Colorado State University Athletics
Friday, October 22
Logan, UT
7:30 PM
Colorado State
3-4 , 2-1
24
at
26
Utah State
5-2 , 3-1
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
F
Colorado St.
0
14
0
10
24
Utah St.
0
20
3
3
26
Rams' Road Rally Falls Short
10/23/2021 12:40:00 AM | Football
Bailey scores two touchdowns, rushes for 159 yards
LOGAN, Utah – For virtually 10:37 seconds, Colorado State could only watch as Utah State seized control of the game.
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In just 44 seconds at the end, Colorado State nearly trumped it, but in a wave of chaos, a 42-yard field goal sailed wide left and the Aggies held on for a 26-24 victory on Friday night at Maverik Stadium.
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With no timeouts, the Rams took possession at their own 15-yard line and promptly moved the ball into Cayden Camper's field-goal range as quarterback Todd Centeio hit four of five passes, covering 61 yards, putting the ball on the Utah State 24. The final play – a 15-yard catch by Ty McCullouch gave the team a first down, stopping the clock momentarily to move the chains with a chance to spike the ball and set up a field goal.
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On the sideline, the unit was ready to rush the field if need be, which is what they did, and head coach Steve Addazio said he's not sure why. He also believes despite the confusion – offensive players had to rush off the field as the new unit entered – they still had a good look at winning the game.
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"All we wanted to do was spike the ball, but we had to have the fast field goal team ready, because if we had not had a first down," he said. "The guys took off on to the field. They weren't sent, but they went, and it created that confusion at the end. But we really got set up; it wasn't like we weren't set up to kick the field goal. We were set up to kick the field goal, then we just didn't strike it.
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"That's what happened at the end there. No one sent them in, but they took off on the field. We work on that play situationally, but that wasn't the situation for it. It could have been, but it wasn't. We could have spiked it, then gone on the field and kicked it without as much chaos."
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The Rams had just tied the game late in the first half on David Bailey's second touchdown run of the night, but save for the final 25 seconds of the half, they could only watch as Utah State created an edge.
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The Aggies went on a minor drive of seven plays for 13 yards, but it resulted in the go-ahead field goal. Then the Rams failed to cover a pooch kick, and while the CSU defense stiffened during the sudden change, the mistake resulted in another Connor Coles field goal for a 20-14 lead at the half.
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The bad news was the Aggies had the ball again to start the second half, and a long drive by the Aggies – 55 yards in 12 plays which ate another 5:30 off the clock – Coles delivered again.
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That was enough. That and two turnovers. And nine penalties for 86 yards. All of that eclipsed a 100-yard game from running back David Bailey, eight sacks and 13 tackles for loss by the defense and a furious comeback attempt.
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The loss drops Colorado State to 3-4 overall, 2-1 in Mountain West play.
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"It's definitely heartbreaking, especially with how the defense played," Toby McBride said. "We played well in some areas, but we had a lot of penalties in the others. To have that much defensive play in the game and that much control of the game and not come out with the win is something our defense isn't looking to do. If we're on the field that much, we should have complete control of the game, not have any penalties, be able to hold the offense to minimal yards and come out better than we did."
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It had been five games since the Rams had allowed an opposing offense to generate 300 yards of total offense, and the Aggies only finished with 344. But the second chances are what hurt the most, as most of the flags came on the defense, be they encroachment or late hits. They either extended drives or created chances.
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The second touchdown was a result of CSU being quicker than the snap, so Utah State quarterback Logan Bonner looked for Derek Wright deep on the free play, and the result was a 38-yard scoring play.
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"I just felt like we had too many penalties. In the first half we turned the ball over twice, one interception, then we turned one over when we were getting ready to go into the red zone, and we fumbled the ball," Addazio said. "That was probably a lost-point opportunity. I felt like this was a back-and-forth game and we would have a chance to win it in the end, and we did. But we were sloppy in the end, and we were sloppy during the game.
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"But we played with, I thought, tremendous intensity and courage and kept battling. We had to overcome a bunch with all of those penalties and things. I'm proud of the fight in our team, proud of their response on the road like that, as disappointed as we are, but I think there's some real forging that can happen with our team."
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After a scoreless first frame, both offenses found a groove in the second quarter. Bonner, despite the constant pressure, connected on two deep balls with wide out Wright, the first covering 25 yards. Bailey countered with a pair of scoring runs, one of 4, the other of 2, capping drives of 78 and 75 yards.
