Crazy comeback effort falls short, Colorado State loses to Utah State in a heartbreaker

DENVER — Not enough. 

Colorado State fought hard against Utah State on the road Friday night and almost found a way to come back from a double-digit deficit in the fourth quarter. Unfortunately, despite getting after the quarterback all game long and really delivering a beating on Logan Bonner, the Aggies were able to capitalize on untimely Rams penalties and connect on enough shot plays to pull out the 26-24 victory at Maverik Stadium. 

The Rams defense had eight sacks, 11 tackles for loss and contained Utah State to less than three yards per carry in this one. Aside from jumping offsides repeatedly and giving Bonner a couple of free throws, the front seven really put together close to a perfect performance. As mentioned above, though, Bonner was able to take advantage of the mistakes just about every time; the biggest example of course being a 38-yard touchdown pass to Devin Wright in the second quarter. The scoring play was Wright’s second of the night, it was also the second allowed by Marshaun Cameron who was repeatedly picked on throughout the matchup.

Along with a couple of scoring plays from Wright, the other biggest momentum swing in favor of the Aggies came right before halftime. After a field goal put Utah State up 17-14 with 1:30 remaining in the half, USU opted to go with a pooch kick instead of going deep and allowing the Rams a shot to return the kick. The play ended up being a disaster for the Rams, though, as Tywan Francis hesitated to go after the bouncing football, which allowed the Aggies to recover and eventually kick another field goal to go up two scores before halftime.

With CSU’s offense struggling to get much of anything going through the air, the 9 point lead proved to be just enough for a Utah State defense that played extremely well in their own right. The Rams were able to get David Bailey going in the backfield as he totaled 30 carries for 159 yards (5.2 AVG.) and a pair of rushing touchdowns. He also had two catches for 39 yards. USU consistently flustered Todd Centeio and basically completely took away the passing game, however, which made the comeback effort tough. 

The Rams offense did show some life down the stretch and found some late success through the air. With 3:31 to go Centeio was able to cap off a nice drive with a 13-yard touchdown pass to Gary Williams to bring CSU within a single score of Utah State (26-24).

Then after the defense was able to get a crucial stop to get the ball back, CSU actually got into field position with a chance to kick a game-winning field goal. In the chaos of the moment, though, the Rams rushed the kick with just a few seconds to go.

Centeio finished the evening 18-of-29 for 282 yards, with a touchdown and an interception, with most of that production coming in the second half of the fourth quarter. It should be noted that E.J. Scott (WR) also dropped what should have been an easy touchdown in the third quarter but overall there was just not enough consistency from the passing offense for most of the game. 

What was really confusing about the lack of early passing success was the fact that the Rams never really attempted to get their superstar tight end going. Trey McBride led CSU with five receptions but he wasn’t the focal point of the offense by any means. If there’s a silver lining it’s that Dante Wright (WR) had three catches, his first since Week 2, but No. 22 probably should have gotten a few more targets as well. 

In the end this was a game that was very much winnable for the Rams, especially with the way that the defense battled as a unit. Seven different CSU defenders recorded at least half a sack in the game, they played physical and left it all out on the field. And despite everything that went wrong the Rams managed to put themselves in  position to steal an ugly win. In a competitive conference game, though, you simply cannot afford to make as many mistakes as the Green & Gold on Friday night. It was death by a million cuts and that’s one of the toughest ways to lose. 

We’ll see how CSU responds in a massive home game against Boise State next week.