Fort Collins – As usual, Colorado State enhanced the chances of several candidates for Mountain West Conference player of the week honors – for the opposition.
TCU tailback Aaron Brown ran for 166 yards and three touchdowns. Quarterback Jeff Ballard ran for two scores and passed for another. And every TCU defensive player made life miserable for the Rams.
The only TCU player who didn’t make a case for himself was punter Brian Cortney. He didn’t have to make the trip to stand around the heater on TCU’s Hughes Stadium sideline. Cortney never punted in TCU’s 45-14 victory over the Rams on Saturday.
Ballard fumbled on the first drive and TCU’s reserves were stopped on downs on their final possession. In between, TCU scored on seven straight possessions, starting with Chris Manfredini’s 38-yard field goal and ending with Brown’s 45-yard burst with 1:54 remaining in the third quarter.
“We had a lot of fun tonight,” Brown said. “We had to treat every drive like it was our first and make it personal. That was lots of fun.”
Aside from scoring on the opening drive and two trick plays in the second half, including a tackle-eligible lateral to Clint Oldenburg, there was no fun for CSU or a paltry crowd of 16,146 at Hughes Stadium, most of whom were gone by the end of the third quarter.
With a sixth straight Mountain West Conference loss, CSU (4-7, 1-6) guaranteed its second losing season in three years. There’s little guarantee the Rams will reverse course in the finale at San Diego State next week, even against a team that has been outscored 93-14 in its last two games. TCU (9-2, 5-2) moved into second place in the MWC.
Given the worst reversal during his 14 seasons at the helm, CSU coach Sonny Lubick said of the 4-1 to 4-7 tailspin: “That’s football. I can believe it but I don’t like it.”
He also admitted the Rams were overmatched against the Frogs.
“Give them credit,” Lubick said. “We would have had to be nearly perfect to beat them. Against a team like that you can’t give them second opportunities.”
After CSU quarterback Caleb Hanie had no trouble directing a seven-play drive on the first possession for a 7-0 lead on a 22-yard pass to H-back Kory Sperry, the Rams played as if they were frozen in place. Following defensive end Tommie Hill’s recovery of a Ballard fumble, the defense didn’t come up with another big play other than forcing a field goal on the next drive.
CSU’s lead would have held up a little longer but the Rams received an offsides penalty when Manfredini was attempting a second field goal, which ended in a 7-yard scoring run by Ballard. Then the floodgates opened.
Following the opening drive, the Rams had three straight three-and-out possessions. When the Rams finally picked up their next first down on a 22-yard Hanie pass to Damon Morton, the Rams were down 24-7. On the next play TCU cornerback Torrey Stewart perfectly covered Morton and picked off Hanie at the TCU 9.
With its worst field position of the day, TCU went 91 yards.
“They ran the option all day on us,” CSU defensive tackle Erik Sandie said. “They came to play and just outperformed us. … Their speed outside is better than ours.”
Still, the Rams had thoughts of getting back in the game after closing to 31-14 on their opening second-half drive. Wide receiver Johnny Walker lined up as a tailback behind running back Nnamdi Ohaeri and threw a perfect strike from 42 yards out to a wide-open Dustin Osborn.
TCU answered with its sixth straight scoring drive to go up 38-14 with 5:40 left in the third quarter for the most points scored on CSU this season. The rout continued with Brown’s third TD of the night on the next possession.
Hanie had the wind knocked out of him and left the the game briefly. Although he came back a drive later, Bill Farris came in for the final quarter. TCU followed suit, replacing Ballard with Marcus Jackson.
THE GRADES
Offense
D: Trick plays on a touchdown pass from wide receiver Johnny Walker and a tackle-eligible lateral to senior Clint Oldenburg at least made for two entertaining moments Saturday night. Nothing else redeeming after the Rams’ opening drive.
Defense
F: TCU gained 606 yards, most against the Rams since Navy totaled 611 yards in the Poinsettia Bowl last season, and never punted. CSU looked completely clueless against the option game.
Special teams
D: No kickoffs into the end zone. No punt return game because TCU didn’t punt. The Rams’ kickoff return game had plenty of practice, but little to show for it.
Overall
D: The Rams’ defense reverted to last year’s ineptitude and their offense stood in place except for the drives to start each half. Overall it was CSU’s worst outing of the season by far.
Staff writer Natalie Meisler can be reached at 303-820-1295 or nmeisler@denverpost.com.
