Fort Collins – Colorado State running back Kyle Bell leads the Mountain West Conference in rushing. The Rams’ offensive line is tied for second nationally in fewest sacks allowed – three. The defensive line just turned in a goal-line stand for the ages in the 21-17 cliffhanger over Utah.
So, does this mean that CSU (3-2, 2-0) is back to the form where it won or shared six league championships from 1994-2002?
“I never thought we were gone; that’s (the media),” said coach Sonny Lubick, ignoring some of the miseries of the past two seasons. “We’ve been a good program for the last 10 years. Do you expect us to be 10-2 every year?”
When CSU was challenging for league titles, it featured a strong running game and physical line play, something it has exhibited in its past three games, all victories.
Lubick spent Sunday in the film room savoring the final defensive series when Jesse Na- ding and Delroy Parke stopped Quinton Ganther less than a foot from the winning touchdown on fourth down.
“Delroy was a yard into their backfield,” Lubick said. “(Ganther) backed off that, and that’s where Jesse came in.”
The CSU coach sees first-year Utah coach Kyle Whittingham as a kindred soul. Like Lubick, Whittingham was a career defensive assistant. He’s in his first year as a head coach and has lost two games on the final play.
“That shows how competitively balanced our conference is,” Lubick said. “We were sure happy we had good fortune, and it went right for us one time and we came out with a close victory. We kind of needed one of those.”
When CSU was rolling, the Rams routinely won close games on special-teams plays or late scoring drives. Starting with the 2002 season finale against UNLV, the Rams lost that touch, losing four MWC games and their past three meetings with rival Colorado in the final minutes.
“I’m not saying we deserved them all, but one could have gone either way,” Lubick said. “When you finally have one fall your way, it makes everyone feel good, but that doesn’t change the fact we have a game this week (at BYU).”
Footnotes
Linebacker Jahmal Hall will have an MRI today for a knee injury. Lubick expects middle linebacker Courtney Jones to play with chronic rib soreness on Saturday. He praised Jones’ backup, Jon Radford, who played most of the game. Offensive guard Josh Day is expected back this week after sitting out with a sore hamstring. Lubick wouldn’t put a date on center Albert Bimper’s return from a hamstring injury, but the senior was making faster progress than expected. …
The Oct. 22 Wyoming game will start at 1 p.m. and will be carried on ESPN Classic. …
Lubick said Saturday’s officiating crew forgot to give him a red coach’s challenge flag, but they remembered to ask for it back after the game. So Lubick, who wanted to celebrate with his staff and players, instead stood around rummaging through his pockets as if looking for his car keys.
Natalie Meisler can be reached at 303-820-1295 or nmeisler@denverpost.com.
