LAS VEGAS — When offensive coordinator Dave Baldwin agreed to be interim head coach through Colorado State’s bowl game, the assignment came with no promises. But in the wake of Jim McElwain’s sudden departure to Florida, well, someone had to do it, to step in as the Rams attempted to match the best season in school history, the 11-2 record posted by the 1997 Western Athletic Conference championship team.
So Baldwin went to the Rams’ seniors, almost all of whom had been recruited by the Steve Fairchild regime and adapted to and eventually thrived through the switch to McElwain and his veteran staff. Baldwin said he needed their help.
And he got it.
So Friday, at the news conference on the eve of the Rams’ Las Vegas Bowl matchup against 8-4 Utah on Saturday, Baldwin referred to the two seniors on the dais with him — offensive tackle Ty Sambrailo and linebacker Aaron Davis — as representatives of a class. The Rams’ other top seniors include quarterback Garrett Grayson, who owns most school career passing records; wide receiver Charles Lovett; guard Mason Myers; kicker Jared Roberts; nose tackle LaRyan King; linebacker Max Morgan; and cornerback Bernard Blake.
“I want to compliment our athletes for this three-week period,” Baldwin said. “They’ve hung in there. When you’re a 10-2 football team and you have great senior leadership and the two young men to my right have hung in there and held this team together, and we’re excited to be here because of that.”
Davis returned the praise.
“I give a big shoutout to Coach Baldwin and our coaching staff,” Davis said. “It’s been a little rough, but we adapted. We always say adapt, adjust and overcome, and that was another challenge for us. I do think it took the senior leadership to hop in and keep the younger guys on the bus.”
This all began nearly five months ago, with the first preseason practices. CSU knocked off Colorado in the opener, lost at Boise State, then ran off nine consecutive wins before falling in the regular-season finale at Air Force. Along the way, the Rams cracked the top 25, drew national attention with the heroics of sophomore All-America wide receiver Rashard Higgins and an offense that averaged nearly 500 yards a game, and perhaps turned the corner with a dramatic Sept. 27 win at Boston College produced on a last-second, fourth-down touchdown pass from Grayson to Lovett.
Now they’re in the bowl game without the coach who took them through all that, hoping that it won’t be disruptive Saturday against the Pac-12 Utah Utes — CSU’s former WAC and Mountain West rival.
“At the end of the day as players, you just hope you leave a legacy of accountability, both on and off the field,” said Sambrailo. “As senior leaders, we try to do what’s right in every situation and make sure that we’re people that be looked up to, and that people can follow in our footsteps and keep the program moving in the right direction.”
Said Davis: “The senior leadership, we’ve been here for awhile and I feel like the last couple of years, we’ve won some games and I feel like we have to instill to the younger guys, that it is hard to win, and it takes preparation and hard work and things like that. As of now, we’re focused on this game, but when we do look back, we’ll realize it was a special season.”
Terry Frei: tfrei@denverpost.com or
When the Rams run
Dee Hart and Treyous Jarrells, the Rams’ season-opening 1-2 punch, both are 100 percent. This likely is Hart’s final game with CSU, given that he’s 22, already has his degree and is ready to move on — even if that’s likely not to the NFL. His goal will be to go out with a bang. Utah has allowed an average of 158 rushing yards per game. Edge: Colorado State
When the Utes run
Devontae Booker, a sophomore junior college transfer, was a first-team all-Pac-12 choice, and his 112.5-yard rushingaverage in all games was second in the conference and 21st in the country. He ran in an offense coordinated by former Wyoming coach Dave Christensen, in his first season with the Utes. Edge: Utah
When the Rams pass
The key here is for the Rams to protect Garrett Grayson against the Utes’ fearsome pass rush. It’s worth putting the binoculars or a camera on CSU left tackle Ty Sambrailo working against All-America defensive end Nate Orchard. Orchard is second in the nation with 17½ sacks and won the Ted Hendricks Award as the top player at that position in the country. The Utes did allow 245 yards passing per game, though, and Colorado’s Sefo Liufau threw for 317 yards and a touchdown in Utah’s 38-34 win in Boulder on Nov. 29. Edge: Colorado State
When the Utes pass
Junior Travis Wilson essentially is a three-year starter, and his only 300-yard passing game of the season was against the Buffaloes, when he threw for 311. If he gets more than 53 yards against CSU, he’ll pass Alex Smith and move into fifth place on Utah’s career yardage list with a season to play. The Utes have been slowed a bit because wide receivers Dres Anderson and Tim Patrick both were lost for the season with injuries, Anderson just past midseason and Patrick two weeks later. Edge: Utah
Special teams
Utah punter Tom Hackett, averaging 47.0 yards, is an All-American and won the Ray Guy Award, and place-kicker Andy Phillips was a semifinalist for the Lou Groza Award. Phillips, a former U.S. ski team member, played football for the first time last season, and he was 12-of-15 from beyond 40 yards this season. If CSU punter Hayden Hunt and kicker Jared Roberts can respond to those challenges, it will help considerably. Edge: Utah
Las Vegas Bowl CSU vs. Utah, 1:30 p.m. Saturday, KMGH-7
