The CSU Rams continued their skid Saturday, losing their fourth straight game, 20-17, to the red-hot New Mexico Lobos.
Both the Rams and the Lobos have had recent struggles with their respective defenses
underperforming. Each team’s last opponent was UNLV, the Rams facing the Rebels after the Lobos beat UNLV prior to their bye week. Each team gave up over 40 points to UNLV’s top-flight offense, so defensive expectations were quite low entering this matchup in Albequerque.
Despite the doubts, the game was a genuine, hard-fought defensive slugfest, with the modest final score greatly exceeding the expectations of the game’s box score. Between the two teams, the game featured 11 punts, 8 sacks, 8 turnovers, 6 three-and-outs, and 2 turnovers on downs.
The first quarter featured next to no offense, as all six possessions resulted in punts, and the two teams’ 27 combined plays resulted in just 91 yards of offense. This quarter was particularly relevant for Colorado State, as their three punts—and two three-and-outs—did not reflect greatly on Jackson Brousseau’s pitiful 3.2 yards per attempt.
This resulted in yet another CSU QB change, this time benching Brousseau for the recent hot hand (in garbage time), redshirt freshman Darius Curry. Curry’s first drive resulted in a turnover on downs, then Curry was benched for Brousseau, who immediately led another three-and-out, then another punt on a 6-play drive.
In the meantime, the Lobo offense had warmed up, scoring 10 points in the second quarter in between drives that resulted in a fumble and a three-and-out. This certainly led many watching to believe New Mexico would begin to pull away, but CSU’s defense had other ideas.
The first four drives of the second half went as follows: interception, fumble, punt, fumble. The latter fumble by the Lobos on their own 7-yard line resulted in a CSU touchdown to cut the lead to 3, after which Curry was left in as the signal caller for the remainder of the game.
After yet another Lobo punt, Curry drove the Rams down the field to tie the game with a field goal. The teams then traded turnovers over three of the next four drives, the only reprieve being UNM’s touchdown to go up 17-10. The Lobos proceeded to get a field goal to go up 20-10 after Curry’s third interception, despite moving the ball just one yard on said field goal drive.
The Curry-led offense got back in the game with a late touchdown on a 41-yard screen pass to Lloyd Avant, but the Lobos effectively ended the game with a long drive down to the CSU 12, not leaving enough time for the Rams to get into field goal range.
This locked up the Lobos’ seventh win of the season, their most in a season since 2016. As for Colorado State, the Rams fell to 2-8, their fifth 8-plus loss season in the last eight years. With Nevada’s demolition of San Jose State on the same day, this meant that CSU is now tied with the Wolf Pack at the very bottom of the Mountain West Conference.
As mentioned before, Curry threw three interceptions in his first primary-starter action. This tainted an otherwise excellent performance, as he went 26-of-31 for 248 yards and two touchdowns when you remove the picks.
Curry spread the ball around well, as seven CSU receivers had double-digit yardage. Tight end Rocky Beers was again the team’s top pass-catcher, tallying 7 catches for 67 yards and a TD. Lloyd Avant, Tommy Maher, and Tay Lanier each topped 40 yards, Avant adding that screen for a touchdown, and Lanier being responsible for the Rams’ only lost fumble. Kojo Antwi, Lavon Brown, and Javion Kinnard each joined those listed above in double-figure yardage.
This passing excellence was undoubtedly necessary since the Rams’ run game was totally ineffective, with the team’s 25 carries leading to just 13 yards. By comparison, the Lobos’ 39 carries went for 122 yards and 2 touchdowns, led by D.J. McKinney’s 17-for-52, 1 TD line.
Lobo QB Jack Layne was inefficient, completing just 13 of his 25 passes. The problem was that those 13 completions went for 225 yards, and while only five receivers caught passes none having more than five catches, four of them topped 40 yards, and all had at least one catch of 17 or more yards. Big plays were undoubtably the CSU defense’s kryptonite on this night.
Each team tallied four sacks, with those split amongst three players for CSU and six players for UNM. Junior LB Jeremy Naborne’s two sacks led the way for the Rams, while Keyshawn James-Newby and Brett Karhu each had one sack to lead the way for the Lobos. Owen Long and Jackson Eck, the conference’s two leading tacklers, led their teams with 12 and 11 total tackles, respectively. New Mexico safety Austin Brawley was responsible for two Curry interceptions, fellow safety Caleb Coleman the other.
Scoring Summary
2nd Quarter
6:17 – D.J. McKinney 1-yd run (Luke Drzewiecki PAT)
Colorado State 0 – New Mexico 7
0:01 – Luke Drzewiecki 45-yd FG
Colorado State 0 – New Mexico 10
3rd Quarter
7:32 – Rocky Beers 3-yd pass from Darius Curry (Isaiah Hankins PAT)
Colorado State 7 – New Mexico 10
0:18 – Isaiah Hankins 30-yd FG
Colorado State 10 – New Mexico 10
4th Quarter
10:32 – Jack Layne 12-yd run (Luke Drzewiecki PAT)
Colorado State 10 – New Mexico 17
8:27 – Luke Drzewiecki 35-yd FG
Colorado State 10 – New Mexico 20
5:09 – Lloyd Avant 41-yd pass from Darius Curry (Isaiah Hankins PAT)
Final: Colorado State 17 – New Mexico 20
Up Next
Colorado State (2-8, 1-5 MWC) stays on the road next week for another tough test against the Boise State Broncos (6-4, 4-2 MWC). The Broncos are coming off of a disappointing loss at conference-leading San Diego State, a game in which star quarterback Maddux Madsen did not play due to an injury suffered two weeks prior in another loss against Fresno State. The Broncos have lost two straight games, and are surely looking for a bounce-back performance against the reeling Rams.
The game is scheduled for Saturday, November 22. Kickoff time and TV affiliate are still to be determined.
New Mexico (7-3, 4-2 MWC) will travel to Colorado Springs, Colorado for a matchup with the Air Force Falcons (3-7, 2-4 MWC). Air Force is coming off of a loss in East Hartford, Connecticut in a rare late-season non-conference matchup against a red-hot UConn Huskies squad. Each of Air Force’s last five losses have been by 10 or fewer points. The Falcons do not get blown out, which is something New Mexico should take into consideration in practice this week.
The game is scheduled for Saturday, November 22, at 5:00 p.m. Mountain Time. Coverage will be provided by CBS Sports Net.
