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| Wednesday, October 25 Colorado State living on the edge By Ed Graney Special to ESPN.com | ||||||||
It's not known if the fat Rich guy who won that little island competition ever played football.
But his survival skills certainly would have fit at Colorado State.
Another week, another comeback, another win. And yet the Rams are living their conference lives this season like your average Hollywood stunt man. Dangerously.
CSU (6-1, 3-0), ranked 24th this week, plays at San Diego State (2-5, 2-1) on Saturday having won three conference games by a total of 11 points. The Rams have entered the fourth quarter trailing by as many as 10 points in five of seven games.
Resilient. Opportunistic. Fortunate.
Pick an adjective to describe CSU, but don't forget this one: Good.
"Our players just keep going," said CSU coach Sonny Lubick. "They always believe they'll find a way. I'd prefer to be ahead by two touchdowns going into the fourth quarter, but it hasn't been that way. I'm certainly concerned about the (law of averages) catching up with us.
"But you know, we're a pretty decent team."
Winning and losing are contagious things. The current group of Rams were not part of all four conference titles the last seven years, but they know enough about them to push their chests out and strut a little more come Saturday.
Air Force Too bad this isn't Navy, because the cadets are taking on major water from weekly defensive leaks. Air Force allowed four first-half touchdowns to New Mexico in a 29-23 loss and has surrendered an average of 26.8 points in five conference games. And with such numbers usually comes injury. The Falcons travel to No. 19 Notre Dame on Saturday, still not knowing whether linebackers Corey Nelson (shoulder), C.J. Zanotti (ankle) and tackle Zach Johnson (ankle) will play. "We're really nicked up," said Air Force coach Fisher DeBerry. "But I also know that if we don't play any better in the first half, we'll be in big-time trouble. We're not as decimated by (injuries) as we were at times last year." When you know things aren't right at Air Force: The other team (this being the Lobos) blocks a kick and returns it for a score. "We're supposed to be the ones doing that," said DeBerry, whose team has annually joined Virginia Tech as the nation's best at blocking kicks. BYU LaVell Edwards' final season likely won't end with another conference championship, not after the Cougars fell to San Diego State 16-15. When stats don't matter: BYU outgained SDSU 439-309, had the edge in first downs (27-16), passing yards (376-239) and time of possession (37:12-22:48). And still lost. "We did some things well, but couldn't finish any of our opportunities off," Edwards said. "I told the guys to hang in there. You never know what can happen." ... It was not hard to find Hans Olsen after the loss, and not just because the defensive tackle goes 6-foot-4, 295 pounds. He was also weeping. "It's probably the hardest loss I've ever been associated with," Olsen said. "This whole season has been painful. Everyone wanted to win the championship for LaVell. I love that guy. He is my friend. To see the season slip away, to see it crash like this, it just kills you." ... Owen Pochman, the league's best kicker, had a rocky day against SDSU. His 50-yarder gave BYU a two-point lead with 46 seconds left, but earlier misses from 52, 43 and 50 hurt his team's chances of winning. Colorado State It's not as if CSU has taken the easy road to its fast start. In fact, the Rams have earned every win, considering they rank 86th nationally in turnover margin. CSU has forced 10 turnovers and lost 14. The trend began to change during a 24-17 win at Utah on Saturday, when the Rams intercepted three passes and recovered a fumble. "We all talked about playing hard and doing our assignments," said safety Aaron Sprague. "Finally, in a big game when we needed it, (the turnovers) came." ... Rhett Nelson just keeps making plays. The cornerback who earlier blocked kicks in wins against New Mexico and Nevada-Las Vegas intercepted a pass against Utah with 3:49 left, setting up CSU's game-winning drive. "I guess I give our fans heart attacks," Nelson said. New Mexico It's a quick-fix mentality that usually works only in basketball: The always-important transfer. But the Lobos have found some instant success with a few capable new faces, including quarterback Rudy Caamano, wide receiver Larry Davis and linebacker Gary Davis. "They have been big additions for us," said coach Rocky Long. "You go through a learning process with them, but they're starting to show up now like the kind of guys you wanted them to be in the first place." ... Long's team is very much in the conference race at 4-4 overall and 2-1 in league. The Lobos in jumping to leads of 17-0 and 29-7 at Air Force never allowed the Falcons to control the game via their option. "We dictated how they had to play," Caamano said. "That was the game plan going in, and we were able to hit some passes early and get on top." ... Who would of thought: Talk of a bowl game is underway with fans in Albuquerque. "I