FORT COLLINS — Demetrius Demar “Dee” Hart, the diminutive dreadlocked dasher, devoured the defense all day, inducing a dictionary of D’s.
Really, the only “D” from Saturday is displayed in this column.
Defensively, one could declare it a despicable demonstration by New Mexico, but coach Bob Davie couldn’t have denied Dee with his old gold-domer Notre Dame defenders.
Dee Hart — they forgot the “e” in this last name — deceived defensive ends and destroyed dime packages for 272 all-purpose yards and a half-dozen touchdowns. And he delivered this destruction in just three quarters.
“I told him to get up out of the game,” receiver Rashard “Hollywood” Higgins deadpanned, “because I needed some touchdowns.”
Dude, this game was deadlocked approximately until “dawn’s early light.”
“They are a legitimate BCS top-level offensive team,” Davie said of Colorado State, after the 58-20 demoralization.
Darn it if this wasn’t a tour de force from the delirious whirling dervish wearing No. 10 (diez?). Dee’s 11.5 yards per run? This was Daniel Day-Lewis on screen, David Duval shooting 59, Daisy Duke wearing Daisy Dukes. And the thing about Dee, he isn’t this Dickerson or Denver’s T.D., scoring TDs. He’s more Danny DeVito — with Arnold Schwarzenegger deltoids.
“The way he runs people over and makes people miss, it kind of keeps people guessing,” quarterback Garrett Grayson said.
Dee’s TDs differed, be it the fourth-down dive — dreadlocks soaring behind like some sort of cape — or his 55-yard dash or the 76-yard dart.
PHOTOS:
During the fall, his coach took delightful digs, deciding Dee Hart had the acceleration of a Datsun. And so, Jim McElwain wondered Saturday, “Did all the other guys fall down? All 11? To see his smile when he said he finally finished — I told him, ‘It’s about time.’ “
CSU needed this win — double digits (10-1) for the first time in more than a decade — and Dee, with a dozen touchdowns already entering the day, was the difference. But just what did Dee do?
“I thought he did a much better job of one-cut runs,” McElwain described. “Sometimes, he tries to hit a home run instead of just sticking his foot in the ground — see it and go. I thought he did a really good job of that today. … He’s become a true Ram now. This family has adopted him.”
Will we see Dee in a December bowl or, dare I say, January? Either way, CSU’s run has been as dazzling as one of Dee’s. When Kapri Bibbs darted for the draft, one wondered if the run game would deteriorate. Well, I think Dee Hart danced for another first down during this column’s drafting.
“I was just trying to do it for my seniors out there, because these guys took me in — and a lot of people don’t know what that means to a person,” said Hart, an Alabama transfer. “You grow up in a different kind of background and come to a place that’s not familiar to you, and these seniors welcome you with open arms? That kind of touches your heart.”
Dang it, it’s deadline!
Benjamin Hochman: bhochman@denverpost.com or