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He was a beast early, hitting the 100-yard mark by halftime, and at the game's end, he had a 30-carry night which produced 159 yards on the ground, averaging 5.3 yards per carry.
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In the third, the Rams missed a chance on a deep ball when E.J. Scott could not corral the pass from Centeio, but in the fourth, they closed the gap when Cayden Camper connected from 40 yards. Yet on the ensuing drive, Coles connected from 34 to make it a two-score game again.
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The Rams didn't yield, moving the ball through the air on their next possession, a drive which ended with a 13-yard touchdown pass to tight end Gary Williams.
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The defense gave up a first down, then stopped the Aggies. With time dwindling, the Rams put together an impressive drive to give them a shot.
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"I'm really proud of that. Dante Wright had a couple of really good catches; he's a great player and a guy we definitely missed," Trey McBride said. "He came in big at the end Todd threw the ball well at the end. I thought it was really well executed, in my opinion. That's hard to do. You have less than a minute, no time outs, you're running routes across the middle which don't get out of bounds. That's hard to do now. We executed very well. We could have done a little bit better on that last play. I don't know if we should have spiked it or not, I don't know what the issue was with that, but we still had a chance to win the game at the very end. We just came up a little short."
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Centeio threw for 282 yards, hitting 18-of-29 passes as Colorado State finished with 472 yards of total offense and converted all three red-zone chances into touchdowns.
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After two weeks on the road, Colorado State returns to Canvas Stadium for a 5 p.m. Saturday kickoff with Boise State.
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In just 44 seconds at the end, Colorado State nearly trumped it, but in a wave of chaos, a 42-yard field goal sailed wide left and the Aggies held on for a 26-24 victory on Friday night at Maverik Stadium.
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With no timeouts, the Rams took possession at their own 15-yard line and promptly moved the ball into Cayden Camper's field-goal range as quarterback Todd Centeio hit four of five passes, covering 61 yards, putting the ball on the Utah State 24. The final play – a 15-yard catch by Ty McCullouch gave the team a first down, stopping the clock momentarily to move the chains with a chance to spike the ball and set up a field goal.
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On the sideline, the unit was ready to rush the field if need be, which is what they did, and head coach Steve Addazio said he's not sure why. He also believes despite the confusion – offensive players had to rush off the field as the new unit entered – they still had a good look at winning the game.
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"All we wanted to do was spike the ball, but we had to have the fast field goal team ready, because if we had not had a first down," he said. "The guys took off on to the field. They weren't sent, but they went, and it created that confusion at the end. But we really got set up; it wasn't like we weren't set up to kick the field goal. We were set up to kick the field goal, then we just didn't strike it.
Â
"That's what happened at the end there. No one sent them in, but they took off on the field. We work on that play situationally, but that wasn't the situation for it. It could have been, but it wasn't. We could have spiked it, then gone on the field and kicked it without as much chaos."
Â
The Rams had just tied the game late in the first half on David Bailey's second touchdown run of the night, but save for the final 25 seconds of the half, they could only watch as Utah State created an edge.
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The Aggies went on a minor drive of seven plays for 13 yards, but it resulted in the go-ahead field goal. Then the Rams failed to cover a pooch kick, and while the CSU defense stiffened during the sudden change, the mistake resulted in another Connor Coles field goal for a 20-14 lead at the half.
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The bad news was the Aggies had the ball again to start the second half, and a long drive by the Aggies – 55 yards in 12 plays which ate another 5:30 off the clock – Coles delivered again.
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That was enough. That and two turnovers. And nine penalties for 86 yards. All of that eclipsed a 100-yard game from running back David Bailey, eight sacks and 13 tackles for loss by the defense and a furious comeback attempt.
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The loss drops Colorado State to 3-4 overall, 2-1 in Mountain West play.
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"It's definitely heartbreaking, especially with how the defense played," Toby McBride said. "We played well in some areas, but we had a lot of penalties in the others. To have that much defensive play in the game and that much control of the game and not come out with the win is something our defense isn't looking to do. If we're on the field that much, we should have complete control of the game, not have any penalties, be able to hold the offense to minimal yards and come out better than we did."
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It had been five games since the Rams had allowed an opposing offense to generate 300 yards of total offense, and the Aggies only finished with 344. But the second chances are what hurt the most, as most of the flags came on the defense, be they encroachment or late hits. They either extended drives or created chances.
Â
The second touchdown was a result of CSU being quicker than the snap, so Utah State quarterback Logan Bonner looked for Derek Wright deep on the free play, and the result was a 38-yard scoring play.
