Three takeaways from Colorado State's narrow loss to Toledo

FORT COLLINS, Colo. — Colorado State football (1-3) has now lost on Ag Day in back-to-back seasons. After losing to Illinois State in 2018, the Rams fell to the Toledo Rockets (2-2) at home Saturday night.

The 41-35 defeat is Mike Bobo’s eighth consecutive loss to an FBS opponent — CSU’s last victory over a Division 1 opponent came on Oct. 13, 2018, when the Rams beat New Mexico at home.

These are the takeaways from the late-night showdown on ESPN2.

Patrick O’Brien has up-and-down night

Making his first start for the Rams, Patrick O’Brien looked like a quarterback that is still getting his feet underneath him. The Nebraska transfer was able to make a few plays but for the most part it was evident that he is still adjusting to his new role as the starting quarterback.

The redshirt junior really struggled with accuracy problems throughout the game. often missing low on intermediate throws. Even more concerning was how uncomfortable he looked in the pocket at times.

Being fair to O’Brien, one week of practicing with the ones is not enough time to become sufficient at running the offense. But the lack of rhythm from the group as a whole was certainly concerning.

In total, O’Brien completed 31-of-52 attempts for 405 yards. The 6-foot-4, 240-pound, quarterback also threw one touchdown, rushed for one touchdown and had an interception right before the end of the first half.

Defense struggles again

While it may not have been a perfect effort from the defense in the first half, they did play well enough to keep the Rams competitive.

CSU forced three-and-outs on three of Toledo’s first four possessions and the Rams did a nice job of getting off the field on third down. In the initial two quarters, CSU stopped Toledo on six-of-seven third down conversion attempts and held the Rockets to two scores on seven possessions. All things considered, this was more than enough to keep CSU in the game.

However, in the second half, CSU’s defense absolutely crumbed. Toledo came out on the first drive of the third quarter and easily went 74 yards in three plays for their first score of the half. The drive ended with Kentucky transfer running back dashing for a 37-yard touchdown run and put the Rockets up eight at the time (21-13).

On Toledo’s second drive of the second half, Koback recorded the longest rushing touchdown of his career, a 75-yard run on the first play of the drive. The play came on the heels of Marvin Kinsey’s 74-yard touchdown run and was a real gut punch for Ram fans after the offense was able to temporarily take back some momentum (28-20).

Toledo’s third drive of the third quarter was much more of the same — ultimately ending with Koback rushing for a 47-yard touchdown (35-27). When it was all said and done, Koback finished with 19 carries for 228 yards and three touchdowns in the Toledo victory. Toledo’s offense finished with 547 total yards, 436 of which came on the ground.

Starvin’ Marvin

Marvin Kinsey has a hunger, a hunger that only can be cured by reaching the end zone. Over the last three weeks, Kinsey has five total touchdowns, including two more on the ground Saturday night.

With O’Brien and the passing offense struggling, Kinsey essentially put the team on his back. Kinsey carried the football 23 times for 246 yards, finishing the game with an average of 10.7 yards per carry.

Along with his speed in the open field, Kinsey’s vision was incredibly impressive Saturday night. The veteran running back patiently waited for his holes to open and then exploded through them with purpose. Whenever a defender came in too hot, the always-elusive Kinsey used his shiftiness to leave them in the dust.

In the end, though, Kinsey’s efforts were all for naught. The Rams could not overcome a slow start on offense and the lack of defense in the second half made it tough to come back. The Rams will need a more complete performance against an extremely talented Utah State team next weekend.