Minneapolis – The most productive scoring game by a Colorado State receiver in 14 years came in a game Rams junior Dustin Osborn would just as soon forget.
Osborn caught three touchdown passes – 33 yards from Justin Holland, and 7 and 4 yards from Caleb Hanie – in a 56-24 loss at Minnesota on Saturday. It was the best scoring day for a receiver since Greg Primus caught four touchdown passes against Hawaii in 1991.
“I don’t care about any of that. I don’t care about stats,” Osborn said. “All we need to do is win. I want our program to win more than anything. If I would have caught a lot more balls in the game, we would have won.”
Osborn had seven catches for 102 yards and Johnny Walker provided a late spark with five catches for 116 yards. CSU’s most feared receiver, senior David Anderson, was held to four receptions for 58 yards. He was heavily shadowed and was overthrown on one pass by Holland.
Time to regroup
Colorado State draws a bye week before closing out the nonleague season Sept. 24 in the home opener with Nevada.
“The bye week is coming at a very good time for us,” CSU coach Sonny Lubick said. “We played two tough teams to start the season. Now it is time to see what we are made of. We can’t let these two games define us and what kind of team we are.”
The off week also comes after some injuries in the first two weeks. Guard Brandon Alconcel will be out indefinitely with a dislocated elbow. Linebacker Courtney Jones left the game with a back injury but returned. Holland was knocked out of the game with an ankle sprain. He said it wasn’t the same ankle he broke at midseason in 2004.
No bench time
Minnesota coach Glen Mason reinserted his first defensive unit in the fourth quarter when Hanie started moving the Rams. Hanie was 9-of-19 passing for 151 yards and two touchdowns.
“We put our second-teamer in and they stunk up the joint,” Mason said.
Special teams suffer again
While some teams create mottos around finding a way to win, CSU’s special teams keep coming up with new ways to contribute to losses. A week after numerous problems, including a poorly covered late squib kick that all but delivered Colorado’s victory, a roughing the kicker call on Shane Marsh began a chain of breakdowns.
Trailing 3-0 at the start of the second quarter, CSU stopped the Gophers at the Rams’ 46. The penalty gave Minnesota another chance at the Rams’ 31 and the Gophers went on to score a touchdown.
A blocked punt in the third quarter wrapped up the game. Lubick said he didn’t think it was the same breakdown that led CSU to taking a sack on a punt last weekend.
Change of colors
CSU abandoned the all-white look after losing at Colorado, donning green pants and white jerseys.
