Colorado State Rams batter the Lobos
TRANSFER RB SCORES 6 TDS IN ROUT OF LOBOS
FORT COLLINS, Colo. — Was it the bubble gum or the baling wire that gave way first, or was it simultaneous?
The New Mexico Lobos, contributing error after error to the benefit of a Colorado State team that needed no help, fell 58-20 to the 22nd-ranked Rams on Saturday at Hughes Stadium.
New Mexico falls to 3-8 on the season, 1-6 in Mountain West Conference play. The Lobos close out the season at home next Saturday against Wyoming.
Colorado State improved to 10-1, 6-1 in conference play.
New Mexico turnovers, penalties, special-teams gaffes, missed tackles and coverage busts combined with CSU’s excellence to essentially end this game well before halftime.
It was the blowout loss that UNM had avoided since losing 58-23 to Arizona State on Sept. 6. But this one was far worse, given that the Lobos trailed the Sun Devils by only 11 points at halftime.
Saturday, they trudged to the locker room down 37-7. It became 51-7 midway through the third quarter and running back Dee Hart had already been in the end zone five times on his way to six touchdowns, tying a school record.
“It kind of caved in on us,” UNM coach Bob Davie said. “Just the overall immaturity of our team really showed and jumped up and bit us.
“We’ve probably hidden it to a degree, but it all kind of caved in today.”
The cave-ins came early and kept coming.
The Rams converted fumbled kickoff returns by the Lobos’ Ridge Jones into touchdown mini-drives of 24 and 31 yards.
Davie said it was Jones’ first fumble, on the opening kickoff, that set the tone.
“It certainly started (there),” he said, “to put the ball on the ground like that and give them a quick touchdown.”
The Rams’ touchdown after
Jones’ second fumble gave CSU a 20-0 lead with 10:28 left in the second quarter.
New Mexico answered with a 75-yard touchdown drive, set up by a 41-yard pass from quarterback Lamar Jordan to tight end Chris Edling. Jordan got the score on a keeper from 10 yards out, with 6:49 left in the second quarter, and it appeared a competitive game might be shaping up.
But that didn’t happen. The Lobos, coming off highly competitive performances against two of the Mountain West’s best — Boise State and Utah State — came apart.
Two plays after Jordan’s touchdown, Hart bolted 76 yards for a TD. After a New Mexico three-and-out, quarterback Garrett Grayson took the Rams 59 yards in three plays for another score.
After another UNM punt, Colorado State drove 80 yards and got a 32-yard Jared Roberts field goal as time mercifully expired in the first half.
The New Mexico breakdowns continued after the break. The Rams scored twice more for that 44-point lead before an 11-yard Romell Jordan touchdown run — set up by Jhurell Pressley’s 66-yard run on a sprained ankle — got New Mexico back on the board. Just 37 seconds later, Hart struck again. This time it was a 55-yard TD run to make it 58-13.
In the fourth quarter, Pressley had a 26-yard run that set up a 10-yard touchdown run by Teriyon Gipson that concluded the scoring.
Pressley finished with 109 yards on seven carries. It was his fifth 100-yard-plus game on the season.
“No matter what, I’m not gonna try to sit out a game or anything,” Pressley said. “One leg doesn’t mean anything to me. I’ve got another leg, so I can keep moving.”
Finishing a disastrous game on a relatively positive note, Pressley said, at least gives UNM some momentum for the season finale against Wyoming.
“We’re always gonna keep playing,” he said. “We’re not gonna give up to nobody.”
For Colorado State, at UNM’s expense, it was a game of superlatives.
The Rams’ 698 yards of total offense was a team record — and 644 of those came in the first three quarters. Grayson (389 yards passing, three touchdowns), a senior, became CSU’s all-time total offense leader. Wide receiver Rashard Higgins (10 catches for 167 yards, two TDs) broke the CSU single-season record for reception yardage.
Hart rushed for 230 yards and five touchdowns. He also caught a touchdown pass. His 36 points equaled the best single-game total in the NCAA’s Football Bowl Subdivision this year.
“Obviously, they’re a pretty good team,” said UNM inside linebacker Kimmie Carson, who led the defense with 10 tackles, 2 ½ tackles for loss and a fumble recovery. “Playing a team like that, you can’t make mistakes. ... That’s on us.”