After three consecutive years of near-miss frustration in the Rocky Mountain Showdown, the Colorado State Rams got a measure of revenge against Colorado on Saturday at Invesco Field.
CSU quarterback Caleb Hanie ran for one touchdown and threw for another as the Rams twice came from behind to add to CU’s early season misery with a 14-10 victory.
The Rams improved to 2-0 for the season, while the Buffaloes – who were coming off an embarrassing opening-week loss to Division I-AA Montana State – fell for the second straight time under new head coach Dan Hawkins.
Hawkins had said all week that he expected junior Bernard Jackson to get some work at quarterback. But he took that one step farther, giving Jackson the start in place of senior James Cox, who played most of the opening-week loss to Division I-AA Montana State.
Jackson, from Corona, Calif., took the Buffaloes 65 yards in nine plays on the opening drive of the game, getting the touchdown himself on a third-down bootleg from three yards out. Mason Crosby’s extra point put Colorado ahead 7-0.
The Rams pulled even on their second possession, with Hanie finishing off the 71-yard, nine-play drive with a three-yard keeper and Jason Smith adding the extra point with 1:41 left in the first quarter.
After CU cornerback Terrence Wheatley recovered CSU receiver Damon Morton’s fumble at the Rams’ 26, the Buffaloes didn’t move the ball and settled for taking a 10-7 lead on Crosby’s 40-yard field goal with 12:43 left in the half.
CSU regained the lead on Hanie’s five-yard TD pass to Kory Sperry in the back of the end zone. That came with 4:07 remaining in the second quarter, and the Rams took the 14-10 edge into the dressing room at the half.
Midway through the third quarter, Crosby booted what seemed to be a startling 61-yard field goal for the Buffaloes, but officials ruled that CSU had called timeout before the snap. Crosby’s second attempt was short and to the left, so the Rams remained up by four.
Hanie almost made it through three full quarters without throwing an incompletion. He hit his first 14 in a row, for 179 yards, before throwing one away, deep over the sideline, with eight seconds left in the third period. That was part of a CSU drive that lasted over nine minutes, yet didn’t produce any points because Jason Smith’s 34-yard field goal attempt was wide with 10:04 remaining.
But the Rams managed to hold on, winning for the first time in the intrastate rivalry since a 19-14 victory at Invesco in 2002. CU won the next three by a total of 13 points.
Colorado State goes on the road next week to face Nevada of the Western Athletic Conference Saturday at Reno, while Colorado is at home against the Pacific 10 Conference’s Arizona State Sun Devils. That 5 p.m. Saturday game in Folsom Field will be nationally televised by WTBS.
