CSU Rams Gameday: Football at Nevada, Oct. 11

Oct. 10, 2014

Colorado State heads back out on the road to Reno, Nev., to take on Nevada (3-2, 1-1 MW). This will be the Rams' second conference game. CSU is coming off a dominating home victory over Tulsa last Saturday. Kickoff is set for 8:30 p.m. MT, and fans can catch all the action on CBS Sports with Ron Pitts (play-by-play) and Eric Crouch (color analyst) on the call, with Rashan Ali roaming the sidelines. This is the first season since 1994 that the Rams open their conference schedule with two road games. In '94, CSU opened WAC play at Air Force and at No. 22 BYU. The Rams were victorious in both games, and went on to a 10-2 season and were WAC champions.

LINKS: Roster | Media Guide | Schedule | Game Notes | Gameday Fan Guide

COLORADO STATE (4-1, 0-1 MW) at NEVADA (3-2, 1-1 MW)
KICKOFF: 8:30 p.m. MT
TV: CBS Sports (Ron Pitts, Eric Crouch, Rashan Ali)
RADIO: CSU Flagship: KJAC 105.5 FM | Nevada Flagship: 630 AM
LIVE STATS: Gametracker
TWITTER: @CSUFootball | @CSURamsGameday | @CoachMcElwain | #CSURams  #TheClimb

NOTES IN 140

#TEAM

CSU finished non-conference play undefeated (4-0) for the first time since 1994
CSU has won 4 of their last 6 true road games dating back to last season, the most successful road stretch since winning 5 of 6 during the 2002-03 season
Including neutral site games, CSU has won 6 of its last 8 games outside Fort Collins
The Rams are 10-3 in their last 13 games as a program, and started 4-1 this year for the first time since 2006
This is the most successful 13-game stretch for the CSU program since the 2002 team began the season 10-3
The Rams are 11-4 (.733) dating back to 9/28/13 which is the fifth-best record among all non-Power 5/independent teams
At Hughes Stadium the Rams have won four consecutive games and nine of their last 11, dating back to the 2012 season
In 2014, the Rams are outscoring their opponents 69-21 in the fourth quarter, while outgaining them 734-462
CSU's 48-point differential in the fourth quarter (69-21) is the highest in the @MountainWest and fourth-best nationally
The Rams have rattled off three consecutive wins (Washington St., 2013; CU, 2014; Boston College, 2014) over teams from the Power 5 conferences
CSU is 1 of only 4 teams from the non-Power 5 conferences that has at least 1 win over a team from the Power 5 conferences in each of the past three seasons (BYU (9)UL-Monroe, N. Illinois).
BYU leads the nation with a victory over a Power 5 opponent in each of the last nine seasons
In his career, @CoachMcElwain is 4-2 against teams from Power 5 conference (wins - Colorado (2), Washington State and Boston College)
.@CoachMcElwain has a winning record (16-15) for the first time since he defeated CU to open his head coaching career in 2012
Under off. coord. @CoachBaldwinTD, the Rams have eclipsed 500 yds. of total offense 11 times & scored at least 40 points in 8 games
The Rams' 31 points vs. Colorado (8/29) were the most scored in a season-opener by CSU since 2003, when they scored 35 points in a loss to the Buffs
Dee Hart and Jared Roberts became the 68th and 69th Rams to earn MW Player of the Week honors in week one
The Rams are looking to record back-to-back winning seasons for the first time since 2002-03, when CSU went 10-2 and 7-6, respectively
Rams recorded 23 rushing attempts at Boise State (9/6), the fewest in @CoachMcElwain's three seasons at CSU. The previous low was 24 at San Jose State on Sept. 15, 2012

