Rams Fly High at Air Force

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AIR FORCE ACADEMY – Chase Wilson printed out a picture and kept it in his room.

The snapshot was of the Ram-Falcon Trophy, something he's never touched personally but so desperately wanted to hold. And raise aloft above his head.

A picture may be worth a thousands words, but laying his hands on the actual hardware left the Colorado State linebacker a man of few words.

"It was better," he said after a tight 21-13 win. "Sweet, sweet victory."

Saturday evening, Colorado State got an early jump on exorcising some demons against Air Force – though it turned out to be anything but a smooth operation. Seven consecutive losses to Air Force and sans a win at Falcon Stadium since 2002. Throw in a run of eight losses in trophy games.

All of those program sins washed away with a hold-on victory to move to 2-0 in Mountain West play, 4-3 overall.

"This is not an easy place to come and win at. I was really proud of our kids and how they fought," CSU coach Jay Norvell said. "We had a couple of injuries, and it kind of affected us in the second half, just our continuity and being able to run.

"I was really proud of our defense. Our defense played extremely hard tonight and finished out at the end. I was really proud of how our guys ran the football. Avery had another big night. If we could have held on to the ball without a couple of those turnovers, it wouldn't have been as close as it was at the end."

The Rams had control of the game until late, just not of themselves in the early going. A fumble at the goal line wiped out a promising opening drive. Three failed third-down conversions followed, two of them 2 yards or less and a run of three drives starting inside their own 15.

In the second quarter, the yards started to produce points.

Starting a drive inside AFA territory, Colorado State used a halfback pass to break the ice, with Kobe Johnson hitting tight end Vince Brown II for a 23-yard score. The Falcons fumbled on the first play after the kickoff, and five straight runs by Jalen Dupree led to the freshman's first scoring run, extending from a yard out for a 14-0 lead.

It was Gabe Kirschke who caused the fumble, Boum Jock who recovered it, and on the final play of the first half – a 45-yard field goal attempt by the Falcons – the two teamed up again, with Kirschke blocking the kick and Jock settling under the deflection.

"I felt like a lot of things went right. I think as a team we played together, and that's huge," Kirschke said. "You have good D-tackles and good other players on defense, and it really helps you play good."

Colorado State tacked on with fireworks to open the second half as Caleb Goodie raised his right hand to snatch a slant out of thin air, racing 85-yards – the fifth-longest pass play in program history – for a touchdown and a 21-0 advantage.

It looked just as pretty on the field.

"Of course. I mean, one hand, jumping in the air, that's a big-time play," Morrow said. "Shoutout my guy Tory (Horton). He isn't here, but we need those guys to step up and make big plays like that. I'm hoping it motivates the other receivers."

Defensively, Colorado State built off what it did a week ago, adding splash plays to the mix. Struggling all season for sacks, the Rams produced two on one drive. They finished with five tackles for loss after none the week prior and Dylan Phelps ended a third-quarter drive with an interception in the end zone.

"I was really proud of them. I gave (the defense) the game ball tonight," Norvell said. "I thought their effort was really outstanding, and whenever you can hold these guys down it's a big night. It was a perfect game, but it was a game we needed to win, and our guys found a way to do it."5

The defense was doing through three quarters what no CSU defense had ever done before – shutout the Falcons – but a fumble by Armani Winfield in the fourth quarter led to the Falcons' scoring drive as they hit two explosive passes on back-to-back plays, the last one a 33-yard scoring connection between John Busha and Tylor Latham.

Then the game became more interesting as Busha found more passing lanes and made it a one-score game with 5:50 remaining when he plunged in from the 1.

The Falcons got the ball back inside 5 minutes, but a Kirschke sack led to a third-and-long, and Dom Jones intercepted a Busha pass at the 50 with 2:30 remaining. The Rams didn't move the ball again, and it was on the final play when they could celebrate as Dylan Phelps knocked down a desperation pass in the end zone.

"Man, what did they say? It's been 22 years since we won here," Morrow said. "That's unacceptable. That is terrible. I didn't know that, but I mean, since my time here, I haven't won a trophy. For all the guys that have been here since Coach Norvell has been the head coach, that's a big deal for us."

But the demons are now gone. And the trophy can be found once again in Fort Collins.

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Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi

Kobe Johnson

Players Mentioned

Vince Brown II

Jalen Dupree

Caleb Goodie

Kobe Johnson

Dom Jones

Gabe Kirschke

Dylan Phelps

Chase Wilson

Armani Winfield

Players Mentioned

Vince Brown II

Jalen Dupree

Caleb Goodie

Kobe Johnson

Dom Jones

Gabe Kirschke

Dylan Phelps

Chase Wilson

Armani Winfield

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