Memorable Moments: Remembering the "Big Green"

A powerful and hungry 1977 CSU Rams football team took on the Western Athletic Conference full steam ahead. With a plethora of veteran players and veteran coaches, Sark Arslanian's defense, nicknamed the "Big Green" and potent offense made up the greatest CSU football team since the late 1940's.

On offense the veterans included quarterback Dan Graham, running backs Ron Harris and Mark Davis, both Mark Bell's, powerful tackles Steve Cyphers and Steve Anderson and wide receiver Harry Washington. New arrivals who came onto the team included sophomore tight end Rick Dennison and freshman running back Alvin Lewis. With these experienced offensive players ready to take the field in good health, the veterans on defense made the whole team very impressive.

The "Big Green" defense, recognized nationally in 1976, returned stronger than ever with All-America candidate Mike Bell and Al "Bubba" Baker as the meanest and toughest. Defensive back Dupree Branch, tackle Mike Carew, end Woodrow Carter, linebacker Mark Nichols and defensive back Steve Jackson backed up the strong front four.

The Rams opened the 1977 season with five consecutive wins where the defense never allowed more than 16 points in any one game. Mark R. Bell (nicknamed Tinker) made 50-yard diving catches in the Pacific game as Harris continued to chew up the offensive rushing records to continue his chase for the top spot in CSU history. Graham broke records of his own throwing a 94-yard touchdown pass to Harris in the Northern Colorado game for the school record, which still stands.

The defense continued to hold teams away from the end zone while they also rushed the quarterback and caused fumbles. After their third game of the season, the Big Green defense had only allowed one touchdown. Ranked first in the WAC for defense, the two super stars remained Baker and Mike Bell. By Oct. 5, talk of a Fiesta Bowl trip had Aggie Travel Center make reservations for 40 people to go to Phoenix for the game in anticipation of the first bowl game since 1949.

With the team at 5-0 overall and 2-0 in the WAC, their biggest challenge came against Brigham Young on Oct. 15 at Hughes Stadium. The Big Green fell apart as the BYU Cougars steamrolled the Rams 63-17 to knock out their hope for a WAC championship. The Cougars racked up 42 first-half points and the game had all but ended before the intermission.

Although the loss hurt their chances for a championship, according to the Collegian, hope to attend the Fiesta Bowl remained alive. Since the Fiesta Bowl had been scheduled to be played on Sunday, Dec. 25, the governing body of the LDS Church stated BYU would not accept an invitation to the Fiesta Bowl. That allowed CSU the chance to attend the game if they beat the remaining teams in the WAC and finished second in the conference.

Thanks to the defense, the Rams barely rebounded the following week against New Mexico to remain in second place, but another battle in the border rivalry against Wyoming hurt their chances in the WAC race. The rivalry had heated up again and this time the Cowboys played spoiler to the Rams' dream season. The 2-3-1 Pokes played host to the Rams in Laramie and the CSU defense came out poorly.

The eighth-ranked Big Green rushing defense could not wrap up tackles and Graham threw three interceptions as the Cowboys kicked five field goals to beat the Rams 29-13. A disheartened Arslanian agreed with reporters the loss probably eliminated the Rams from the WAC race.

The 6-2 Rams still had hopes of the bowl game in Phoenix on Christmas Day, but a cloud of doubt hung over their heads as they prepared to take on the University of Arizona. In 26 games against Arizona and Arizona State, CSU had never beaten either school in football. To remain eligible for bowl consideration, the Rams had to beat both Arizona schools to remain near the top of the WAC.

In Tucson the combination of Graham to Mark R. Bell and Harry Washington propelled CSU to their first victory over a team from Arizona in 27 tries. Graham threw five touchdown passes and Larry Jones, the new leading rusher for the Rams, ran 53-yards to set up another touchdown as CSU thoroughly beat Arizona 35-14. This left only Arizona State in the way for a Fiesta Bowl bid.

With their hearts and minds elsewhere, the Rams traveled to Canyon, Texas to take on the West Texas State Buffaloes. Although Ron Harris surpassed Lawrence McCutcheon as the all-time Rams rusher, CSU only salvaged a 21-all tie over West Texas.

The Rams ended their conference season at home against Arizona State to attempt another upset victory and a viable run at the Fiesta Bowl. With ASU ranked No. 12 in the nation, the Rams dominated them on both sides of the ball to win easily 25-14. Less than 12,000 chilled fans watched Mike Bell lead the defense to "swarm like bees" all over the ASU offense. The rush on the ASU quarterback caused him to throw fast and inaccurate, as the defense won the game for the offense.

All eyes focused on the Arizona Wildcats the final week of the season to determine who would finish second in the WAC and face Joe Paterno's 10-1 Penn State Nittany Lions in the Fiesta Bowl. Arizona needed to beat Arizona State for CSU to get the Fiesta Bowl bid, but it was not meant to be. The Sun Devils romped over the Wildcats on Friday night as the Rams finished their amazing season with a 13-10 win over Utah State on a day when the winds at Hughes Stadium reached 60-70 miles per hour.

Arslanian's Rams ended the season 9-2-1, the best overall record since the 1949 Aggies went 9-1. It was only the third time in school history to that point that the team finished with nine wins. If the 1977 Rams would have achieved that record just 15 years later, it is certain they would have gone to a bowl game, but with only one bowl allowed for the WAC, the Rams had nothing but a great record.

You can see the 1977 Rams and Arslanian in action in a 15-minute recruiting film shot in 1977 by NFL Films cameraman and producer Phil Tuckett, who employed the great John Facenda, known as the "Voice of God" narrating the film which was shown to recruits after the '77 season.

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