Colorado State Rams vs Idaho Vandals Football Recap

Colorado State 36, Idaho 34

Go ahead, try to explain away this nutty game at Hughes Stadium in Fort Collins, Colorado.

Ben DeLine kicked a 35-yard field goal as time expired, as homestanding Colorado State - for all its sheer ineptitude over the first three weeks of the season - found a way to stun the very same Idaho club that stormed to a bowl game in 2009. In a result that few pigskin pundits ever would have predicted, Coach Steve Fairchild's CSU crew emerged from the shadows to ambush coach Robb Akey's Vandals.

In a very real way, you could say that Colorado State Vandalized Idaho, stealing a game that seemed poised to end up in the hands of the visitors until the very end.

Indeed, before the madcap finish, many aspects of this tilt in Northern Colorado were leaning toward Idaho. Vandal quarterback Nathan Enderle threw for 347 yards and three touchdown for the Vandals, who accumulated 459 total yards and didn't have any problems moving the ball against CSU's defense. While Colorado State did take a 14-13 lead with two quick touchdowns just before halftime, Idaho - which established a 13-0 lead on Saturday, regrouped to attain second-half advantages of both 27-17 and 34-27. Idaho was the clear frontrunner in this game, and when DeLine missed a PAT that would have tied the game at 34-34 with 6:24 left, Idaho seemingly had what it needed to get to the finish line first.

Not so.

After being bullied for the first 54 minutes of play, the Rams found the ability to get tough on defense. When Idaho had a very favorable down-and-distance situation, a second-and-five scenario just short of midfield, it looked as though the Vandals were going to drain the clock. They had already gained one first down on a drive that wound its way inside the four-minute mark of regulation. One more first down would have really turned the screws on the Rams and pushed them toward the razor's edge. Just then, CSU pushed back. A two-yard loss caused by Ram linebacker Mychal Sisson put Idaho in a third-and-seven situation. Then, Michael Kawulok stepped up for Colorado State, making an open-field tackle on Idaho's Deonte' Jackson following a three-yard reception of an Enderle pass. CSU was able to get the defensive stand it so desperately needed, setting the stage for one last push at a game-winning score.

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CSU quarterback Pete Thomas did not disappoint. Thomas was 29 of 37 for 386 yards for the Rams, while accounting for three touchdowns on the afternoon. He didn't generate a touchdown on this particular drive - which started at CSU's 16-yard line with 2:47 remaining in regulation - but in a 34-33 game, he didn't need to. Thomas adeptly employed a short passing game that was mixed in with running plays to tailback Raymond Carter, who finished with 104 yards on the ground. Idaho's sagging defense also committed a huge 12-men-on-the-field penalty to move the ball into field goal range at the Vandal 24. After a few runs, including a six-yard burst by Carver, put the ball at the Idaho 18, DeLine - the goat just minutes earlier after the missed PAT - split the uprights from 35 yards on the final play of the game, and the deed had been done.

Yes, it was no lie: The same CSU crew that stumbled out of the gate so horribly had righted the ship, while a 2009 bowl team from Moscow, Idaho, stood around in a state of numbed disbelief. This result is a brain-buster when one realizes that Colorado State lost by 21 to the Colorado team that lost to Cal by a 52-7 score earlier this season. Colorado State entered this game with terrible offensive statistics - Fairchild's forces had mustered only one total touchdown in their first three games combined, so the Rams’ ability to score 36 points in a two-point win over Idaho indicates that this game unfolded far differently than many felt it would. Moreover, even after this offensive explosion, CSU still rates as the single worst rushing team in the FBS (59 yards per game) and the fourth-worst (or 117th-best) scoring offense, at 13.8 points per contest.

The folks from Idaho have to be wondering how they let this game - and Colorado State - get away.

Nutty.

By: Matt Zemek
DFN Sports Senior Staff Writer