FORT COLLINS — Colorado State junior defensive end Joe Kawulok had 3½ sacks Saturday in the 42-17 victory over Tulsa at Hughes Stadium, helping the Rams keep the Golden Hurricane’s passing game mostly contained.
“It was a lot of fun, but honestly, a lot of that was the DBs having great coverage, so the quarterback didn’t have anywhere to throw,” Kawulok said.
The Rams had a total of six sacks, with Kevin Davis and SteveO Michel adding one apiece and Terry Jackson half a sack. Tulsa quarterback Dane Evans indeed was harried much of the game. He finished 16-of-29 passing for 222 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions.
About that redshirt. True freshman Deron Thompson, a much-touted recruit from Wichita, had two carries for 4 yards Saturday in his first action of the season. CSU coach Jim McElwain was matter-of-fact about eliminating the chance of redshirting Thompson, saying he always had been in the mix at running back.
Passing the test. Senior quarterback Garrett Grayson had been expected to play against Tulsa after suffering a bruised shoulder against Boston College last weekend, but there was some uncertainty because he wasn’t available to the media after Tuesday and McElwain’s last session with the press was Wednesday. At that point, Grayson’s throwing in practice still was limited.
He not only started against Tulsa, he threw for 236 yards and three touchdowns.
“As Thursday came along, I took all the reps Thursday,” he said of the closed practice. “I took all of ’em Friday, and warm-ups today, I felt fine.”
Grayson repeated that he wanted to play against Tulsa after he had a horrible game against the Golden Hurricane last year in a loss at Tulsa. “I told him that going back to last year, I didn’t care if we had to tape my arm on, I was going to play,” he said.
