Air Force Academy – There were ample decisions to second-guess in Colorado State’s second-half collapse Thursday night.
The Rams uncharacteristically punted with 7:47 left in the game on fourth-and-2 from their 44, knowing there was no guarantee of seeing the ball again. There was the conservative second half after the Rams produced some of the biggest passing plays of the year in the first half. Even when the Rams took over for one final drive, CSU took its final timeout with 2:08 left for no apparent reason.
But the biggest game-changer was out of CSU’s control. The rules dictated they go into the locker room for halftime after stunning the Falcons with a two-play, 86-yard scoring drive for a 21-3 lead.
“It was one of those things; you didn’t want to go in at halftime. You just wanted to start the third quarter,” said defensive end Jesse Nading, one of three defensive starters injured in the game.
CSU didn’t score again. The Falcons methodically moved for three touchdowns and finished off the 24-21 win with a Chris Sutton interception with 1:59 left.
And CSU coach Sonny Lubick also had an uneasy feeling: “I knew at halftime this game was far from over.”
These AFA-CSU matchups rarely are decided in the first 30 minutes.
Caleb Hanie looked brilliant in the first half, whether it was on an 83-yard pass with Damon Morton to set up Hanie’s 3-yard TD run or moving CSU out of the shadow of its end zone after Jon Radford recovered an Air Force fumble on the 2.
Then the CSU junior struggled to maintain his poise in the second half after throwing an interception to Bobby Giannini on CSU’s second drive of the third quarter.
“It was a huge emotional roller coaster,” said Hanie, who passed for only 30 yards after halftime after a 252-yard first half. “They played with more intensity, and we shot ourselves in the foot.”
He said the first interception was a result of miscommunication with intended receiver Kory Sperry. Offensive coordinator Dan Hammerschmidt said the late timeout was called when receivers lined up on the wrong side.
Dane Stratton, starting for the first time at offensive tackle, was called for two holding and two illegal-procedure penalties.
“We can’t have those penalties and turnovers and win a ballgame,” Hanie said.
The defense took its share of the blame.
“From the fans’ point of view, you could call it momentum but we didn’t stop the dive and that’s how you stop their offense,” linebacker Luke Adkins said.
Although safety Klint Kubiak had a career-best 19 tackles, he also was called for pass interference.
“They just lull you to sleep and then throw the ball,” Kubiak said.
Hammerschmidt said he never considered going for it on fourth down as the clock ran to less than eight minutes. In fact, Hammerschmidt blamed himself for not being conservative enough in the CSU game plan.
But in the end, CSU went against every trend it established this season. Although CSU stopped the Falcons early, the Rams did not maintain the pressure. CSU had been leading in time of possession and had been dominant in preventing third-down conversions.
Air Force had the ball nearly 10 minutes more than the Rams and converted 9-of-15 third downs.
Natalie Meisler can be reached at 303-954-1295 or nmeisler@denverpost.com.
