FORT COLLINS — After Colorado State’s Dee Hart on Monday was named for the second time this season, the man who first recruited the running back to Alabama and then welcomed him to Fort Collins was gratified.
“Because of the previous relationships, obviously I had a great idea as to what we were getting,” CSU coach Jim McElwain said. “And yet, he still hadn’t hit his stride, from coming back off those knees.”
Hart had two knee surgeries while at Alabama before transferring to CSU and becoming immediately eligible because he had an undergraduate degree. His 230-yard game against New Mexico Saturday left him with 1,139 yards on 164 carries for the Rams this season, and he has rushed for 16 touchdowns and caught passes for two.
“This was the first game I actually saw him kind of really feel like he had his legs under him,” McElwain said. “When you think about the layoff after that kind of injury, it’s usually about a year and a half to two years to get back to where you were, and I think he’s starting to hit his stride a little bit.”
Hart also was the league’s offensive player of the week after he rushed for 139 yards in the opener against Colorado on Aug. 29. He and the Rams meet their second in-state opponent Friday in the regular-season finale, facing Air Force at Falcon Stadium. If the Rams win to get to 11-1 for the season and 7-1 in Mountain West play, they will have to wait about 31 hours to find out if they will be in the Dec. 6 league championship game as the Mountain Division representative. That would take Utah State beating Boise State at Boise late Saturday night, leaving the Rams and Aggies tied, with CSU advancing because of a head-to-head win Oct. 18.
Hart is in the unique position of having played in both the Southeastern Conference and the Mountain West. Asked Saturday night if the Rams deserve to be considered for a spot in the SEC-heavy College Football Playoff top 25, Hart responded: “Excuse me? This is the Colorado State Rams, sir, and I expect us to be top 10, that’s how I feel. A lot of people say that’s cocky, but we’re confident. I feel like we have better players than everybody else, and we proved that today. Ask New Mexico.”
Could the Rams play with an SEC team?
“We can play with anybody,” Hart said. “Anybody.”
Terry Frei: tfrei@denverpost.com or twitter.com/tfrei