think we've grown up over the last four to five weeks, but it's still way too early to be discussing that," Long said. "We've got to worry about Utah." How true. The Utes, who visit Saturday, have out scored New Mexico 93-14 the past two seasons. UNLV Speaking of bowl talk from an unlikely source. The Rebels are 4-3 overall, 2-2 in conference and travel outside league this week to play at Mississippi. UNLV was 3-8 last season and 0-11 before that. Seven wins are necessary this year to reach a bowl off a 12-game schedule. That means three more in five games. How close are the Rebels to a 6-1 record right now? They lost at BYU by three and at CSU by one ... There was a different feeling around UNLV heading into last week's game against Wyoming. The Rebels were actually a double-digit favorite. "That hasn't happened around here in a while," said UNLV coach John Robinson. "But I think we handled it well and didn't get distracted. We did the things needed to win." Easily, in fact, by a 42-23 score ... The play of quarterback Jason Thomas has received most of the publicity, but UNLV's offense is also relying on tailback Kevin Brown. The transfer from Washington State has a team-best three 100-yard rushing games and is averaging 6.2 yards per carry. "I couldn't be more thankful for the opportunity," Brown said. "I'm trying to make the best of it." San Diego State Just when you think it's time to throw the final clump of dirt atop the coffin, the Aztecs remain in the race by winning at BYU for just the second time in 13 career trips. "We've had a tough road," said coach Ted Tollner. "Coming in to that game sitting at 1-5 ... you wonder if the hard work you're putting in will ever pay off. A win like that makes it all worth it." ... The Aztecs won it on Nate Tandberg's 36-yard field goal with one second left. The senior whose career has been plagued with inconsistency hit it long and straight. It might have been good from 50. "Good snap, good hold, good blocking," Tandberg said. "I had the easy part. I know how big this is, it being BYU." ... The Aztecs became the first team ever to sweep the league's player of the week awards. Junior wide receiver Derrick Lewis took offensive honors, junior linebacker Jomar Butler was picked on defense and Tandberg on special teams ... Starting running back Larry Ned (dislocated shoulder) is doubtful for CSU this week, meaning junior James Truvillion moves to No. 1. Utah Have you seen the movie "The Contender"? It's like watching the Utes each week -- reality is nothing like the hype. Preseason favorite Utah is now 2-5 overall, 1-2 in conference and all but out of the league and bowl picture. This, the team with tremendous skill and one picked by most preseason polls to win the championship. "We have to stay together," said quarterback Darnell Arceneaux. "The worst thing we can do now is to allow all of this to rip us apart as a team." ... Utah began the CSU game as it did a week earlier against SDSU, which is to say red hot. But the Utes aren't good enough offensively right now (even with a wide receiver tandem of Steve Smith and a now hobbling Cliff Russell) to sustain momentum. "I'm real disappointed with our offense," said Utah coach Ron McBride. "We're playing hard, but we're not doing a lot of things real solid. We're sputtering too much and all of a sudden, games become a defensive battle. When that happens, it comes down to the team that can make a big play. We haven't done that often enough this season." Wyoming Just when those from the conference office have you convinced their officials are better this season, Wyoming gets dissed on a crucial call. The Cowboys -- 1-7 heading into Thursday night's game at BYU on ESPN -- trailed UNLV 35-23 with 12 minutes left on Saturday. Wyoming recovered an onsides kick, but an official ruled a Cowboy had touched the ball before it went the required 10 yards. Wyoming coach Vic Koenning asked who touched it. The officials said No. 35. Problem: Wyoming has no No. 35 on the kickoff team. Then the official said it was No. 85. Problem: He wasn't on the field. Translation: Bad officials. "It's their job to officiate the game," Koenning said. "But it wasn't even close. It happens. People make mistakes. But the timing of it and the way the call was made and their explanation of it didn't match up." ... Wyoming's defense is what it is: A collection of injured, undersized and inexperienced players getting overmatched each week. But the offense is another story. It has rallied around three-year starting quarterback Jay Stoner, who has thrown for 570 yards and four touchdowns the past two weeks. "It's a positive atmosphere around here," Koenning said. "We're doing some things well and our players have some great intensity right now. And we didn't lose any more players this past week with injury. That hasn't happened in a while." Ed Graney covers college football for the San Diego Union Tribune and can be reached at ed.graney@uniontrib.com | ALSO SEE Big East notebook Big Ten notebook Big 12 notebook Big West notebook WAC notebook | |||||||
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