FORT COLLINS — Donnell Alexander’s 37-yard run late in the fourth quarter helped drive a stake through Colorado’s fading hopes of winning last Saturday’s game. At the same time, he sprinted his way into the heart of Colorado State fans.
Everyone is learning about the redshirt freshman running back from Blue Springs, Mo. On Saturday in the Rams’ home opener against North Dakota State, everyone gets to see a bigger dose of Alexander. Regular starter Chris Nwoke is out of the game because of a sprained right ankle, allowing Alexander to take Nwoke’s place in Colorado State’s starting lineup.
“He’ll be prepared,” CSU coach Jim McElwain said.
Rams quarterback Garrett Grayson labels the 5-foot-11, 205-pound Alexander “a real shifty back.”
“You get him out in space and he can make people miss,” Grayson said. “He’s got great speed, you saw that on that last run he had, he broke for 40 yards or whatever it was. He’s got that breakaway speed. He’s a change-of-pace back, kind of an Oregon Ducks kind of running back.”
Alexander rushed for 66 yards on eight carries against the Buffs. Add on his 19-yard catch and three kickoff returns for 76 yards, and Alexander accumulated a game-high 161 all-purpose yards. The 37-yard run, which was the Rams’ longest play from scrimmage of the day, set up Jared Roberts’ final field goal to give the Rams a 22-17 lead.
Despite Alexander’s explosive play-making ability and his gaudy average of 8.2 yards per carry, McElwain is looking for much more sound judgment and increased patience in Alexander’s second go-around. He did fumble a kickoff return early in the fourth quarter, but it was recovered by a teammate.
Colorado State’s media policy this season prohibits freshmen from doing interviews with the media.
“He’ll be the first one to tell you, his patience and his footwork was not good,” McElwain said. “The key to the run game is your footwork in the backfield has to match your footwork up front. So there’s a reason that you take certain steps, there’s reason you aim at a certain place, and he hurried.
“He played like a first-year player. And left some big plays on the field.”
Tickets available. If there was a bump to be had in ticket sales from Colorado State’s victory over Colorado — and there was — it’s coming around slowly, at least up to this point.
Colorado State is expecting about 26,000 fans for Saturday’s home opener in the 32,000-seat Hughes Stadium.
Christopher Dempsey: 303-954-1279, cdempsey@denverpost.com or
