Fort Collins – Often, the Colorado Springs-based Mountain West Conference office has a representative in attendance at Colorado State home games, especially for a conference matchup.
No MWC rep was at Hughes Stadium on Saturday to request an explanation from the officiating crew. Fans were stunned with the announcement that an inadvertent whistle nullified Jesse Nading’s 96-yard fumble return for a 34-7 lead with 6:38 left in the game.
The score went up on the scoreboard, the cannon fired but before Jason Smith could come in to kick the extra point, there was a lengthy delay to review the play.
The on-field announcement claimed that an inadvertent whistle killed the play. Associate commissioner Javon Hedlund was telephoned by CSU associate athletic director Gary Ozzello and asked to call the officials, who by then had left the stadium.
After reaching a referee, Hedlund relayed that, “If during a fumble and neither team has recovered and there is an inadvertent whistle before possession of the ball is established, the play is dead and must be replayed.”
On the replay, David Peeples didn’t fumble again and even if he had, Nading (6-foot-5, 258 pounds) would have been too winded for another 96-yard sprint.
It would have been the longest fumble return in CSU history. Although the game was long decided, Nading’s form was somewhat reminiscent of a fumble return by a defensive end 12 years ago when Sean Moran started the upset rolling at Arizona.
No CSU coach (the play happened near the CSU bench) or player heard the whistle, although the UNLV players insisted they heard it
“It is what it is. The fans were great,” Nading said. “They were loud.”
Quick healing
Center Nick Allotta was expected to miss the game after injuring his knee Wednesday in practice, but he was in his usual place in the starting lineup.
“I think he faked it to get out of wind sprints,” offensive line coach Darrell Funk said.
However, offensive right tackle Josh Day, one of only two seniors on the line, left the game in the first series with an ankle sprain. His status for Thursday’s game at Air Force was unknown. Sophomore Dane Stratton went the distance in Day’s place.
Defensive tackle Matt Rupp (ankle sprain) also went to the sideline in the first half. He returned for the second half and had a sack for a 6-yard loss.
NFL crowd
Houston Texans coach Gary Kubiak took advantage of the bye week to watch his son Klint, a sophomore starting safety. The younger Kubiak led all CSU tackles with seven, and broke up two passes.
Former Rams Cecil Sapp and Erik Pears, who both play for the Broncos, were on the sidelines with former teammates Joel Dreessen and Justin Holland. Dreessen, one of the last players cut by the New York Jets, has a workout Monday at Tampa Bay.
And former Bronco Mike Pritchard, who made his name as a Colorado receiver, is the color analyst for the UNLV radio outlet.
Footnotes
With UNLV managing 250 yards, CSU is allowing 236.6 yards a game, compared to 428 yards after five games last season. … Gartrell Johnson ran for a career-best 57 yards. … Michael Myers came in during the fourth quarter for a 6.8-yard average on eight carries. … Tight end Kevin McPeek, defensive end Tommie Hill and offensive guard Scott Benedict made their first starts.
