Colorado State University Athletics
Saturday, September 21
Fort Collins, Colo.
8:15 PM MT
Colorado State
1-3
35
vs
41
Toledo
2-1
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
F
Toledo
7
7
21
6
41
Colorado State
7
6
14
8
35
Photo by: Cris Tiller
Rams 2-yards Shy of Toledo -- Twice
9/22/2019 2:11:00 AM | Football
CSU falls to 1-3 heading into Mountain West play
FORT COLLINS, Colo. – The 2-yard line.
That's where Colorado State's offense finished on the final play of the first half. It's where the Rams finished on the final play of the game.
On Saturday evening – and into Sunday morning – the Rams' offense generated 694 yards of total offense. It is the best output in the tenure of head coach Mike Bobo, second best in school history (698, 2014 vs. New Mexico).
Combined, the four yards would have tied a record for the Rams. But cover those final 2 yards either instance and Colorado State walks away from Canvas Stadium with a victory, not a 41-35 loss. The Rams head into Mountain West play next week at Utah State at 1-3 on the year.
"It's very hard. From my angle, the last play, I thought he scored," CSU quarterback Patrick O'Brien said. "It's just tough. To end that first half, I probably need to throw it a little bit farther to put him in the end zone and give him a shot. It's tough … I forgot about that. Just coming so close both times.
"It's definitely … And when we get in the red zone, we need to put those points on the board. We're leaving points off the board which is something we need to start doing."
Those 2 yards, either case – crushing. Then again, so too was the total of 436. That's what the Rockets rushed for in the game on 46 carries, averaging 9.5 yards per tote.
It wasn't all night. No, in the first half, Colorado State's defense was one the Rams could win with, limiting Toledo to 95 yards on the ground. In the third quarter, the Rockets broke out for 224 in those 15 minutes.
Bryant Koback, who finished with 228 on the night, fueled a 21-point outburst in the stanza with scoring runs of 39, 75 and 47 yards. He was getting a bit of assistance from quarterback Mitchell Guadagni, who finished with 119 yards, eight more than his passing figure.
"I'm not sure it's anything they did. They did what they were supposed to do as an offense," CSU linebacker Dequan Jackson said. "I think we made too many mistakes as a defense that we have to fix. Like coach said, we have to look ourselves in the mirror and get back to work.
"He's a pretty good quarterback. He runs, and we have to contain him. We game planned for that, and I don't think we did a great job on the quarterback, and that's what hurt us."
As the Rams have done before, they battled back. Marvin Kinsey Jr. was superb once again, scoring on runs of 14 and 74 yards in the third quarter, becoming just the 20th back in school history to have a 200-yard game, his total of 246 ranking seventh all time.
Those yards helped take some of the sting out of a missed field goal, which would have changed the complexion of need in the final drive. The two teams combined for 21 penalties, 11 on the Rams for losses of 82 yards.
Two in succession – an illegal formation and then a hold – turned first-and-10 on the Toledo 16 to first-and-25 from the 36 and the missed field goal.
O'Brien, making his first start, threw for 405 yards, hitting 32-of-52 passes with one score and one interception. His performance gained steam throughout the night, with Warren Jackson establishing career numbers in catches (12), yards (132) and finally scoring a touchdown on his home turf.
Nate Craig-Myers, the Auburn transfer playing as a Ram for the first time, had an impact with five catches and 88 yards.
He just wished he could have had 90.
He was the one who flagged down O'Brien's pass to end the first half, a Hail Mary, which he hauled in shy of the goal line, leaving the Rams with a 14-13 deficit.
CSU's last chance came with 34 seconds on the clock and 75 yards to cover.
"Our players where talking about how we do this every day," Bobo said. "Our goal-- we're going to get across the 50-yard line and we're going to have a shot for the end zone, and I think they all believed it. Patrick O'Brien believed it, and they believed in Patrick. I said, don't go celebrating because we still have to make the extra point to win, and we came up a yard or two short."
With just 4 seconds remaining on the clock, the Rams had one final play from the Toledo 25. E.J. Scott lined up on the far sideline, crossing into the middle inside the 5. O'Brien's toss was true, and Scott fought for the goal line, reaching out the ball with all he could, trying to split Toledo defenders Tycen Anderson and Saeed Holt.
The stop was the 12th of the game for Holt, leading his team, and it left the Rams 2 yards short of stealing the game.
Two measly yards. Two separate occasions.
"We're right there," CSU tight end Trey McBride said. "We're that close."
That's where Colorado State's offense finished on the final play of the first half. It's where the Rams finished on the final play of the game.
On Saturday evening – and into Sunday morning – the Rams' offense generated 694 yards of total offense. It is the best output in the tenure of head coach Mike Bobo, second best in school history (698, 2014 vs. New Mexico).
Combined, the four yards would have tied a record for the Rams. But cover those final 2 yards either instance and Colorado State walks away from Canvas Stadium with a victory, not a 41-35 loss. The Rams head into Mountain West play next week at Utah State at 1-3 on the year.
"It's very hard. From my angle, the last play, I thought he scored," CSU quarterback Patrick O'Brien said. "It's just tough. To end that first half, I probably need to throw it a little bit farther to put him in the end zone and give him a shot. It's tough … I forgot about that. Just coming so close both times.
"It's definitely … And when we get in the red zone, we need to put those points on the board. We're leaving points off the board which is something we need to start doing."
Those 2 yards, either case – crushing. Then again, so too was the total of 436. That's what the Rockets rushed for in the game on 46 carries, averaging 9.5 yards per tote.
It wasn't all night. No, in the first half, Colorado State's defense was one the Rams could win with, limiting Toledo to 95 yards on the ground. In the third quarter, the Rockets broke out for 224 in those 15 minutes.
