Rams Fall in Season Finale to Nevada

FORT COLLINS, Colo. – The night started with Colorado State honoring 17 seniors who were playing in their final college game.

It was a nice moment for them and for the fans, but the rest of the night did not hold the same kind of memories for the Rams in a 51-10 loss at Canvas Stadium. Nevada scored early, scored quick and scored often in the first half, one in which saw the ejection of head coach Steve Addazio for drawing his second unsportsmanlike flag with 4:41 remaining before the break.

"It was gut-wrenching not to be out there in the second half of that game," Addazio said. "There was a play that we had overturned and I disagreed with, and that cost me a flag. On the next play, there was another flag; nothing was said. The next play after that, the play was blown dead before the ball was recovered, and I asked the referee, 'the play was blown dead, so how do we know who recovered it, everybody stopped?' That was what it was. To tell you the truth, I was pretty calm at that point, there was no bad language or anything, and all I said to them was, 'guys, we've just got to do better,' and that got me another flag.

"If I kept my mouth shut and didn't say anything, I wouldn't have been in that situation. So that's my responsibility; that's on me. The rest is what it is."

Both of the players who spoke afterward – Trey McBride and Ryan Stonehouse – defended Addazio for him standing up for them, with Stonehouse putting a one-word stamp on his reaction: Passion. McBride said the same flag came earlier in the year, adding Gary Williams had even checked with the referee on if he was lined up correctly, yet was still flagged for being an illegal man down field.

As for the rest of the game, Addazio didn't like much of that, either. Because his team turned over the ball five times in the game and generated just two scores. One came on special teams, the other on a late field goal. Anything Addazio saw earlier in the year which had him excited, none of that appeared.

"We turned the ball over too much on offense, we gave up too many plays on defense," he said. "I don't feel that was any of our finest hours. I thought for most of the season, even with all the injuries and everything, I thought we made a lot of improvement. There were probably only a couple of games where I didn't think we did, and this was one of them."

All the Rams (3-9) could celebrate were some individual moments in the game. It started with Trey McBride as the John Mackey Award finalist had six catches for 113 yards, but one of them resulted in a fumble – one of three in the half for the Rams (five total in the game), with the Wolf Pack producing 10 points off them for a 31-0 lead at the break.

By the end of the game, McBride's season total of 1,121 yards ranked as the most ever for a Mountain West tight end and the fifth-best for an FBS tight end in history.

For good measure, McBride put up the Rams' only touchdown, not on a reception, but on a direct snap in punt formation, taking the fake 69 yards for the score on the first possession of the second half, the third longest run by a Ram in stadium history.

As it stood, that was his final play in a Colorado State uniform, and it made him the Rams' leading rusher in the game, too.

"I knew we had it in the bag, but I didn't think they were going to call it," McBride said. "Then Goody (coach Jon Goodman) was, 'we're calling the fake punt. I was like, I probably got one more play in me, so, I went out there and run the fake punt. It was like picture perfect. The guys all went to the right, Ryan's faking it, causing a scene back there. I get a one-on-one opportunity with a receiver, and I can't let that guy tackle me, so … It's very cool, very special, a bit emotional. That was my last play, scoring a touchdown. I mean, there's no really better way to write up an end of a career."

Carson Strong threw three touchdown passes in the first half, hitting 14-of-18 throws for 197 yards. It took the Wolf Pack all of five plays and 1:41 to cover 75 yards as Strong hit Tory Horton for a 14-yard scoring pass. Colorado State turned the ball over on downs on its first possession, and Strong wasted no time, finding Horton again for a 57-yard strike and a 14-0 lead just 3:44 into the contest.

By the end of the night, Nevada had generated 528 yards of total offense, the third consecutive game the Rams had surrendered the total as the season closed with a six-game losing streak.

Strong exited the game late in the third quarter having thrown his fourth touchdown pass of the game, a second to Romeo Doubs, covering 66 yards, the big blow in a 99-yard drive that took less than 1:50 off the clock to give Nevada a 38-7 lead.

Strong was sacked three times in the game, and all of them involved Scott Patchan, who had 2.5 and three tackles for loss in the game, giving him 10 and 18.5 on the season, respectively, each standing sixth best in a single season.

It became a trend, as starters on both sides of the field gave way to youth to close out the contest – Nevada looking to go into its bowl game healthy, CSU to get some players ready for the future.
Centeio exited the game by the end of the third, too, having completed 15-of-24 passes for 187 yards and a pair of interceptions, the fourth game in a row he's thrown two. True freshman Evan Olaes made his third appearance of the season at quarterback, Alex Berrouet had his first carries and Tanner Arkin his first catch.

The final CSU drive of the night led to a 33-yard field goal by Cayden Camper, his 25^th of the season to set the single-season mark.

But this never was Colorado State's night, not from the start. It was very much a culmination of what happened the weeks leading up to the final loss, with opposing offenses hitting big plays and the Rams failing to pair defensive successes with offensive highlights. Or one of them fighting the back when the other took a punch.

"It's just too many mistakes. When it boils down to it, we had five turnovers today," McBride said. "You're not going to win a football game with five turnovers. Ever. You can be Alabama, you're not to win a football game with five turnovers."

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Tanner Arkin

Alex Berrouet

Cayden Camper

Trey McBride

Evan Olaes

Scott Patchan

Ryan Stonehouse

Gary Williams

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