One down. Two more to go.
Colorado State football (4-6) kept its postseason hopes alive Saturday with a 22-19 victory over San Diego State (3-7).
It was a game that was closer than it should have been. There were multiple missed opportunities to really extend the lead early. And after essentially not doing anything offensively for the first three and a half quarters, the Aztecs managed to score the final 16 points to pull within a field goal late.
While there are definitely things to be addressed — CSU had costly penalties and an untimely fumble in the fourth quarter set up SDSU’s comeback effort — what really matters in the end is that the Rams came away with a victory when their backs were up against the wall.
SDSU is certainly having a down season. This is their first losing campaign since 2009. Or in other terms, since year two of the Steve Fairchild era in Fort Collins.
Considering the Aztecs have won 10 of their last 12 matchups against the Rams though, six of which were by double digits, this is still a feat that should be celebrated.
Similarly to Boise State, SDSU is a program that’s just really had CSU’s number over the last 15 years. Wins have not come easy against them very often.
As much as they have struggled at times this year, this is also an Aztecs roster that has a significant veteran presence, and they are a group that can wear opponents down physically as the night goes on. We saw some of that in the fourth quarter for sure.
Being fair to the Rams, we saw the Green & Gold establish a pretty physical presence in this one as well. Offensively, the Rams ran the ball effectively, especially when true freshman Justin Marshall was out there. The speedster out of Merrillville, Indiana, finished with 18 carries for 119 yards and one touchdown.
According to CSU, the 5-foot-11, 175-pound running back is the first freshman to rush for over 100 yards in his debut since Ron Harris in 1974. He’s also CSU’s first 100-yard rusher this season.
Along with Marshall, Vann Schield (55) and Avery Morrow (24) combined for 79 more yards on the ground. None were more important than the final 13 to seal the deal. On third and four with 1:16 remaining, SDSU had a chance to get a stop and get the ball back, but Morrow plowed forward for a game-clinching 7-yard carry.
Rounding out the impactful rushers, Dallin Holker made the most of his one carry, as he was able to find the end zone after taking a direct snap out of the backfield. The one-yard rushing score was his seventh overall this season (six receiving). He led the Rams in receptions too (6 catches for 57 yards).
Moving forward it would be great to see the Rams build off of the rushing success. It feels very likely that these games will be tight to close out the season and had CSU not fumbled late in this game, this very well could have been a double-digit win.
You’d definitely like to see the passing offense be a little more consistent as a whole. It felt like there were some big plays to be made through the air and Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi missed some throws over the course of the night.
To the credit of “BFN” his decisions were mostly solid. He did a good job of managing the lead down the stretch. And most importantly, he didn’t put the ball in harm’s way. From a mentality perspective, it was another step in the right direction for the redshirt freshman gunslinger. He has arm talent for days and plenty of confidence. It was encouraging to not see him look rattled in the second half though.
Finally, I would be remiss to not to spotlight the defensive effort. They may have given up a handful of plays late, but any time you hold an opponent under 20 points, the unit is doing their job.
Henry Blackburn led the team in total tackles (8) and really stood out with the way he was flying around. Mo Kamara picked up another sack to bring his career total to 29. He now needs four to tie Clark Haggans for the all-time school record (33). And collectively, the defensive line really made things difficult for the Aztecs throughout the game.
However they do it, this team just needs to find a way to claw its way to the postseason. It has been an up and down year with many missed opportunities. This team has too much talent to miss out on a bowl game though.
One down. Two more to go.
