Colorado State gives Hughes Stadium sendoff it deserves

FORT COLLINS – Colorado State fans couldn’t have scripted a better final game at Hughes Stadium. The Rams reached the always-important sixth win of their season, beating New Mexico 49-31.

After the CSU defense forced a three-and-out on New Mexico’s opening drive, Nick Stevens marched the offense 80 yards down the field on six plays. The Rams’ quarterback hit a wide-open Nolan Peralta for a 19-yard score.

CSU’s next possession ended in a trip to pay dirt as well. Dalyn Dawkins piled up 35 yards on the ground before Stevens scampered 14 yards for another touchdown. The Rams were up 14-0 with 5:09 to go in the first quarter.

New Mexico would get on the board on their third possession, when Damoen Gamblin made an unbelievable catch on a pass from Austin Apodaca. The 24-yard touchdown cut CSU’s lead to 14-7 with seconds remaining in the opening frame.

That’s as close as the Lobos would get the rest of the game.

Stevens added his second rushing score of the contest when he got into the endzone for a 1-yard touchdown plunge, extending CSU’s lead to 21-7.

After an 80-yard New Mexico punt pinned the Rams at their own 2-yard line, CSU marched 98 yards in just 4:03 to make it 28-7. This time, Izzy Matthews was the running back to barrel through the Lobos’ shoddy defense on his way to a 14-yard score.

New Mexico, who came in with the nation’s top rushing offense, couldn’t get anything going on the ground. The Lobos totaled just 57 rushing yards compared to 223 for the Rams in the first half.

CSU took a 28-10 lead into the locker room at halftime. In addition to winning the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball, the green and gold had a 15-6 edge in first downs.

The Rams wasted no time extending their lead in the second half. On their opening drive of the third quarter, Stevens connected with Michael Gallup for a 65-yard touchdown. It was the longest play from scrimmage for the CSU offense up to that point.

New Mexico’s Richard McQuarley made it 35-17 with a 1-yard touchdown midway through the third quarter. CSU squashed any momentum the Lobos had when Detrich Clark ran away from the UNM defense en route to a 32-yard score. The Rams were up 42-17 with 6:14 left in the quarter.

A Marvin Kinsey 75-yard dash upped CSU’s lead to 49-17 heading into the final quarter. The Lobos got a garbage-time touchdown midway through the fourth when Gamblin caught an 18-yard pass to make it 49-24 in favor of the Rams.

The game’s final score was a 79-yard touchdown run by New Mexico’s Tyrone Owens.

PLAYERS OF THE GAME

Dalyn Dawkins – The junior finished with 10 rushing attempts for 102 yards.

Izzy Matthews – The bulldozing back totaled 107 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries.

Marvin Kinsey – The freshman piled up 127 yards on 10 carries, including a major blow on the 75-yard score.

PLAY OF THE GAME

There may not have been a momentum-changing play in this one. But the Stevens-to-Peralta touchdown got the CSU offense rolling from the beginning.

QUOTE OF THE GAME

“Really just an awesome night tonight. For our community, for the university, for every Ram fan who’s ever witnessed a game here, for every player who’s ever played. A lot of memories in this stadium. And I know I’ve only been here through two seasons, but I talked to our team all week what kind of big responsibility we had. There’s a lot of emotion when Senior Night comes around for your team and then being the last game at Hughes Stadium, a lot of emotion there. I’m really proud of our coaches and players of how they responded.” – Mike Bobo

BY THE NUMBERS

303 – Total yards for CSU in the first half

9.5 – The average yards per play for the Rams in the first two quarters, compared to just 3.5 for the Lobos

3 – CSU running backs (Kinsey – 127, Matthews – 107, Dawkins – 102) with over 100 yards rushing, the first time in school history that’s happened

LASTING IMPACT

This can easily be marked as the most impressive win for coach Mike Bobo and the Rams in 2016. The Lobos came to Fort Collins 7-3 and boasting a frightening option attack. But the Rams answered the bell, ensuring them a bowl game for the fourth consecutive season.

WHAT’S NEXT

CSU ends their regular season next Saturday with a visit to Donnel Pumphrey and San Diego State. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.