FORT COLLINS — When the Colorado State football team needed to reverse its red zone misfortunes, returning quarterback Clay Millen and running back Avery Morrow answered the challenge.
Millen engineered an 80-yard, 7-minute, 16-second drive with Morrow rushing for 22 of those yards, including the final 10 for the game-winning touchdown, in a 17-13 win over Hawaii on Saturday at Canvas Stadium.
The Rams rallied from a 13-3 halftime deficit to win their second game in the last three weeks.
“I am just really proud of our football team and the way they continue to fight,” CSU head coach Jay Norvell said. “That was a hard game. It was like a four-hour root canal with no Novocain. There were a lot of painful plays in that game.”
While the Rams (2-5, 2-1 Mountain West) still struggled inside their opponents’ 20-yard line a few times Saturday, twice Morrow scored touchdowns in those situations, once from 1 yard out and the other the 10-yard game winner.
The Nevada transfer finished with 147 yards, going over 100 for the third game in a row — a feat not accomplished by a Ram since Dalyn Dawkin in 2017.
His longest run of the game didn’t even result in a touchdown. He broke free for 67 yards in the first quarter, but the Rams’ recent red zone struggles surfaced and they turned the ball over after an incomplete pass on fourth-and-goal.
Morrow made sure he got into the end zone on the game-winning drive, breaking several tackles on his way.
“Finish,” Morrow said of his touchdown run. “Coach Norvell always talks about emptying your tank. That was the game-winning drive, and he gave me the ball and I just left it all out there.”
After Morrow’s game-winning touchdown, the CSU defense rose to the occasion when it was its turn to close the door on Hawaii.
Morrow’s touchdown came with 1:28 left on the clock, so the Rainbow Warriors had time for one more drive.
After three short passes got them to their 39-yard line, CSU’s Ayden Hector intercepted Hawaii’s Brayden Schager and Millen was able to kneel out the rest of the clock.
In the second half, the CSU defense shut out Hawaii and held the Rainbow Warriors to 33 yards.
The Rams’ defense forced Hawaii to punt on all of its second-half possessions except the one at the end of the game that ended with Hector’s interception.
“Guys were just locked in, more focused,” CSU linebacker Dequan Jackson said. “The attitude wasn’t bad in the first half. We just didn’t execute the way we were supposed to. We just got more focused. We played a great second half.”
Hawaii kicked a 27-yard field goal on its first possession of the game and after taking over, Millen and the Rams went to work on offense for the first time.
Morrow broke his 67-yard run down to the Hawaii 2. From there, the Rams ran the ball twice and Millen threw two incomplete passes, including one on fourth down, to give the Rainbow Warriors the ball.
As Hawaii built a 13-3 halftime lead and held a 13-10 advantage going into the final period, the Rams went for it on fourth down several times. Sometimes it worked. Sometimes it didn’t.
“We like to be aggressive, but on certain fourth downs, the wind was such a big factor,” Norvell said. “I was really upset that we didn’t score on that first drive. I just felt like we needed to score, and we were playing well enough defense that we could hold them. But every fourth down decision is its own entity.”
CSU opened the second half with the ball and gave the Warriors a heavy dose of Morrow. He eclipsed 100 yards on the drive and eventually scored from the 1 to cut the Hawaii deficit to 13-10 with 9:23 left in the third quarter.
For the first time in the game, the Rams converted a fourth down in the red zone into points.
They would do it again on the game–winning drive when, midway through the fourth quarter, they used a mix of Millen’s arm and Morrow’s legs to drive for the winning touchdown.
“I felt pretty good,” Millen said. “I think it was good to be back out there. Our offensive line did a great job today. We ran the ball really well. I think we are starting to click in a lot of areas, and I think there is a lot of exciting football we can continue to build on.”
Millen completed 17 of 24 passes for 177 yards. He did not throw an interception nor was he sacked. He added another 53 yards on the ground to add to CSU’s 209-yard rushing total.
Justus Ross-Simmons was the Rams’ leading receiver, catching four passes for 64 yards.
The Rams will be back on the road next week when they travel to Boise State on Saturday.