Bryant Koback, who finished with 228 on the night, fueled a 21-point outburst in the stanza with scoring runs of 39, 75 and 47 yards. He was getting a bit of assistance from quarterback Mitchell Guadagni, who finished with 119 yards, eight more than his passing figure.
"I'm not sure it's anything they did. They did what they were supposed to do as an offense," CSU linebacker Dequan Jackson said. "I think we made too many mistakes as a defense that we have to fix. Like coach said, we have to look ourselves in the mirror and get back to work.
"He's a pretty good quarterback. He runs, and we have to contain him. We game planned for that, and I don't think we did a great job on the quarterback, and that's what hurt us."
As the Rams have done before, they battled back. Marvin Kinsey Jr. was superb once again, scoring on runs of 14 and 74 yards in the third quarter, becoming just the 20th back in school history to have a 200-yard game, his total of 246 ranking seventh all time.
Those yards helped take some of the sting out of a missed field goal, which would have changed the complexion of need in the final drive. The two teams combined for 21 penalties, 11 on the Rams for losses of 82 yards.
Two in succession – an illegal formation and then a hold – turned first-and-10 on the Toledo 16 to first-and-25 from the 36 and the missed field goal.
O'Brien, making his first start, threw for 405 yards, hitting 32-of-52 passes with one score and one interception. His performance gained steam throughout the night, with Warren Jackson establishing career numbers in catches (12), yards (132) and finally scoring a touchdown on his home turf.
Nate Craig-Myers, the Auburn transfer playing as a Ram for the first time, had an impact with five catches and 88 yards.
He just wished he could have had 90.
He was the one who flagged down O'Brien's pass to end the first half, a Hail Mary, which he hauled in shy of the goal line, leaving the Rams with a 14-13 deficit.
CSU's last chance came with 34 seconds on the clock and 75 yards to cover.
"Our players where talking about how we do this every day," Bobo said. "Our goal-- we're going to get across the 50-yard line and we're going to have a shot for the end zone, and I think they all believed it. Patrick O'Brien believed it, and they believed in Patrick. I said, don't go celebrating because we still have to make the extra point to win, and we came up a yard or two short."
With just 4 seconds remaining on the clock, the Rams had one final play from the Toledo 25. E.J. Scott lined up on the far sideline, crossing into the middle inside the 5. O'Brien's toss was true, and Scott fought for the goal line, reaching out the ball with all he could, trying to split Toledo defenders Tycen Anderson and Saeed Holt.
The stop was the 12th of the game for Holt, leading his team, and it left the Rams 2 yards short of stealing the game.
Two measly yards. Two separate occasions.
"We're right there," CSU tight end Trey McBride said. "We're that close."
Team Stats
TOLEDO
CSU
Total Yards
547
694
Pass Yards
111
405
Rushing Yards
436
289
Penalty Yards
100
82
1st Downs
20
36
3rd Downs
3
5
4th Downs
2
2
TOP
26:23
33:37
1st Quarter
TOLEDO 0, CSU 7
CSU - JACKSON, W. 6 yd pass from O'BRIEN, P. (CAMPER, C. kick) 9 plays, 75 yards, TOP 3:25
TOLEDO 7, CSU 7
TOLEDO - KOBACK,Bryant 8 yd pass from GUADAGNI,M. (DAVIS,Evan kick) 9 plays, 60 yards, TOP 4:06
2nd Quarter
TOLEDO 7, CSU 10
CSU - CAMPER, C. 40 yd field goal 8 plays, 55 yards, TOP 2:19
TOLEDO 7, CSU 13
CSU - CAMPER, C. 22 yd field goal 10 plays, 87 yards, TOP 4:21
TOLEDO 14, CSU 13
TOLEDO - GUADAGNI,M. 8 yd run (DAVIS,Evan kick), 3 plays, 75 yards, TOP 0:32
3rd Quarter
TOLEDO 21, CSU 13
TOLEDO - KOBACK,Bryant 37 yd run (DAVIS,Evan kick), 3 plays, 75 yards, TOP 0:38
TOLEDO 21, CSU 20
CSU - KINSEY JR., M. 74 yd run (CAMPER, C. kick), 2 plays, 72 yards, TOP 0:53
TOLEDO 28, CSU 20
TOLEDO - KOBACK,Bryant 75 yd run (DAVIS,Evan kick), 1 plays, 75 yards, TOP 0:13
TOLEDO 28, CSU 27
CSU - KINSEY JR., M. 14 yd run (CAMPER, C. kick), 6 plays, 75 yards, TOP 2:58
TOLEDO 35, CSU 27
TOLEDO - KOBACK,Bryant 47 yd run (DAVIS,Evan kick), 5 plays, 75 yards, TOP 1:31
4th Quarter
TOLEDO 38, CSU 27
TOLEDO - DAVIS,Evan 34 yd field goal 11 plays, 63 yards, TOP 4:20
TOLEDO 38, CSU 35
CSU - O'BRIEN, P. 1 yd run (WRIGHT, D. pass), 9 plays, 71 yards, TOP 1:42
TOLEDO 41, CSU 35
TOLEDO - DAVIS,Evan 23 yd field goal 10 plays, 69 yards, TOP 4:02
Players Mentioned
WR
/ Football
LB
/ Football
WR
/ Football
RB
/ Football
TE
/ Football
QB
/ Football
WR
/ FootballColorado 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
Colorado State Football: Jay Norvell Weekly Press Conference - Week 2 (2025)
Monday, September 01
Colorado State Football: Long (L) and Warren (R) Postgame (Washington, 2025)
Sunday, August 31