Fourth quarter rally comes up short as Rams fall to Broncos

Despite a furious fourth quarter comeback sparked by special teams, Colorado State failed to stop high-powered Boise State on Saturday night. The Broncos stayed undefeated with a 28-23 win over the Rams.

CSU’s defense came out on a mission right from the start, as Boise State failed to record a first down on their first four offensive possessions.

It also seemed like the Rams’ offense was going to have little trouble putting up points when Dalyn Dawkins and Nick Stevens keyed the initial score – a 39-yard field goal by Wyatt Bryan.

The Broncos finally got on the board late in the first half when Brett Rypien found Thomas Sperbeck for a 12-yard touchdown, making it 7-3 Boise State at halftime.

Jeremy McNichols torched the CSU defense in the third quarter. The Broncos’ running back followed a 5-yard touchdown run with an 80-yard touchdown scamper, pushing Boise State’s lead to 21-3.

It looked like the rout was on when Sperbeck, out of the wildcat, hit A.J. Richardson from 11 yards out to make the score 28-3 with 10:53 to go in the fourth quarter.

Then things got wild.

Izzy Matthews capped off a 17-play, 75-yard CSU drive with a 2-yard touchdown. Boise State still had a three-score lead of 28-10 with just five minutes to play.

But the Rams’ special teams unit recovered an onside kick, and on the very next play, Stevens connected with Michael Gallup for a 53-yard touchdown.

The madness continued when CSU recovered a second straight onside kick with a little more than four minutes to play. It then took the Rams just six plays and 73 seconds to go 54 yards for another score, this one an 11-yard Stevens pass to Dawkins.

The green and gold couldn’t convert the two-point conversion, but CSU was very much back in the game as Boise State’s once-comfortable lead was trimmed to 28-23.

CSU’s defense stopped the Broncos on fourth down with 15 seconds to play, getting the ball back to the offense.

Stevens and the Rams were hoping to get two plays off before time expired. However, on a bizarre first down that featured several forward and backward passes, game play was stopped for an official review.

It was ruled that there was an illegal forward pass from Robert Ruiz to Dawkins, as well as an illegal forward pass-out-of-bounds from Stevens, forcing a 10-second runoff and conclusion of the game.

PLAYERS OF THE GAME

It’s difficult enough for a coverage unit to execute a successful onside kick recovery even once in a game. But to do it in back-to-back tries? Amazing.

PLAY OF THE GAME

We will never know what CSU could have done with one more offensive play. Unfortunately, a highly questionable call from the officials prevented us from finding out.

TURNING POINT

The 80-yard run by McNichols gave Boise State what was, at the time, a commanding three-score lead.

BY THE NUMBERS

0 – Points for the Rams from 7:24 to go in the first quarter until the five-minute mark in the fourth.

3 – The number of third down conversions for CSU in 14 attempts.

40 – Carries for McNichols, who ultimately shouldered the load on offense for the Broncos

LASTING IMPACT

It was a roller coaster of a game for the Rams. After a solid first half, CSU lost its edge quite a bit in the third quarter before putting together a surge in the fourth. It’s unfortunate when the officials play a role in the outcome, but the fact that this one went down to the final play speaks to the effort of the Rams, who were 30-point underdogs heading into the matchup.

Nonetheless, coach Mike Bobo and the Rams are back to staring at a losing record of 3-4.

WHAT’S NEXT

The Rams continue their road trek next Saturday afternoon at UNLV. Kickoff is set for 3:30 p.m.