Houston – In Colorado State’s continuing saga of finding new ways to lose, normally sure-handed Kyle Bell fumbled Saturday and saw it returned for a Houston touchdown.
Kenneth Fontenette’s 37-yard return tied the score late in the third quarter, and the inevitable outcome was a 38-27 loss, CSU’s third of the year and 10th in a row.
“He’s Mr. Ball Security,” CSU snake-bitten coach Sonny Lubick said of Bell’s usual reliability. “When things go bad, things go bad.”
After building a 24-10 lead with 3:46 left in the third quarter on three Caleb Hanie TD passes, things really went bad for CSU … again.
A winnable game was added to the loss column as the Cougars solved CSU’s defensive surge and the Rams’ offense stuttered and then sputtered to a halt.
The halt came on fourth down when Hanie was stopped. It didn’t take long for Houston to finish it off by the final score.
This was CSU’s biggest halftime lead, 17-3, since the 10-game streak started Oct. 12, 2006, at Air Force after the Rams led 21-3.
“When we came in at halftime we felt very good about ourselves because we played a good first half,” Lubick said. “The score was 17-3 and then all of a sudden they put up 30-something points in the second half and that’s not a good sign. It was just bad timing when they got on track. Also, it was a combination of everything.”
Bell took full responsibility, although he by no means lost the game for the Rams. He remembered feeling contact.
“I hoped a guy would fall on it. For a running back (seeing a fumble returned) is the worst feeling in the world next to losing,” Bell said.
The Rams had their way early. CSU scored on its first two drives of the day. Sophomore wide receiver Dion Morton and freshman reserve running back John Mosure caught their first career touchdown passes.
The Rams came out resolved to run Bell, and the Cougars were equally determined to stop him. Hanie had his way with the passing game, completing 8-of-10 before halftime.
It was an omen of more to come when the Rams converted back-to-back drives into just one 40-yard field goal by Smith. His kick with 5:15 before halftime extended CSU’s lead to 17-3.
“We were very frustrated at halftime,” Houston coach Art Briles said. His offense was as complicated as advertised with a variety of shotgun sets. The Rams keyed on Houston running back Anthony Alridge well enough to hold him to 62 yards rushing and no receptions. He came in as the second-leading all-purpose runner in the country.
But with a quarterback change in the second quarter, to Case Keenum, and ample speed from wide receiver Donnie Avery, it was a matter of time before the Cougars’ offense erupted.
Colorado State finally came back to life in the third quarter on a 53-yard pass from Hanie to wide receiver Luke Roberts for a 24-10 advantage. Hanie had all the time he needed to get Roberts open on the play-action pass.
After a three-and-out by CSU, Houston pulled within a touchdown on a 30-yard pass from Keenum to L.J. Castile.
CSU: THE GRADES | By Natalie Meisler
Offense
C: Running game isn’t getting the job done, especially with a second-half fumble. Nice day for Caleb Hanie, throwing 3 TDs and rushing for 42 yards.
Defense
C: Another day of outstanding effort for three quarters (giving up 283 yards) and then showing an inability to stop a more determined opponent.
Special teams
B: Overall special teams helped CSU dominate field position in the first half. Dion Morton’s 74-yard kickoff return set up one TD.
Overall
D: Getting outscored 14-3 in the fourth quarter is status quo for a team that has long lost any memory of how to finish a game.
Staff writer Natalie Meisler can be reached at 303 954-1295 or nmeisler@denverpost.com.
