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John Mosure walks into the end zone against Nevada Saturday.
The 2006 season started much the same as this current one for the Rams. Colorado State started 2-0 and looked to continue their winning ways and stay undefeated as they came into the third week of the season against Nevada. Sadly for the ’06 Rams, they lost against the Wolf Pack 28-10 as it was the first time in the two schools’ history that CSU lost to Nevada. Luckily for Rams fans, 2009 has brought a different, better team than CSU has had in recent years.
This 2009 team starts with head coach Steve Fairchild, the ex-Buffalo Bills offensive coordinator, who has changed the nature of football at Colorado State. In his first year, he took a struggling 3-9 team and made them a legitimate winner at 7-6 and a small bowl win. Now the Rams are halfway to their regular season win total in 2008, and in turn halfway to another bowl trip.
On Saturday, the Rams showed once again that they are a complete team, solid on both offense and defense. Nevada started their first drive but had it halted after only four plays as the Rams stripped the ball, as CSU’s No. 24 rushing defense showed up early. Then the Rams marched down in two minutes and capped off the drive with a John Mosure touchdown as Mosure made a huge impact on the game. After missing last week’s game due to a concussion, Mosure didn’t miss a beat Saturday as he rushed 18 times for 99 yards and caught passes for 10 yards as well.
After a three-and-out forced by CSU’s defense, the Rams’ play-caller, Fairchild, shined. He mixed up the run and pass plays well, as QB Grant Stucker threw for 19 yards on the drive, and Mosure and Leonard Mason ran for a combined 21 yards. But the gem of the drive and of the game really, was an end around by WR Dion Morton, but instead of him running the ball, he cocked back and threw a floater to a wide open Eric Pietz for the Rams second touchdown and a comfortable 14-0 lead that they took into half.
Coming out of half, the Rams defense struggled for the third week in a row, allowing the Wolf Pack to move for 60 yards in only three minutes on the back of Vai Taua, Nevada’s best running back. Taua busted a draw through the Rams defensive line, then skirted outside and up the sideline to pay dirt for Nevada’s first points of the season.
Then, with 6:22 left in the third quarter, Stucker through a deep bomb that acted as a dagger in the Wolf Pack, as his beautiful 49 yard pass flew through the thin Fort Collins air to a streaking Morton for the game-deciding touchdown. The Rams took the lead 21-6 and never looked back as they added two more touchdowns and eventually won the contest 35-20.
On the day, Stucker went a respectable 10-20 for 165 yards and two touchdowns. For Nevada, Colin Kaepernick had a solid day as well; going 25-38 for 251 yards and a TD, but he threw two interceptions to the ball-hawking CSU defense as well. The turnover margin for the Rams is the most glaring statistic for Colorado State, as their 2.33 per game is tied for second best in the nation. Elijah-Blu Smith recorded his third interception in three games and Klint Kubiak snagged one as well.
Following the win, Fairchild said, "We got four touchdowns off a turnover. We got a turnover and went in and scored. They dialed it up for us and we were able to put together some time-consuming drives to keep the defense fresh. That was a good Nevada team. They were much better than what the score said against Notre Dame."
And even though this victory feels great for the Rams, they have likely the biggest test of their season next week in Provo, Utah versus BYU. The Cougars (2-1) lost yesterday to Florida State 54-28 in Utah. BYU was No. 9 in the nation, but are now at No. 20. They will likely be very hungry next week against the Rams, but their confidence may be shaken after a blow out loss. In any case, CSU must focus, study lots of film, and may even have to get somewhat lucky to pull off the upset against BYU this Saturday. If the Rams can somehow win, they will have to receive even more national attention, and may even crack the top-25. CSU plays at BYU Saturday the 26th at 4:00 p.m. and the game can be seen on The Mountain.
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