CSU lets another get away with second-half collapse
Medal of Honor recipient and CSU alum Peter C. Lemon points to the crowd as he shares a light moment with daughter Laura during a halftime ceremony at the CSU versus San Diego State football game at Hughes Stadium on Saturday. Lemon and family members of three other Medal of Honor winners, who were also CSU alums, were recognized and received American flags that were flown over the state Capitol and CSU flags that were flown over the campus. Also pictured, from left, are Maj. Channing Moose of CSU's Army ROTC, Jeanne Lewis, daughter of Medal of Honor winner Maj. William Adams; Melanie Lewis, granddaughter of Adams; Sandee Swanson, wife of Medal of Honor winner Capt. Jon Swanson; Swanson's daughter Brigid Swanson Jones; and Col. Jenny Pickett of the CSU Air Force ROTC. (Fort Collins Coloradoan photo)
FORT COLLINS — For the second time this season, the Colorado State Rams entered halftime with a comfortable lead. And as the trend has held, they came out of Hughes Stadium with an upsetting loss 30 minutes later.
San Diego State outscored CSU 35-7 in the second half to upset the Rams at home 42-28 Saturday afternoon. As expected, the Aztecs did it through the air, but not in the ways we all thought they would.
SDSU quarterback Ryan Lindley continued his accurate play, throwing 29 completions on 43 attempts for an impressive 459 yards and six touchdowns. Normally, you’d expect All-American receiver Vincent Brown’s name to show up here next to Lindley’s, but Brown left the game early with a thumb injury and recorded no stats. Instead, there was DeMarco Sampson, who had a career day of his own. Before tonight, Sampson had never accumulated more than 77 yards receiving in a game. But he crushed that number against the Rams, catching 15 balls from Lindley for 257 yards and three touchdowns.
San Diego State's DeMarco Sampson hauls in one of the 15 catches he had Saturday against CSU. (Fort Collins Coloradoan photo)
Before the third quarter, no one would have predicted this. The Rams looked even more dominant than they did the last time this happened, when Idaho overcame a 10-point Ram lead after the half.
CSU shut down the Aztecs on their first posession, forcing a three-and-out. SDSU’s Brian Stahovich shanked the punt and gave the ball to CSU on the SDSU 33-yard line. The Rams took advantage and scored easily on the legs of running back John Mosure. Then the Aztecs were forced to punt a second time, and again they gave CSU great field position. This time, Grant Stucker threw to Tyson Liggett for a 40-yard touchdown pass, and the lead was 14-0 before the end of the first quarter.
The second quarter was better for San Diego State, which finished off a 79-yard drive with a 5-yard TD pass from Lindley to Sampson. But it would also miss a 32-yard field goal and allowed Colorado State to score on one of Steve Fairchild’s favorite trick plays, the reverse. WR Dion Morton took the second handoff from Mosure 19 yards around the corner for the rushing touchdown. At halftime, it was CSU 21, SDSU 7.
The next three possessions would be the turning point for both teams. San Diego State came out hot, capping off an 80-yard opening drive with a 33-yard touchdown pass to Dominique Sandifer. The Rams had a great kickoff return to midfield, but Stucker threw an interception two plays later. Then, on the very next play, SDSU threw for another 33-yard score, this time to Sampson. By the time Colorado State started its second drive of the third quarter, with just under 9 minutes remaining, the game was tied at 21.
The Aztecs and Rams would trade touchdowns again, with CSU striking first on another gadget play. Mosure took a direct snap, then threw a 23-yard pass to FB Zac Pauga for the score. SDSU answered back, putting together another long 85-yard drive that ended with a TD pass to Preston King from the 3-yard line. The Aztecs couldn’t make it a tie, after the PAT was blocked by defensive tackle James Morehead.
Up by a point with 15 minutes remaining, all CSU needed was to grind the clock and get another score to have a chance at securing the win. Instead, it held the ball for only 5:48 total and never got past the SDSU 41-yard line. The Aztecs, on the other hand, scored with each of their next two possessions, including a successful two-point conversion, to make it 42-28 with 3:07 left. Again, the game ended with Stucker throwing an interception, letting SDSU run out the last minute of clock.
This tale of two halves left coaches and players stunned.
“The second half we didn’t play the ball,” said Fairchild of the big pass plays that allowed SDSU to sustain long drives, “That thing was just hanging up there and their guy went and got it and our guy didn’t. They just outplayed us.”
“It does disturb me, it gets to me,” said defensive coordinator Larry Kerr of the pass defense. “I’m just trying to find the answers and trying to keep these guys together and believing in what we are trying to do.”
What gets lost in this frustrating defeat is the play of Mosure. The running back looked more like the starter he was earlier in the season, rushing for 130 yards on 20 carries, and throwing that TD pass in the third quarter. Mosure had three runs for 15 yards or longer in the game, one of his perceived weaknesses. But though he had many personal successes today, the media was reminded by almost every interviewee that this was a “team loss.” Mosure felt it so hard that he declined to comment.
