Rams keep bowl hopes alive with a dominant victory over UNLV

FORT COLLINS, Colo. — Nearly two years ago to the day, Colorado State football surrendered a 25-point lead in a heartbreaking home loss to Boise State. After not wearing the State Pride uniforms since, the Rams finally broke out the flag themed threads again Saturday afternoon. This time around, CSU didn’t disappoint as the Rams were able to absolutely dominate UNLV 37-17 at Canvas Stadium.

“A total team effort,” head coach Mike Bobo said postgame. “It was good to come out on State Pride Day and perform well.”

Bobo joked that the team was able to break the jinx with the blue uniforms, referencing the 2017 collapse to Boise State. When asked if this game puts the demons of that loss behind him, Bobo laughed and said that he has a lot of demons from over the years that he would like to bury.

“Those are things that are just going to haunt you forever,” Bobo said. “I actually talked about it in the locker room with the coaches today — about that (Boise State) game — it was a great game for everybody until the end when we didn’t finish. But that’s part of football, that’s this game. You’re going to have games like that and you never really forget those.”

While Saturday’s win doesn’t make up for the 2017 loss or any other disappointing loss from over the years, for a team that is fighting to keep its season alive, the dominant showing was a positive sign.

The fun started just seconds into the contest. Andrew Hawkins took the opening kickoff 99 yards to the end zone to put CSU up 7-0. From there, CSU proceeded to score 17 more points in the first half and took a 24-0 lead into the break. The first half shutout was CSU’s first since they beat San Jose State on the road in October of last season.

In the second half, the pace of the game slowed down dramatically. Both teams made a field goal in the third quarter but other than a few scuffles, there wasn’t much exciting to write about.

Finally, in the fourth quarter, UNLV was able to make the score closer than the actually game was with a couple of garbage time touchdowns. But for the most part, CSU was able to control Tony Sanchez’s squad from start to finish.

The win over the Rebels extends CSU’s winning streak to three. After sitting at 1-5 just a few short weeks ago, the Rams are now just one game shy of .500 and have an opportunity to potentially play their way into the postseason. If CSU can go 2-1 against Air Force, Wyoming and Boise State, the Rams would be bowl eligible for the first time since 2017. The problem of course is that CSU has never beaten Boise State and it has been four years since they last beat Air Force or Wyoming.

Really, the fact that the Rams even have a shot to be in the bowl conversation is wild. It would have been super easy for the team to throw the towel in after losing to San Diego State on Homecoming, so their turnaround is definitely admirable. As we all know, though, the games that matter most still have to be played.

Following the game, Bobo acknowledged the road ahead will be difficult — as he explained, any game against the Broncos, Cowboys and Falcons is significant — but now they can also factor in the added pressure of trying to qualify for the postseason. Even with much at stake, Bobo seemed calm about the situation, which might be because he has been talking about this exact moment since before the New Mexico game.

“I addressed that at the midpoint of the season. I laid out the rest of the season for us and that’s something I never really do,” Bobo said. “I talked about going into New Mexico and having a bye, then getting these two and having another bye, and then having the last three down the stretch.”

Bobo explained that he felt like this team was mature enough to lay it all out on the line, so that’s exactly what he did. And to the player’s credit, they’ve answered the bell so far.

That said, Bobo also knows that they cannot get lost in the excitement and they must keep their focus is they’re going to find a way to beat Air Force in two weeks.

“We know we have to take it one day at a time and have a solid plan,” Bobo said.

After the bye week, the Rams will host the Air Force Falcons on Nov. 16. CSU will then close out the season with the Border War in Laramie, Wyo., on Nov. 22 and a home game against the Broncos on the Friday after Thanksgiving (Nov. 29). The Rams have showed a lot of pride over their three-game winning streak — time to see if they can show up when the lights are brightest.