Henry Blackburn had seen enough.
The Colorado State junior defensive back from Boulder — despite missing a couple of games with an injury — was tired of the mounting losses, the players leaving and the team’s overall direction.
So, last week, before the Rams played at Nevada, he had something to say to the team.
“I wanted to make sure the team knew that we were walking into a fight,” Blackburn said. “We had the whole bye week to talk about it and we knew that we were walking into a fight. We knew the atmosphere was going to be pretty wild and we knew that those guys were going to play us hard. So I wanted to make sure that our whole team had the right mindset..and that whoever throws the last punch is going to win the game.
“Thatap what we did. We said we were going to do it and thatap what we did.”
It was a four-quarter fight. The Rams took a 14-0 lead thanks to its defense. Nevada rallied to tie the game in the fourth quarter. And the Rams ended up throwing that last punch, a 43-yard field goal with no time remaining on the clock.
Blackburn had eight tackles, one tackle for loss, a pass breakup and a forced fumble. It was the best game of the season for the Fairview High School product, who had five tackles and a pass breakup in the Rams’ first two games, against Michigan and Middle Tennessee. He was injured and did not play against Washington State and Sacramento State.
“I hadn’t played the past two games, so obviously that just hurts my soul more than anything not being able to play,” Blackburn said. “These guys who (transferred) over from Nevada, they’re my brothers now. Just talking to them, I needed to have their back. Itap like when a family member gets called out and you have to show up and you have to fight. Thatap kind of how it felt to me.”
Coach Jay Norvell called Blackburn’s speech to the team a battle cry. He knew the game was going to be emotional as he left Nevada after last season to take the CSU job. He wanted the players to play for each other and keep their composure.
Now Blackburn and the Rams look to keep up that intensity this week against Utah State. Blackburn said this game is personal as well because of the way last year’s matchup went. CSU scored with 3:31 remaining to pull within 26-24, but missed a 42-yard field goal that would have won the game.
“Now that we’ve got a taste of victory and a taste of how we can win as a team, we have to build on it now,” Blackburn said. “Thatap something we’ve been talking about.”
CSU and Utah State will kick off at 5 p.m. Saturday at Canvas Stadium.
