FORT COLLINS — After hooking up with tight end Crockett Gilmore for a 69-yard touchdown completion in the first quarter Saturday night, Colorado State quarterback Garrett Grayson struggled the rest of the way against North Dakota State.
Of course, he wasn’t alone as the Rams suffered a deflating 22-7 loss to the defending Football Championship Subdivision national champions at Hughes Stadium.
Perhaps most telling, Grayson threw only one pass in the third quarter, when the Bison ate up much of the time with a long drive that led to the 33-yard Adam Keller field goal, giving North Dakota State a 22-7 lead.
Grayson, a sophomore from Vancouver, Wash., ended up going 13-for-24 for 171 yards, with one interception. The Bison also sacked him four times.
“We didn’t do a great job of protecting him,” CSU coach Jim McElwain said.
Said Grayson: “I just felt like we couldn’t get in a rhythm. We were off the field for so long, we just couldn’t get anything going. They played a (heck) of a football game, so you’ve got to give them credit.”
The loss came in the wake of the 22-17 victory over Colorado in the season opener in Denver.
“We didn’t have the best week of practice,” said Grayson. “I think we kind of all got excited about what we had done last Saturday, and we were still kind of focused on that maybe. … We tried to tell each other as much as we could not to overlook these guys because they’re the D I-AA national champions and they’re not coming here to lose.”
Grayson said the Bison “won everything. Defense, they won. Special teams, they were dominating. We have to learn that going into each week, we can’t overlook any opponent.”
Despite the pressure he faced, Grayson said he still had faith in his offensive line.
“There’s never a time I’m doubting those guys,” he said. “They’re always giving 100 percent. I believe in them, no matter what. I give their D-line credit.”
He also took some blame.
“Part of that is that I have to get rid of the football,” Grayson said. “That’s what it comes down to. There were a lot of plays we had short routes and I’m just holding on to it too long.”
As his coach did earlier, Grayson tried to look for a bright side.
“I think this kind of helped us,” he said. “I think after last week, we were feeling pretty high about what we did. I think this kind of brought us back to reality.”
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