FORT COLLINS — Not this time. Not against this opponent.
After sealing three consecutive home wins in the final nine seconds, Colorado State put itself in position to do the same Saturday against Texas Christian. The nation’s top-ranked defense refused to go along, however, protecting a 13-7 lead from the middle of the second quarter to the final buzzer.
“This defense . . . they’re going to make you look silly at times,” CSU coach Steve Fairchild said of the TCU unit that came in ranked first or second in five national defensive categories. “I like what we did. We set ourselves up. We just didn’t make enough plays downfield to get it done. And at the end there, we just couldn’t buy any field position.”
Fairchild could have added “time of possession.” TCU, which also leads the nation in time of possession, held the ball for 32 minutes, 46 seconds.
In front of a season-high 27,130 fans at Hughes Stadium, the Rams (3-3, 1-1 Mountain West) came out moving the ball as easily as a week ago against UNLV. Running back Gartrell Johnson, who finished with 30 yards on 16 carries, put the Rams ahead 7-0.
But after the opening 78-yard drive, TCU (6-1, 3-0) settled down to business, and CSU netted only 33 yards the rest of the first half. As a result of six sacks, the Rams finished with just 11 yards rushing for the day; they had minus-49 yards rushing in the second half.
“We knew Colorado State was a very good running team,” said TCU defensive end Jerry Hughes. “We had to make sure we could come in and stop the run.”
With the running game effectively removed by the Frogs and the passing attack at a standstill, Fairchild sent in backup quarterback Klay Kubiak to take over at the Rams’ 13 with 6:08 left in the third quarter. The redshirt freshman gave the Rams a spark, as he did in a lopsided loss at Cal two weeks ago, but he was sacked five times, fumbling away his first possession.
With 2:45 left to play, the Rams started at their 17 and moved to midfield before losing 13 yards. CSU stopped TCU for one last chance, but Kubiak was picked off by Daryl Washington.
“They have a great defensive line and put a lot of pressure on us,” said CSU tight end Kory Sperry, who had six catches for 104 yards. “It was a first time in a while we faced a team like that.”
Sperry blamed himself for not hanging on to a pass in the end zone from starter Billy Farris in the second quarter. A few plays later, Rashaun Greer, who had 211 yards receiving a week ago, was open within sight of the end zone but couldn’t hang on.
“I let it slip away,” Greer said.
Overshadowed by the loss was CSU’s own best defensive effort of the year. TCU running back Aaron Brown, who has had two of his five career 100-yard games against the Rams, was held to 32 yards.
“He was priority No. 1 for us,” CSU linebacker Jeff Horinek said. “Every year he’s talked a lot of smack to us. He really didn’t today, but he ended up with a win and we didn’t.”
Twice when CSU turned the ball over, the defense answered by getting the ball back immediately on a Mike Pagnotta second-quarter interception and a Tommie Hill fumble recovery.
“We showed some schools today that even though we lost, we can play with these teams,” Pagnotta said. “They are a good team, and this is the closest we’ve played them.”
Natalie Meisler: 303-954-1295 or nmeisler@denverpost.com
Key stat
1-of-5: On a wet field, TCU fumbled five times but CSU was able to recover only once. TCU won the turnover battle for the day 3-2.
Key play
On a second-quarter drive set up by a Mike Pagnotta interception, Rashaun Greer couldn’t hang on to a Billy Farris throw near the goal line. The Rams didn’t get any more sniffs of the end zone.
Natalie Meisler, The Denver Post
