Colorado State University Athletics
Saturday, October 5
Fort Collins, Colo.
8:00 PM MT
Colorado State
1-5 , 0-2
10
vs
24
San Diego State
4-1 , 1-1
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
F
San Diego State
3
7
7
7
24
Colorado State
3
0
0
7
10
Rams Fall Short on Homecoming Night
10/6/2019 12:53:00 AM | Football
FORT COLLINS, Colo. – Over the course of 12 plays, Colorado State's offense marched 96 yards.
The Rams' offense did exactly what isn't supposed to happen against San Diego State at Canvas Stadium on Saturday night – a long, sustained drive. Starting at their own 2, CSU was looking at second-and-goal from the SDSU 1. After two plays, nothing had changed, and on fourth down, instead of the yard they needed for the tying touchdown before half, the Aztecs pushed them back a yard.
Crushing.
"We put such a great drive together, and I thought we were going to have point, get a touchdown and tie this thing," CSU quarterback Patrick O'Brien said. "It's a heartbreaker. We put a drive together, the offensive line protected well, we made some plays, we drive down the field and we came up an inch short. We have to go back and look at what happened, but when we have opportunities, we have to capitalize on them."
In a span of 14 plays, San Diego State's offense traveled 96 yards – the combined total the Aztecs needed to score three touchdowns in Saturday's 24-10 victory to spoil Colorado State's homecoming in front of 29,767 fans.
The Rams slipped to 1-5 overall, 0-2 in Mountain West play; the Aztecs are now 4-1, 1-1.
For the second consecutive week, the Rams' defense put forth a performance the team can win with, but aided by a four turnovers – and a trio of interceptions on successive snaps for CSU – the unit was playing catchup most of the night, backed up against the odds.
SDSU gained just 238 yards in the game, the lowest total offense allowed to a CSU opponent since Wyoming gained 239 in 2015. The Aztecs rushed for 91 yards, by far the best performance for the hosts on the season and since 2012 against San Jose State.
"It's just we felt obligated for our offense to step our game up, because we let the offense down the first couple of games," CSU defensive end Jan-Phillip Bombek said after recording 1.5 sacks. "We knew we had to play more physical, and I think we did that the past two weeks."
The Aztecs put points on the board right away, paced by a 42-yard pass play to open the game. But the Rams limited them to a field goal. Their first touchdown drive, they needed to go just 46 yards after the offense was stuffed deep in its own territory.
The Rams nearly pulled off a stunner to end the first half, since the run game had produced little and the passing game wasn't exactly clicking. But they went the distance of the field, aided by a few SDSU penalties and had a chance to tie. A 4-yard run by Marvin Kinsey Jr. put the Rams at the doorstep, never to cross the threshold.
"We're right there to score a touchdown. We're right there. We're literally right there," tight end Trey McBride said. "I mean, we came out and knew we were still in the game. We had to come out and execute some plays and score."
CSU had to take that feeling into the locker room, and getting the ball back first, the Rams fumbled on the first play of the second half, a botched handoff between O'Brien and Kinsey Jr., which O'Brien feels was on him.
The turnover resulted in the second of two 8-yard scoring connections between Ryan Agnew and Kobe Smith. Then the Rams punted, turned it over on downs and then they just start turning it over – three interceptions in a row – the final two by Justice McCoy.
San Diego State's defense lived up to its billing of ranking 16th national in total defense, eighth in scoring defense, limiting the Rams to 235 yards (the lowest output in coach Mike Bobo's tenure) and just 13 first downs (matching the fewest under Bobo).
All the while, the defense tried to keep the Rams close. The 12 tackles for loss were a season-best, and they posted four sacks. The only thing missing was collecting a turnover of their own, but they weren't giving up much and definitely not big plays.
"We're just working on doing our jobs, stopping the run and staying in the fits," CSU linebacker Dequan Jackson said. "The rest of it comes with it, just playing physical, attacking, not being attacked.
"I think it's a mindset, more of a mental thing. I think we've been playing tough physically since game one, but we've got to keep going. This game is in the past now, 24-hour rule. We'll look at it, learn from it, keep going."
The Aztecs were only able to cash in one of the interceptions for a touchdown, a short pass by Agnew to Juan Washington to make it 24-3. The Rams put together another drive, leaving 5:55 on the clock when O'Brien hit Nate Craig-Myers for a 13-yard score.
They got the ball back with less than a minute remaining, as the Aztecs recovered an onside kick, then drained the clock on 11 plays. The final one came from the CSU 1 with a fourth-down run, stuffed by CSU true freshman Mohamed Kamara.
It might not have meant much in the grand scheme of life, just a bigger score on the board. For the Rams, it meant everything.
"I mean, it means a lot to be fourth-and-inches, and they have a chance to score, we've got a chance to keep them out," Jackson said. "We're still fighting. We got a stop there, and that means we're not giving up, no matter what."
The Rams' offense did exactly what isn't supposed to happen against San Diego State at Canvas Stadium on Saturday night – a long, sustained drive. Starting at their own 2, CSU was looking at second-and-goal from the SDSU 1. After two plays, nothing had changed, and on fourth down, instead of the yard they needed for the tying touchdown before half, the Aztecs pushed them back a yard.
Crushing.
"We put such a great drive together, and I thought we were going to have point, get a touchdown and tie this thing," CSU quarterback Patrick O'Brien said. "It's a heartbreaker. We put a drive together, the offensive line protected well, we made some plays, we drive down the field and we came up an inch short. We have to go back and look at what happened, but when we have opportunities, we have to capitalize on them."
