Rams Drop Mountain West Opener at Utah State

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LOGAN, Utah – When it came to the weather, Mike Bobo got his wish.

For the duration of Saturday's Mountain West opener against Utah State at Maverik Stadium, it rained. It was light at times, a downpour at others. If you looked hard, you might have seen a few flakes of snow.

The Colorado State head football coach also watched his defense make serious gains. But on two successive offensive plays, Colorado State , lost grip of the ball – and the Rams the game – in a 34-24 loss.

"I thought No. 33 was all over the field tonight, Manny Jones," Bobo said. "The guy was out there all night making plays. Keevan Bailey, Brandon Crossley and Andre Neal getting the pick was huge. Unfortunately, offensively we could not get anything going in the run game, the pass game was pretty much ineffective.

"We could not get our rhythm, and when we do, we turn the ball over three times in the second half. We did a great job defensively getting turnovers, but we turned it over three times offensively. Basically the difference in the game."

For the past four weeks, the Rams' defense had taken it's lumps, allowing too many yards, way too many points. It had been fueled by a penchant for giving up big scoring plays and not forcing turnovers – just two to date heading into the contest.

Facing the only offense in the Mountain West more explosive than their own, Colorado State's beleaguered unit was holding its own.

"We've got a lot of work to do," Neal said. "The big emphasis last week was getting turnovers, and to do what we said we were going to do is letting us know we can come out and create some turnovers and be the best defense on the field. Hopefully we can carry that week in and week out."

They were stout in the first, the Aggies' only points coming off a 100-yard kickoff return. There was a bit of a downturn in the second, allowing 17 points, the touchdowns coming in big bursts through the air on 37- and 40-yard scoring passes by Jordan Love. The positive was Neal's interception was not only the first of the year for the Rams, he took it 44 yards for a touchdown.

It was a play he remembered from defensive meetings on Friday. He was told from that hash, the Aggies would throw that out route. And he said he'd pick it off.

"I think visualization was the big thing," he said. "I just had to see myself making that play in the game. I had to have great eyes, play the double move and it came true."

By halftime, the Rams had forced two turnovers with a fumble, as well as the program's first blocked punt since 2014.

In the third, another interception, and another fumble recovery, that coming in the red zone to stop a Utah State drive. And when CSU coughed up the ball on a fumble, they limited the Aggies to a field goal.

Not that the performance didn't have some holes. The Rams still allowed 240 yards rushing in the game, much of it up the middle as Gerold Bright gained 179 yards.

"We just showed what we've been working on since fall camp," said defensive end Manny Jones, who led the charge with 12 tackles. "We came out and had our share. It's been there. We just had to bring it into perspective to everybody else."

The only problem was Colorado State's offense found the sledding tough against the Aggies, who were stuffing the run game and giving up very little through the air. The four turnovers led to just 10 points, and another touchdown came off the blocked punt.

Quarterback Patrick O'Brien, who threw for 405 yards in his first collegiate start a week earlier, hit on less than 50 percent of his passes (14-of-30) for 217 yards. And the running game averaged just 2.3 yards per carry as the Rams finished with just 296 yards of total offense.

"Our defense carried us tonight," O'Brien said. "Usually it's been the other way around, and as an offense now, it's our turn to look ourselves in the mirror, get together and get better as a group."

Then the Aggies joined in on the game of takeaway.

With the game tied at 24 late in the second half, the CSU offense's two best chances both ended in misery. A 35-yard pass play in the second half to E.J. Scott – one which would have put the Rams in Aggie territory – ended when Scott was stripped and Utah State recovered. That led to Dominik Eberle's 48-yard field goal.

Two drives later, Marvin Kinsey Jr. – playing with an injured shoulder – fumbled at the end of the 5-yard run (his 21^st carry of the game) and Utah State recovered at their own 29.

On his next carry (coming at the CSU 8), Kinsey Jr. was stripped by David Woodard, who turned it into the third defensive touchdown the Rams have allowed in fourth quarters this season.

"Those mistakes keep happening, but I feel we're close to it," O'Brien said. "It's a tough pill to swallow. I feel like this team is so much better than our record is, but we have to keep going back to practice and keep getting better."

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