This Week in CSU Football History -- CSU's 1977 season to remember included win over Arizona

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Nov 15

1:00 PM

Football

at New Mexico

Nov 22

6-Days

Football

at Boise State

Nov 28

1:00 PM

Football

vs Air Force

Dec 5

TBA

Football

vs Mountain West Football Championship

by John Hirn
CSU Athletics Historian

Sark Arslanian was in the midst of his fifth season as head coach of the Colorado State Rams in 1977 and they were headed down the right path. With legendary athletes like Al Baker, Mark R. Bell, Mike E. Bell, Rick Dennison and Mike Bell, all of whom would have careers in the NFL, the Rams had a 6-2 record with dreams of the Fiesta Bowl in their heads. BYU may have beat CSU earlier, but due to the WAC bowl game being played on a Sunday, which was also Christmas day, the Cougars had announced they would not attend the Fiesta Bowl.
With hopes of a bowl birth, CSU traveled to Tucson to play WAC rival Arizona with the hope of beating them for the first time in school history. This would be the last time the Rams would face Arizona as conference rivals before they and Arizona State would switch to the newly expanded PAC 10. The Rams knew they had to beat the Wildcats and were heavy underdogs on the road.

Rams senior quarterback Dan Graham led a potent offense and put together a passing attack that stunned the Wildcats from the start of the game. Graham passed for 276 yards and was 13-of-24, passing for five touchdowns on the day including a 74-yard strike to sophomore wingback Norris Jones.

The Rams defense, led this day by Cliff Featherstone who had two interceptions, caused five fumbles, recovering three from the Wildcats. Featherstone would earn WAC Defensive player of the Week honors for his efforts.

CSU went on to win 35-14 and improve their 1977 record to 7-2, the most wins achieved by a Rams team since 1966. They went on to play three more games that season, a tie to West Texas State, another upset victory this time over No. 12 Arizona State at Hughes Stadium and a narrow victory over Utah State to end the season 9-2-1. It was the first time a CSU team had won 9 games in a season since 1949.

The win over Arizona State, another great game and upset during the season seemingly put the Rams in control of the Fiesta Bowl invitation. All they needed was for the Wildcats to beat the Arizona State Sun Devils and CSU would finish second in the WAC and get the Fiesta Bowl bid. Unfortunately because CSU had two conference losses their bowl hopes rested on another team's loss and it was not meant to be when Arizona State beat up Arizona to take control of the Fiesta Bowl bid.

The 1977 Rams were sent home without a post-season, but Mike Bell was named second-team All-America thanks in part to his being awarded UPI, AP and Sports Illustrated Back of the Week following his performance in the Arizona State game. The team shattered numerous school records, both team and individual, that lasted several years in the CSU record books.

CSU would not win nine games or more in a season for another 13 years when Earle Bruce's 1990 Freedom Bowl Champion Rams stunned everyone with a 9-4 record. The 1977 CSU Football season would, however, go down as one of the finest in school history and the greatest post-WWII season in which they did not attend or were invited to a bowl game.

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