Fort Collins – Colorado State just can’t win the battle of the whistles.
Back when CSU had points to spare Oct. 7 in a 28-7 victory over UNLV, an inadvertent whistle cost a 96-yard fumble return by Jesse Nading.
Saturday, the officials claimed there was no whistle when BYU tailback Fui Vakapuna was seemingly down around the 2, but made a second surge across the goal line. The ball was marked at the 2.
The play was reviewed and a TD awarded to Vakapuna.
Like the UNLV game, there was no Mountain West Conference representative in the press box to get an explanation from the officiating crew. Two hours after the Rams’ 24-3 loss, associate commissioner Javan Hedlund said: “According to the official, the play was not blown dead, though the ball had been marked. If the whistle was not blown, the play is reviewable. Had the play been whistled dead, it would not have been reviewable.”
Nading’s erased TD was reviewed for a whistle.
CSU coach Sonny Lubick said that’s what the official told him.
“I guess they didn’t want two inadvertent whistles,” Lubick said. “He landed on one of our guys and rolled in to the end zone.”
Considering the Rams’ inability to move the ball, Lubick said, “That was minor.”
Attendance woes
The final indignity for the Rams came long after the players filed silently into their locker room on the south end of Hughes Stadium. On the north end, the BYU players and cheerleaders went to celebrate with their fans.
By the middle of the fourth quarter, the navy-blue-clad BYU contingent of several thousand was all that remained of the initial 21,117 fans.
It was the second straight sub-25,000 turnout for CSU. It was also the first time this season students did not pick up their 10,000-ticket allotment. About 2,000 seats were left by the students.
Radford out
Linebacker Jon Radford, one of only two senior starters on CSU’s defense, started with a career game, forcing a fumble and sacking John Beck for 5-yard loss. He left with a knee sprain and possible ACL tear, which likely ends his career.
Footnotes
Usually it’s the players who become ill before games, but BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall was captured throwing up on camera. … The Cougars came into the game leading the nation in turnover margin but CSU had a plus-1 advantage. Darryl Williams picked off Beck in the end zone. It was only Beck’s fourth interception this season. … CSU’s 151 yards of total offense were the lowest since 139 yards in the 2002 Liberty Bowl.