#OFFENSE

Senior OL Ty Sambrailo has graded out above 90% and recorded 8 knockdown blocks since returning from injury at Boston College (9/27)
Senior QB Garrett Grayson is the first CSU QB to toss back-to-back 400-yard games (at Boise St., vs. UC Davis) since Terry Nugent in 1983
Grayson has thrown 45 touchdowns in his career, a number that ranks as the 2nd-most all-time at Colorado State
Grayson has upped his career passing total to 6,681 yds, which is the fourth-most all time at CSU
Before Grayson's career-best 434 passing yards at Boise State, the last CSU QB to accomplish this feat was Justin Holland (419) vs. Wyoming in 2005
The win over Colorado was the 10th of Grayson's career. The first CSU QB to register double digit victories since BVP, and now has 13
Grayson has four fourth-quarter comebacks in his career, tied for the 6th-most among active FBS quarterbacks
On third down this season Grayson has completed 29-of-44 (66%) passes for 432 yards and picked up 25 first downs
WRs Rashard Higgins and Joe Hansley both had 100-yd receiving days at Boise State, the first time since 2005 the Rams have accomplished this feat
Higgins became CSU's quickest receiver to record 100 receptions (19 career games) in CSU's 42-17 win over Tulsa (10/4)
His 14 career receiving touchdowns rank as the ninth-most in school history
Through the first 5 gms, Higgins has 8 receiving TDS, which is the 2nd-most nationally, but also ties for the 6th-most in a single season at CSU
Higgins is averaging 5.3 catches, 141.5 yards and 1.7 touchdowns per game in his last four contests (33-566-7)
Against Tulsa (10/4), Higgins scored four receiving touchdowns, which are tied for the most touchdowns in a single game among all FBS pass-catchers
Higgins became only the 9th CSU wide receiver to record back-to-back 100-yard receiving game (at Boise St., vs. UC Davis), and the first since David Anderson in 2005
Dee Hart tied Ron Harris (9/14/74) for the most rushing yards (139) by a CSU running back in his debut vs. CU (8/29)
Hart's 139 rushing yards were the most by a Rams RB in a season-opener since Cecil Sapp's 178 at Virginia (8/22/02)
In CSU's season opener the Rams had two rushers gain at least 100 yards in the same game for the first time since 2002
CSU had two 100-yard rushers in game one, and two 100-yard receivers in games two and three
For the first time in program history, CSU had back-to-back games with two receivers recording 100-yard receiving games (Higgins, Hansley at Boise St.; Higgins, Masters Jr. vs. UC Davis)
WR Charles Lovett has a catch in 26 straight games in which he has played. Lovett's last game without a catch was Nov. 19, 2011 at TCU

#DEFENSE

Junior defensive lineman Joe Kawulok recorded 3.5 sacks vs. Tulsa (10.4), tying for the 4th-most in a single game by a CSU defender
Boston College boasted the nation's No. 4 rank for rushing differential entering Sept. 27, at 238 yards/gm, but managed just a 77-yd margin vs. CSU, 161 below its average
In 2nd half at BC (9/27), CSU held Eagles to just 27 plays & 133 yds after 40-275 in 1st half. 4th quarter BC gained just 61 yards, CSU 141
In the second half of the Sept. 27 win at Boston College, CSU outgained BC 279-133 & held possession 17:58 to 12:02
.@CSUFootball returns three starting linebackers from 2013, who combined for 314 tackles, the third-most among FBS teams
Junior linebacker Cory James registered a sack late in the game at BC (9/27), and is now No. 10 in career sacks among CSU defenders with 17.5
James ranks fifth among all active FBS defenders averaging .58 sacks per game
In terms of career sacks, James ranks 8th among FBS defenders with 17.5 sacks
Senior linebacker Aaron Davis was named to the Butkus Award watch list, the first Ram named to the list since Rick Crowell in 2000
After allowing 24 plays & 152 yds. (6.3) in the 1st qtr vs. CU, the Rams allowed just 49 for 223 yds (4.6) in qtrs. 2-4
Linebacker Bryan Ohene-Gyeni registered his first career sack Sept. 6 at Boise State
The Rams have only allowed 21 points and 462 total yards in the fourth quarter through the first five games of 2014

#SPECIALTEAMS

Lou Groza Award candidate Jared Roberts ranks 10th among active FBS kickers with a .846 career field goal percentage
Roberts connected on a 52-yard field goal vs. Colorado, tied for the second-longest in his career and tied for the longest among all FBS kickers in week 1
Roberts is CSU's second on CSUs career field goal percentage after connecting on 33-of-39 (.846) field goals
Roberts has connected on 86 consecutive extra points, which ties a school and @MountainWest record (Jason Smith - 86)
Roberts was named @MountainWest Special Teams Player of the Week for the fourth time in his career, after connecting on a 52-yarder vs. Colorado
Freshman Deionte Gaines ranks first in the @MountainWest, and 15th nationally, with a 26.7 kickoff return average

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