They call him Hollywood for a reason.
Colorado State wide receiver Rashard Higgins was a superstar Saturday, catching eight balls for 125 yards and a touchdown in a 27-24 overtime loss to Colorado.
“He lifts the whole team up,” CSU coach Mike Bobo said.
Higgins usually shows up when the spotlight is the brightest, and he did Saturday in front of 66,253 fans at Sports Authority Field at Mile High.
Higgins was the No. 1 focal point for CU’s defenders all week. They know how explosive he can be.
Still, he was a handful for those CU defenders the whole game, even though they shaded a safety to his side for most of the contest.
Higgins’ touchdown catch was a thing of beauty. He salivated at the sight of one-on-one coverage from CU cornerback John Walker.
Quarterback Nick Stevens threw a fade route Higgins’ way. A true 50-50 ball. He put on a stutter-step move and caught the ball at its highest point.
It was an NFL catch for a guy who might be CSU’s best draft prospect this century. And that includes Broncos 2015 second-round pick and starting left offensive tackle Ty Sambrailo.
Higgins was battling an ankle injury that kept him out of his team’s overtime loss to Minnesota. But he showed little signs of it slowing him down.
“I was fine. Y’all saw me out there catching touchdown passes,” Higgins said.
And if anything, a gripe can be made that CSU didn’t get him the ball enough.
Bobo said Higgins was the No. 1 option on the first play and last offensive play in overtime, but CU put cornerback Ken Crawley on him to neutralize his threat.
Higgins’ track record is well-known. He was the nation’s leading receiver in 2014 with 1,750 yards and 17 touchdowns.
The junior wideout from Dallas was a consensus first-team All-American, CSU’s first player to receive the honor in 20 years. And he’s the only returning Biletnikoff Award finalist in the nation.
But he still felt like he had much to prove starting with the Rocky Mountain Showdown. In last season’s matchup with CU, Higgins had only one catch: a 16-yard touchdown reception in the Rams’ 31-17 win.
It was a completely different story Saturday, but his team lost.
Earlier in his career, a loss like this might have caused him to fret and lose sleep. Now, he’s providing leadership for younger guys who have never felt this feeling.
“Just don’t hang your head down. Everything happens for a reason,” Higgins said.
Cameron Wolfe: 303-954-1891, cwolfe@denverpost.com or
