Dee Hart, Treyous Jarrells as the clock counted down the final seconds.
Colorado State unleashed its 1-2 combination of transfer running backs against Colorado Friday night, and — adapted from what was turned in late in the game and then retooled through a later edition and then the online posting.
As you can tell from the story, CSU Jim McElwain — to his credit — was flexible enough with his media policy to allow us to speak with Dee Hart and Treyous Jarrells, both first-year played in the program, after their big games.
In addition to what was in the story, Hart commented on the Rams falling behind 7-0 and then 10-0, and later 17-7, while also losing starting tackle Ty Sambrailo to a knee injury that likely will keep him out about three weeks.
“We told ourselves that we were going to face a lot of adversity this game,” Hart said. “Going down seven points was a big blow and losing Ty made things kind of shaky at first. But we pulled it together. In that second half we came out and took care of business.”
I confess I was skeptical about Hart at first, because my feeling from anecdotal evidence witnessed over the years is that transfers of players who hadn’t lived up to their high-profile recruit status generally have unspectacular results. He had redshirted at Alabama, then never gained traction in his ensuing two seasons of eligibility, gaining only 164 yards — or only 25 more than he gained in his first game with the Rams.
“I always want to be the best I can be,” Hart said. “Alabama was great. They had a lot of great running backs. I wanted to go somewhere where I could show what I could do and Colorado State was a great place (for that). Coach Mac has always been a father figure to me.”
I asked Jarrells, who transferred in from California’s Grossmont (Junior) College, but also is a Floridian, if he minded being the “2” in 1-2 punch. I knew the answer, of course, and he said: “No sir, I don’t mind. At the end of the day it’s a team effort, so whatever I can contribute to the team, whatever I can contribute, I’m fine with that.”
He said of their deployment: “It’s a relief, but it’s more picking each other up. When he’s tired, needs a breather, I run in and pick up the slack, and vice versa. When I’m tired, and I need someone to come in, he comes in and picks up the slack. It’s a good combo.”
Terry Frei: tfrei@denverpost.com or
