Rams Score 25 Unanswered Points To Gain First Victory Of 2018
Colorado State Defense Stands Tall in 34-27 Victory
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After being down 27-9 with seven minutes left in the third quarter, Colorado State went on to score 25 unanswered points to gain their first victory of the year in a 34-27 upset of the Arkansas Razorbacks in Fort Collins on Saturday night. The Rams defense was gashed on the ground but would stand firm in the red zone to give the inconsistent offense time to find its feet and pull off a season saving victory.
“It’s like life man what are you gonna do? You gonna fold up and run or are you gonna fight?” head coach Mike Bobo said on the field after the game as his Rams got their first victory of the season.
Despite being one dimensional, senior quarterback KJ Carta-Samuels was able to find junior wide receiver Preston Williams again and again in key moments to get the Colorado State offense back on track. The Carta-Samuels to Williams connection was key on the game winning drive as the two connected on two passes, one for 25-yards and another for 13-yards, to set up Izzy Matthews one yard run to seal the comeback.
Carta-Samuels would finish with 32/47 for 389-yards, two touchdowns and one interception. Williams came down with 12 receptions for 154-yards and two touchdowns.
The Colorado State defense played its best game of the year despite giving up 299-yards on the ground to Arkansas. They forced two turnovers and held Arkansas to 5 of 15 on third down. Sophomore defensive end Emmanuael Jones had himself a day. He had an interception and the only Rams sack which happened on a key third down with three minutes left in the fourth quarter and two tackles for a loss.
Arkansas were more 2016 than 2018. They lined up and ran the ball down the heart of the Colorado State defense again and again until Colorado State plugged the holes. Junior running back Devwah Whaley rushed for a career high 165-yards on 25 carries and one touchdown. and at one point had as many yards on the ground as Colorado State had in total offense.
“We got a long way to go, we got a lot of things to fix but the fight’s there and that’s one thing that everybody can see,” stated Bobo on the post game radio show.
The fight will continue next week as Colorado State travels to Gainesville to take on another SEC team in the Florida Gators. Kick off is set for 2pm MST and can be seen on the SEC Network.
