Nov. 12, 2005
FORT COLLINS, Colo. (AP) - Kevin O'Connell threw for 179 yards and two touchdowns and San Diego State made Colorado State look like anything but a bowl team Saturday with a 30-10 victory over the Rams.
Chaz Schilens had six catches for 85 yards, Jeff Webb had a pretty touchdown catch in the back of the end zone and Lynell Hamilton ran for 108 yards to help San Diego State (4-6, 3-4 Mountain West) hand CSU its first home loss of the year.
The Aztecs intercepted three passes, stopped CSU twice on fourth down and forced the Rams to settle for field goal tries on two trips inside the 10. They kept their hopes alive for a .500 season and improved on an up-and-down year in which they had already swept Utah and BYU for the first time since 1986.
While San Diego State was looking for things to build on, Colorado State (5-5, 4-3) came in hoping to make something out of this season. Yet in their final home game, a game in which they could have ensured a winning record and qualified for the postseason, the Rams were downright dreadful.
Kyle Bell ran for 176 yards, but it couldn't make up for the flat, ineffective effort, the kind coach Sonny Lubick has routinely avoided over his 13 largely successful seasons in Fort Collins.
The ineptness began early, when defensive end Bob Vomhof drew a 15-yard penalty for going after Aztecs lineman Jasper Harvey well after the play had ended and after the Rams had stopped San Diego State on third down. Three plays later, the Aztecs scored their first touchdown, a 20-yard pass from O'Connell to Schilens.
Late in the first quarter, CSU recovered a fumble at the San Diego State 20, but had to settle for a short field goal.
In the second, Webb reached out for a nice catch and got one foot down in the back of the end zone for a 24-yard catch that made it 17-3.
The Rams trailed 20-3 at halftime, sending much of the crowd of 25,411 to the exits and creating a traffic jam out of Hughes Stadium that lingered well into the third quarter.
There were dropped passes, ill-timed penalties, a shanked 26-yard field goal attempt by Jason Smith and lots of other missed opportunities. A pair of O'Connell passes hit CSU defenders Jon Radford and Robert Herbert right in the hands. Each had clear sailing to the end zone for a touchdown that could have put CSU back in the game, but both dropped the ball.
CSU's final chance came with 5 minutes left in the game. Trailing 23-10, Justin Holland threw an interception into the end zone on fourth down to Terrell Maze. Holland finished with 165 yards passing.
The loss meant the Rams will have to win at UNLV next week to secure a winning record. But even that won't assure anything.
The conference has three guaranteed bowl tie-ins - four if the Liberty decides to take champion TCU - but with BYU, New Mexico, Utah and maybe Wyoming still in the mix, and with the showing CSU put in Saturday, the Rams aren't likely to be topping many lists.
San Diego State, meanwhile, can finish 6-6 with wins against Wyoming and Hawaii to close the season.