In a span of 14 plays, San Diego State's offense traveled 96 yards – the combined total the Aztecs needed to score three touchdowns in Saturday's 24-10 victory to spoil Colorado State's homecoming in front of 29,767 fans.
The Rams slipped to 1-5 overall, 0-2 in Mountain West play; the Aztecs are now 4-1, 1-1.
For the second consecutive week, the Rams' defense put forth a performance the team can win with, but aided by a four turnovers – and a trio of interceptions on successive snaps for CSU – the unit was playing catchup most of the night, backed up against the odds.
SDSU gained just 238 yards in the game, the lowest total offense allowed to a CSU opponent since Wyoming gained 239 in 2015. The Aztecs rushed for 91 yards, by far the best performance for the hosts on the season and since 2012 against San Jose State.
"It's just we felt obligated for our offense to step our game up, because we let the offense down the first couple of games," CSU defensive end Jan-Phillip Bombek said after recording 1.5 sacks. "We knew we had to play more physical, and I think we did that the past two weeks."
The Aztecs put points on the board right away, paced by a 42-yard pass play to open the game. But the Rams limited them to a field goal. Their first touchdown drive, they needed to go just 46 yards after the offense was stuffed deep in its own territory.
The Rams nearly pulled off a stunner to end the first half, since the run game had produced little and the passing game wasn't exactly clicking. But they went the distance of the field, aided by a few SDSU penalties and had a chance to tie. A 4-yard run by Marvin Kinsey Jr. put the Rams at the doorstep, never to cross the threshold.
"We're right there to score a touchdown. We're right there. We're literally right there," tight end Trey McBride said. "I mean, we came out and knew we were still in the game. We had to come out and execute some plays and score."
CSU had to take that feeling into the locker room, and getting the ball back first, the Rams fumbled on the first play of the second half, a botched handoff between O'Brien and Kinsey Jr., which O'Brien feels was on him.
The turnover resulted in the second of two 8-yard scoring connections between Ryan Agnew and Kobe Smith. Then the Rams punted, turned it over on downs and then they just start turning it over – three interceptions in a row – the final two by Justice McCoy.
San Diego State's defense lived up to its billing of ranking 16th national in total defense, eighth in scoring defense, limiting the Rams to 235 yards (the lowest output in coach Mike Bobo's tenure) and just 13 first downs (matching the fewest under Bobo).
All the while, the defense tried to keep the Rams close. The 12 tackles for loss were a season-best, and they posted four sacks. The only thing missing was collecting a turnover of their own, but they weren't giving up much and definitely not big plays.
"We're just working on doing our jobs, stopping the run and staying in the fits," CSU linebacker Dequan Jackson said. "The rest of it comes with it, just playing physical, attacking, not being attacked.
"I think it's a mindset, more of a mental thing. I think we've been playing tough physically since game one, but we've got to keep going. This game is in the past now, 24-hour rule. We'll look at it, learn from it, keep going."
The Aztecs were only able to cash in one of the interceptions for a touchdown, a short pass by Agnew to Juan Washington to make it 24-3. The Rams put together another drive, leaving 5:55 on the clock when O'Brien hit Nate Craig-Myers for a 13-yard score.
They got the ball back with less than a minute remaining, as the Aztecs recovered an onside kick, then drained the clock on 11 plays. The final one came from the CSU 1 with a fourth-down run, stuffed by CSU true freshman Mohamed Kamara.
It might not have meant much in the grand scheme of life, just a bigger score on the board. For the Rams, it meant everything.
"I mean, it means a lot to be fourth-and-inches, and they have a chance to score, we've got a chance to keep them out," Jackson said. "We're still fighting. We got a stop there, and that means we're not giving up, no matter what."
Team Stats
SDSU
CSU
Total Yards
238
235
Pass Yards
147
217
Rushing Yards
91
18
Penalty Yards
55
33
1st Downs
14
13
3rd Downs
3
4
4th Downs
1
0
TOP
34:49
25:11
1st Quarter
SDSU 3, CSU 0
SDSU - ARAIZA, Matt 22 yd field goal 7 plays, 61 yards, TOP 3:23
SDSU 3, CSU 3
CSU - CAMPER, C. 36 yd field goal 7 plays, 52 yards, TOP 3:32
2nd Quarter
SDSU 10, CSU 3
SDSU - SMITH, Kobe 8 yd pass from AGNEW, Ryan (ARAIZA, Matt kick) 6 plays, 46 yards, TOP 2:42
3rd Quarter
SDSU 17, CSU 3
SDSU - SMITH, Kobe 8 yd pass from AGNEW, Ryan (ARAIZA, Matt kick) 3 plays, 11 yards, TOP 1:19
4th Quarter
SDSU 24, CSU 3
SDSU - WASHINGTON, J. 3 yd pass from AGNEW, Ryan (ARAIZA, Matt kick) 5 plays, 39 yards, TOP 2:22
SDSU 24, CSU 10
CSU - CRAIG-MYERS, N. 13 yd pass from O'BRIEN, P. (CAMPER, C. kick) 3 plays, 74 yards, TOP 1:00
Game Leaders
Passing Leaders
CMP
0
TD
0
YDS
0
INT
2
Players Mentioned
DL
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WR
/ Football
LB
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RB
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TE
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QB
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