Fort Collins miracle: Utah State survives wild finish against CSU
Heartbreak, then ecstasy.
An illegal touching penalty wiped out a touchdown on a Hail Mary for Colorado State, after the receiver stepped out of bounds before catching the ball, and Utah State escaped by mere inches with a 29-24 victory over the Rams on Saturday in Fort Collins.
“I’ve never been a part of something like that. I’ve never seen something like that,” said USU senior linebacker Jontrell Rocquemore. “I went from an all-time low, thinking the world’s going to end, to ‘oh my gosh, we just won.’ I don’t know how to explain that.”
The game started slowly, with neither offense able to enforce its will on the opposing defense. Utah State built a 10-0 lead early in the second quarter after senior safety Aaron Wade returned an interception 95 yards for a touchdown. Colorado State responded with an 8-yard TD run from running back Izzy Matthews to send the teams in the locker rooms with USU up 10-7.
“We started out slow as an offense,” said USU senior receiver Aaren Vaughns. “We got two drives down in the red zone and we should’ve scored both of those drives, but we kind of froze up.”
USU’s Savon Scarver attempts to break a tackle as he drives the ball down the field during their game against CSU on November 17.
The teams traded several field goals before a 32-yard interception return for a touchdown by Rocquemore put Utah State up 20-10 heading into the final frame. The Rams opened the fourth quarter by finishing a 15-play, 90-yard drive with a nine-yard touchdown pass from Collin Hill to Preston Williams to trim USU’s lead to 20-17. Utah State responded with a third field goal from Dominik Eberle, who went 3-of-3 on field goal attempts in the game, to make it 23-17 with seven minutes remaining.
Then all hell broke loose.
Utah State stopped Colorado State, forcing a punt from the Rams near midfield, but the return was muffed by freshman WR Deven Thompkins. CSU recovered, and the Rams took the lead two plays later when Hill found Williams for a 17-yard TD reception to put Colorado State up 24-23.
Facing a fourth quarter deficit for the first time since playing at Michigan State the first week of the season, the Aggie offense took over with 1:36 remaining, and immediately marched the ball into CSU territory as Love found senior receiver Ron’quavion Tarver for a 28-yard gain down the left sideline. Three plays later, Love found Vaughns wide open on the corner route to the left. Vaughns sidestepped a defender, then waltzed into the endzone to put USU up 29-24 with 43 seconds to play.
“It’s a great, humbling feeling,” Vaughns said of his score. “I trust my ability and I knew all I had to do was make the play, catch the ball, and get in the end zone for our offense… I was just looking for my teammates to celebrate. I was happy for me and my teammates to get that score.”
Utah State quarterback Jordan Love looks for an open player down the field during their game against CSU on November 17.
With little time remaining, the Rams quickly moved the ball past midfield and set up a Hail Mary attempt on the final play of the game. Hill lofted a pass deep down the right sideline to Williams, who rose up to catch the ball among several Aggie defenders. Rocquemore guided Williams out of bounds on his route, however, forcing an illegal touching penalty for being the first player to touch the ball after returning to the field of play. The penalty resulted in a loss of down, and the end of the game for USU’s first victory at Colorado State since 2012.
“Thrilling, obviously. I don’t have much voice left,” said Utah State head coach Matt Wells. “I think everybody that came got their money’s worth. I think it’s a gutsy effort by players on both sides of the ball. They spilled their guts out there. Both teams played their heart out. What else can you say? It’s going to be a heartbreaker for one of them… Football gods were smiling down on us today.”
Colorado State held the Aggie offense in check for the majority of the game, as the Rams won the yardage battle by count of 506-310. Love finished with 169 yards on 15-of-24 passing with one touchdown. Senior RB Gerold Bright led USU on the ground with 89 yards on 13 carries, including 47 yards in the fourth quarter alone.
Hill led Colorado State with 296 yards on 24-of-37 passing, with two touchdowns and two interceptions. Matthews finished with 100 yards on 20 carries for the Rams.
“I feel like our defense really stepped up to the challenge,” Rocquemore said. “Games like this where the offense is struggling a bit, it takes a good defense to rally behind them… I don’t want to pat our defense on the back, because there’s a lot of things we can clean up and a lot of things we have to go back and fix to prepare for the next week. But we got the job done.”
DJ Williams and Tipa Galeai tackle a CSU player during the first quarter of the game on November 17 at Colorado State.
The victory sets up a winner-takes-all matchup for the Mountain Division crown next week between Utah State and Boise State. The winner will also host the Mountain West title game.
“We know we have to go back to the drawing board and really have a great week of practice, because that’s the only way we get the job done,” Rocquemore said. “Now we have to bring our level of intensity up, our focus, everything. Our technique is going to be amplified for this next week, because I know Boise is going to bring it, so we have to be ready for it.”
At 10-1, USU has already tied the second-most wins in a season in program history.
“I’ve coached for 22 years and we’ve got a special season going. We’re going to celebrate,” Wells said. “This game’s too hard… We’ve won games different ways. Not every one of them is going to be the same, but I think that’s the essence of a team. That’s the essence of camaraderie and the Aggie brotherhood and the teamwork that goes into it.”
Utah State takes on Boise State on Saturday at 8:15 p.m. The game is scheduled to be broadcast on ESPN.