steve Fairchild in games outside the Mountain West.

That record includes four impressive wins, the 2009 landmark win at Colorado, a 2008 triumph over fledgling Heisman candidate Case Keenum and the Houston Cougars, a 2009 win over Nevada and the 2008 New Mexico Bowl, a victory over Fresno State.

First-year opponent coaches: The Rams on Saturday meet their first of three teams on the 2011 schedule with a coach in his first year at the reins of a program.

This week, they host Earnest Collins Jr., who replaced Scott Downing at the helm of the UNC Bears.
Then, they’ll do it again on Sept. 17, when they face CU’s Jon Embree, who replaced Dan Hawkins, in Denver.
The last of the trio of games is against veteran Rocky Long, who replaced Brady Hoke as the San Diego State leader.

Congratulations: The CSU athletic department would like to congratulate Kevin McGlue and his wife, Jenny, on the birth of their first child. Ella Grace McGlue was born Aug. 26. Kevin is the color analyst on the CSU Radio Network.

The big 3-0: The Rams are 8-1 under Steve Fairchild when scoring 30-or-more points, their only loss a 45-42 shootout at home against No. 17 BYU on Nov. 1, 2008.

First drive is critical: In five of the last six games in which the Rams have pierced the end zone on their game-opening drive, CSU has parlayed that score into an eventual victory. The only loss in that stretch was at New Mexico, Nov. 21, 2009.

Overall, the Rams are 6-4 under Fairchild when scoring a TD on their game-opening drive (wins vs. Houston and Fresno State in 2008, at CU and vs. Weber State in 2009, and vs. UNLV and UNM in 2010; losses vs. TCU, at Utah and at Air Force in 2008, loss at UNM in 2009).
In each of the Rams’ three wins last season, they had at least 14 points headed into the locker room. When scoring less than 14 points in the first two quarters last year, CSU was 0-9.

Halftime lead: CSU under Steve Fairchild is 8-2 with a scoreboard advantage heading into the locker room. The Rams are 4-1 in such games within their conference. Overall, they’ve won three straight, all in 2010.

Turnover ratio: The Rams won the turnover battle in their opener at New Mexico. They were 3-2 last season when winning or tying the giveaway-takeaway margin. They were even in a loss at Air Force (Oct. 9) and in home wins vs. Idaho (Sept. 25) and New Mexico (Oct. 30). They were plus-2 in a win over UNLV (Oct. 16) and plus-4 in a tough loss at bowl-bound San Diego State (Nov. 6).

Brotherly love, from coaches: Coaches moved Austin Gillmore from linebacker to fullback on Aug. 18. Nine days later, Head Coach Steve Fairchild dubbed Gillmore No. 1 on the depth chart entering opening week.

Gillmore’s family is used to such moves. His younger brother Crockett, signed in Februrary 2010 as a tight end, shifted to defensive end shortly before his college debut in last season’s opener. Then, nine days before the 2011 CSU spring game, coaches moved him back to tight end. He’s been the starter at tight end ever since his first snap during that April practice, a reception from Pete Thomas.
CSU, which has multiple offensive looks, opted to go with a three-wide formation on the first snap at New Mexico, so Austin didn’t start. Should the Gillmores appear in the lineup Saturday, they’ll form the first pair of CSU brothers to start the same game since Erik and Morgan Pears took up two-fifths of the Rams’ offensive line in the Liberty Bowl vs. TCU, Dec. 31, 2002.
One year earlier, twins Justin and Jason Gallimore helped lead the Rams to the New Orleans bowls as fixtures in the starting defensive secondary.

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