Colorado State University Athletics
This Week in CSU Football History -- The 2002 Showdown was more than just a spike to the Buffs
8/29/2018 9:45:00 AM | Football
by John Hirn
CSU Athletics Historian
Ask any CSU football fan and they will remember two key things about the 2002 version of the Rocky Mountain Showdown. The first thing they remember is that Bradlee Van Pelt broke loose for a 23-yard touchdown run, turned to CU defender Roderick Sneed and once he crossed the plain of the goal line, spiked the ball into Sneed's helmet. Â The score ultimately won the game for the Rams and gave them their third win in four years over the great rivals from Boulder.
Â
The other thing they remember is when Cecil Sapp, fresh from a year off after a foot injury, carried the CU defense on his back over the south goal line of Invesco Field at Mile High for the day's first touchdown. Sapp ran all over the CU defense that day scoring two touchdowns and punishing the Buff's line.
Â
Those two events during the game will always be burned into the memories of more than 70,000 people who witnessed them at the stadium and millions more watching the nationally televised game.
Â
This piece of CSU history goes beyond those two memorable plays though. The Rams had beat Virginia the week prior to the Showdown, allowing them a game of experience as they faced the #6 team in the nation. It also gave junior quarterback Bradlee Van Pelt some confidence heading into the CU game and he showed it in his interviews with the media during the week.
Â
Van Pelt made statements like "Is this a big game? It's just another football game, right?" Whether he was poking fun at CU fans and players who tried to dismiss the CSU game as just another football game, or he was himself saying every game was important, Van Pelt showed more confidence in 2002 than his nervous performance in 2001.
Â
When the Rams finally did beat the Buffs by a very close score of 19-14, it not only was the second time in two weeks they had beat a top-25 team, it was only the third time in school history they had upset a top-10 team. (1966 beating #10 Wyoming and 1994 beating #6 Arizona.) Beating CU propelled CSU from un-ranked to #19 in the nation. They remained in the top-25 polls in nine of the next 12 weeks of the season and climbing as high as #16 before an upset loss to UNLV on November 30th.
Â
The 2002 season also marked the last conference championship season for CSU football, one in which they also beat all three rival schools along the front range. That had only been done one other time (1999) since the CU rivalry was re-established in 1983 and has not been repeated since.
Bradlee Van Pelt would win the Mountain West Offensive Player of the Year Honors and rack up 2,892 yards of total offense. Cecil Sapp rushed for 1,601 yards during the season and finished his career with 2,642 yards and remains 8th all-time for career yards rushing at CSU. The Rams had 12 all-conference players and offensive lineman Morgan Pears was named to The Sporting News' 2nd team All-America.
Â
So the next time you look at the video of Van Pelt spiking that ball into Sneed's helmet, or see Cecil Sapp barrel through the CU defense carrying players on his back, think about the 2002 season as a whole; a year that will go down as one of the greatest of all time in Rams' history.
Â
CSU Athletics Historian
Ask any CSU football fan and they will remember two key things about the 2002 version of the Rocky Mountain Showdown. The first thing they remember is that Bradlee Van Pelt broke loose for a 23-yard touchdown run, turned to CU defender Roderick Sneed and once he crossed the plain of the goal line, spiked the ball into Sneed's helmet. Â The score ultimately won the game for the Rams and gave them their third win in four years over the great rivals from Boulder.
Â
The other thing they remember is when Cecil Sapp, fresh from a year off after a foot injury, carried the CU defense on his back over the south goal line of Invesco Field at Mile High for the day's first touchdown. Sapp ran all over the CU defense that day scoring two touchdowns and punishing the Buff's line.
Â
Those two events during the game will always be burned into the memories of more than 70,000 people who witnessed them at the stadium and millions more watching the nationally televised game.
Â
This piece of CSU history goes beyond those two memorable plays though. The Rams had beat Virginia the week prior to the Showdown, allowing them a game of experience as they faced the #6 team in the nation. It also gave junior quarterback Bradlee Van Pelt some confidence heading into the CU game and he showed it in his interviews with the media during the week.
Â
Van Pelt made statements like "Is this a big game? It's just another football game, right?" Whether he was poking fun at CU fans and players who tried to dismiss the CSU game as just another football game, or he was himself saying every game was important, Van Pelt showed more confidence in 2002 than his nervous performance in 2001.
Â
When the Rams finally did beat the Buffs by a very close score of 19-14, it not only was the second time in two weeks they had beat a top-25 team, it was only the third time in school history they had upset a top-10 team. (1966 beating #10 Wyoming and 1994 beating #6 Arizona.) Beating CU propelled CSU from un-ranked to #19 in the nation. They remained in the top-25 polls in nine of the next 12 weeks of the season and climbing as high as #16 before an upset loss to UNLV on November 30th.
Â
The 2002 season also marked the last conference championship season for CSU football, one in which they also beat all three rival schools along the front range. That had only been done one other time (1999) since the CU rivalry was re-established in 1983 and has not been repeated since.
Bradlee Van Pelt would win the Mountain West Offensive Player of the Year Honors and rack up 2,892 yards of total offense. Cecil Sapp rushed for 1,601 yards during the season and finished his career with 2,642 yards and remains 8th all-time for career yards rushing at CSU. The Rams had 12 all-conference players and offensive lineman Morgan Pears was named to The Sporting News' 2nd team All-America.
Â
So the next time you look at the video of Van Pelt spiking that ball into Sneed's helmet, or see Cecil Sapp barrel through the CU defense carrying players on his back, think about the 2002 season as a whole; a year that will go down as one of the greatest of all time in Rams' history.
Â
Colorado State Football: Jay Norvell Weekly Press Conference - Week 3 (2025)
Monday, September 15
Colorado State Athletics: Football Bye Week Update
Wednesday, September 10
Colorado State Football: Ellis (L) and Rogers (R) Postgame (Northern Colorado, 2025)
Saturday, September 06
Colorado State Football: Avant (L) and Fowler-Nicolosi (R) Postgame (Northern Colorado, 2025)
Saturday, September 06