Rams Fall on Road to San Jose State

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SAN JOSE, Calif. – The explosive plays where there. The finish, however, was still lacking.

For the first time this season, Colorado State finished with more than 400 yards of total offense, but the Rams still couldn't translate it to points in a 28-16 loss to San Jose State at CEFCU Stadium on Saturday night.

The Rams still have not scored 20 points in a game this season, but this was a contest where they definitely had the chance to eclipse the total. In four red-zone chances, the Rams scored just once, a field goal.

"It always hurts to march down the field and get into scoring position and not be able to punch it in," receiver Tory Horton said. "We all try to preach that on the sideline, try to keep our guys in it. We know we have to punch the ball in when we get to the red zone. We put ourselves in good position, the defense is giving us opportunities, and it always hurts not to punch it in when you get to the red zone."

The yardage came despite allowing nine sacks for 58 yards in losses. They needed the explosive plays because for the fourth time this season, they team was flagged more than 10 times in a game – 13 for 101 yards.

Through the air, the Rams had seven plays of 20 yards or longer, highlighted by the most shocking of scoring plays, a fourth-and-23 heave by true freshman Jackson Stratton to Tory Horton for a 40-yard score to narrow the gap. Stratton entered after the ninth sack of Millen, which officially went to the Spartans but came about when he ran hard into his own lineman. Millen finished with a career-best 262 yards passing and did not return.

The Rams also had four rushes of 12 yards or longer, starting with Avery Morrow's first carry of the night, a 56-yard sprint for a touchdown. In all, the 11 explosive tied for the most in a game this season, the most the offense has produced in a contest this season.

On just 17 carries, Morrow gained 124 yards on the ground, his fourth 100-yard night. And Horton finished with nine catches for career-best 196 yards and a score, giving the Rams their first 100-yard rushing/receiving combination of the season, but also their seventh loss.

"I mean those kids are gutted in there," Norvell said. "Avery Morrow and Tory Horton want to win so bad, and we did do some good things. We just have to build on those good things we did, and we have to try to add to it. I feel for those guys that are laying it on the line and playing with so much heart and passion and we just can't find a way to get over the hump for them. We just have to continue to work hard for them."

Horton literally had a busload of fans there to watch the game coming in from the Fresno area. He said he didn't have to do much begging in the locker room for tickets – he picked up about 12 extra – but he said some of his family and friends knew they had to buy tickets on their own.

Saturday, he put on a show for them.

"That means a lot to me," he said. "I'm blessed to have those people behind my back. They are my biggest and No. 1 supporters, and I appreciate every moment I get when I get to see them at a game or on my free time."

The Rams headed to the locker room at half with a 10-7 lead, the defensive having played well despite the Spartans having great field possession. Morrow's quick-strike score was added to by a 26-yard Michael Boyle field goal.

At the end, Colorado State's offense lamented three drives, the first to end the first half, the other two coming in the second.

Getting the ball with just more than 2 minutes on the clock in the second quarter, the Rams drove down the field, only to have the clock run out on the final play after Millen scrambled for a gain, but the team couldn't get back to the line soon enough to clock the ball, and an illegal snap led to a runoff of 10 seconds to end the half.

"You'll have to ask the officials about that," Norvell said about the finish to the half. "We were trying to kill the football, and they wouldn't let us kill the football."

The Rams began the second half with an impressive drive after San Jose took the lead for the first time. On a second-down play from the SJSU 18, Millen was intercepted on a nice play in the end zone by Shelton Justice, ending the threat.

Down 21-10 to start the fourth quarter, Colorado State used 10 plays to cover 73 yards, getting as close as the 1, but Morrow was stuffed on two runs, followed by two incomplete passes as it turned the ball over on downs.

"They all hurt. We don't ever want to lose," Norvell said. "it's a game we could have won, but these opportunities don't ever come back. I just feel for our guys because they gave great effort."

After the unlikely Stratton-Horton touchdown, San Jose State answered with a scoring drive to put the game out of reach with just 2:22 remaining. After Colorado State's defense allowed just 99 yards in the first half, the Spartans closed with 357.

The Spartans' three scoring drives produced most of it, 215 in all. Two of the drives were long and sustained, covering at least 75 yards, but in the middle came a quick-strike score, needing just two plays to cover 54 yards. Chevan Cordiero threw for 274 yards and two scores, while running back Kairee Robinson rushed for two scores.

"They started to kind of move the pocket a little more for the QB and get us out of the pocket and get a little more dash-pass, play action," Cam Bariteau said. "We just didn't execute to our full ability."

There are so many places where the Rams feel they could have done enough to win, but in the end, it wasn't.

There were too many mistakes, missed assignments and miscues. Defensively, they held San Jose State to just 3-of-11 third-down conversions, but a few big plays helped the Spartans get out of holes.

"It's frustrating. Literally right there," Bariteau said. "These are the ones that really hurt. You think you should really win, you have a lot of opportunities, but you come up short."

Week after week, the Rams find ways to remain encouraged and upbeat. The 469 yards of total offense will help. But week after week, they wonder why some of the same things keep happening, the sacks and penalties for instance.

Week after week, the Rams go back to practice intent on fixing it. None of them are happy. None of them want to be in the position they are, so as cliché as it sounds to people, they go back to work.

"Even though we don't end like we want to end, the guys on this team, we want to go out there and fight and compete every single opportunity we get," Horton said. "I know it's a rough season, and us losing that game kills our dreams, but I just know the guys in that locker room, we're coming in, we're going back to work and we're just going to keep on punching, keep on fighting."

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Clay Millen

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