FORT COLLINS — After a painful reality check last week at Boise State, the Colorado State Rams got back on track Saturday. Although the 49-21 victory over FCS opponent UC Davis at Hughes Stadium left unanswered many of the questions about how good this CSU team is — or can be — it at least enabled the Rams to regain some of their swagger.
Senior quarterback Garrett Grayson threw for 425 yards and four touchdowns — two of them to sophomore wideout Rashard Higgins — and junior college transfer Treyous Jarrells, playing his first home game for CSU, ran for 84 yards as the Rams piled up 224 yards on the ground and 676 yards of total offense.
“Up front, the O-line did an excellent job, and we just ran behind them,” said Jarrells, the junior from Sanford, Fla.
What did it all mean in the wake of the misleadingly close 37-24 loss the previous week on the blue turf at Boise State?
Well, the most intriguing thing about this matchup might have been that many consider the two universities to have the top two veterinary schools in the country. In football, UC Davis is in its third season in the Big Sky Conference, and for comparison purposes, the Aggies trailed Stanford 38-0 at halftime in the first week before falling 45-0.
But it counted, and especially in a FBS landscape where fattening up on FCS opponents is commonplace. Plus, this is a CSU program that two years ago followed up a victory over Colorado in coach Jim McElwain’s first season with a loss to North Dakota State — the FCS powerhouse, but an FCS opponent nonetheless — in the second week.
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“I was really excited about that performance,” McElwain said of Saturday’s game. “We went into that game wanting to get a lot of things done and play a lot of guys. … We needed to get last week’s taste out of our mouth.”
The victory improved the Rams to 2-1, with a bye coming up this week before a Sept. 27 game at Boston College.
It was Grayson’s second consecutive 400-yard passing game — he threw for 434 yards at Boise State, with the asterisk that much of those came after the game was out of hand. This time, his backup, Nick Stevens, relieved him midway through the fourth quarter.
“I know he threw for a bunch, but here’s the good thing — we finally hit some deep balls,” said McElwain. “I think the explosive guys played explosive, and that’s good. When we get the balls in their hands, with them moving, they have a chance to finish.”
Grayson’s TD passes included connections of 45 yards to Charles Lovett and 52 yards to Higgins, and a 69-yard completion to Elroy Masters Jr. got the Rams to the Aggies 2 and set up CSU’s sixth touchdown before Grayson and the first offense was done for the afternoon midway through the fourth quarter.
“I felt like the receivers and I were pretty much on point with everything we were doing,” Grayson said. “The timing was there. That’s huge going into a bye week because I’ve been on the other end of the buy week when we lose with Coach Mac, and it’s not fun. It’s a good thing to go into a bye week with a win. Our heads are up high.”
Dee Hart, who broke out with a 139-yard game against Colorado in the opener, ran for 38 yards on eight carries against the Aggies, and he and Jarrells continued to alternate effectively. This time, though, holdover Jasen Oden Jr. contributed a late 50-yard run and he finished with 68 yards.
McElwain said of Hart and Jarrells: “They were both really, really good baseball players where they came from, believe it or not. … I had to after kind of the third series that in the game of baseball, every time you go up, it’s not a home run. Sometimes, they’re looking to bounce and do things, trying to make a home run all the time instead of just going to do what you’re supposed to do. Eventually, that guy’s going to pipe you one and you’ll take it out of the park.”
Jarrells confirmed that exchange. “He came to us and told us to calm down, settle down a little bit, and that’s what we did.” He added: “I played second base. I was a good second second baseman. Hitting wasn’t my thing, though. Obviously.”
Terry Frei: tfrei@denverpost.com or
Game balls
Garrett Grayson — Senior quarterback threw for 425 yards and four touchdowns.
Fred Zerblis — Sophomore guard represents an offensive line that kept pressure off Grayson and enabled the Rams to ring up 224 yards on the ground.
Rashard Higgins — Sophomore wide receiver already is above 1,000 receiving yards in his CSU career, and he had seven catches for 147 yards and two TDs vs. UC Davis.
Terry Frei, The Denver Post