Â
"I just felt like we had too many penalties. In the first half we turned the ball over twice, one interception, then we turned one over when we were getting ready to go into the red zone, and we fumbled the ball," Addazio said. "That was probably a lost-point opportunity. I felt like this was a back-and-forth game and we would have a chance to win it in the end, and we did. But we were sloppy in the end, and we were sloppy during the game.
Â
"But we played with, I thought, tremendous intensity and courage and kept battling. We had to overcome a bunch with all of those penalties and things. I'm proud of the fight in our team, proud of their response on the road like that, as disappointed as we are, but I think there's some real forging that can happen with our team."
Â
After a scoreless first frame, both offenses found a groove in the second quarter. Bonner, despite the constant pressure, connected on two deep balls with wide out Wright, the first covering 25 yards. Bailey countered with a pair of scoring runs, one of 4, the other of 2, capping drives of 78 and 75 yards.
Â
He was a beast early, hitting the 100-yard mark by halftime, and at the game's end, he had a 30-carry night which produced 159 yards on the ground, averaging 5.3 yards per carry.
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In the third, the Rams missed a chance on a deep ball when E.J. Scott could not corral the pass from Centeio, but in the fourth, they closed the gap when Cayden Camper connected from 40 yards. Yet on the ensuing drive, Coles connected from 34 to make it a two-score game again.
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The Rams didn't yield, moving the ball through the air on their next possession, a drive which ended with a 13-yard touchdown pass to tight end Gary Williams.
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The defense gave up a first down, then stopped the Aggies. With time dwindling, the Rams put together an impressive drive to give them a shot.
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"I'm really proud of that. Dante Wright had a couple of really good catches; he's a great player and a guy we definitely missed," Trey McBride said. "He came in big at the end Todd threw the ball well at the end. I thought it was really well executed, in my opinion. That's hard to do. You have less than a minute, no time outs, you're running routes across the middle which don't get out of bounds. That's hard to do now. We executed very well. We could have done a little bit better on that last play. I don't know if we should have spiked it or not, I don't know what the issue was with that, but we still had a chance to win the game at the very end. We just came up a little short."
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Centeio threw for 282 yards, hitting 18-of-29 passes as Colorado State finished with 472 yards of total offense and converted all three red-zone chances into touchdowns.
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After two weeks on the road, Colorado State returns to Canvas Stadium for a 5 p.m. Saturday kickoff with Boise State.
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Team Stats
CSU
USU
Total Yards
472
344
Pass Yards
282
233
Rushing Yards
190
111
Penalty Yards
86
45
1st Downs
26
26
3rd Downs
6
5
4th Downs
0
2
TOP
26:07
33:53
2nd Quarter
CSU 0, USU 7
USU - Wright,Derek 25 yd pass from Bonner,Logan (Coles,Connor kick) 4 plays, 66 yards, TOP 01:16
CSU 7, USU 7
CSU - Bailey,David 4 yd run (Camper,Cayden kick), 14 plays, 78 yards, TOP 05:19
CSU 7, USU 14
USU - Wright,Derek 38 yd pass from Bonner,Logan (Coles,Connor kick) 6 plays, 76 yards, TOP 01:56
CSU 14, USU 14
CSU - Bailey,David 2 yd run (Camper,Cayden kick), 7 plays, 75 yards, TOP 02:08
CSU 14, USU 17
USU - Coles,Connor 45 yd field goal 7 plays, 13 yards, TOP 03:31
CSU 14, USU 20
USU - Coles,Connor 30 yd field goal 5 plays, 11 yards, TOP 00:57
3rd Quarter
CSU 14, USU 23
USU - Coles,Connor 42 yd field goal 12 plays, 55 yards, TOP 05:30
4th Quarter
CSU 17, USU 23
CSU - Camper,Cayden 40 yd field goal 7 plays, 69 yards, TOP 01:42
CSU 17, USU 26
USU - Coles,Connor 34 yd field goal 9 plays, 48 yards, TOP 04:02
CSU 24, USU 26
CSU - Williams,Gary 13 yd pass from Centeio,Todd (Camper,Cayden kick) 5 plays, 73 yards, TOP 01:21
Game Leaders
Passing Leaders
CMP
18
TD
1
YDS
282
INT
1
Players Mentioned
RB
/ Football
K
/ FootballQB
/ Football
DL
/ Football
TE
/ Football
WR
/ Football
WR
/ Football
TE
/ Football
WR
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