Explosive plays.
That was the theme for Colorado State football’s offense in their commanding 58-24 victory over Southern Utah. From the beginning of the game, the Rams came out swinging, scoring on the second play of the opening drive to take the lead. They never looked back.
Less than a minute later, they tacked on another touchdown to pull ahead by 14 within the first 99 seconds of game time.
The offense for CSU broke off a number of big plays tonight, including two runs of at least 70-yards by running back Mel Brown, and a 75-yard touchdown run by quarterback Hauss Hejny.
Those big plays certainly helped the Rams come away with a win, but head coach Jim Mora would like to see longer time of possession as well.
“Big plays are great, love big plays,” Mora said. “I also like sustained drives, and I think we could have done a little better job there.”
CSU had an astounding 678 yards of total offense in their victory over SUU, with 295 of those yards coming on the ground. Hejny exhibited his dual-threat ability, rushing for 85 yards and a touchdown to pair with his 325 passing yards and four passing touchdowns.
The explosive plays were coming from a number of different players, as four different players had over 90 yards of offense. Nobody had more scrimmage yards than Mel Brown, however.
“I just feel like I was just able to spark it for me and for all the other running backs in the room,” Brown said.
According to Mora, Brown has been fighting through knee pain in the recent days, but that certainly didn’t show in his stat line.
Late in the second quarter, SUU was able to diminish the Rams lead to a measly three points in spite of their hot start. The game didn’t get any closer than that, however, as CSU rattled off 24 unanswered points to finish off the second half and pull away by a monstrous 27 point lead. Mora thinks that adversity is crucial for the green and gold, even though he might not enjoy watching a big lead slowly melt away from the sideline.
“I don’t like it when it’s happening,” Mora said. “My stomach is in knots, but once we get through it I think it’s fantastic for us, because I think it builds character and mental toughness and confidence.”
While the offense certainly took control of the game, the CSU defense helped keep momentum on their side, coming up with a number of critical red zone stops in the late stages of the game in spite of giving up some big plays in the first half.
Defensive lineman Jack Moran and jack Kenyon Agurs combined for a well-timed third down sack in the fourth quarter to hold SUU to a field goal, which would come to be the only points the Thunderbirds would score in the second half.
“Stopping momentum when teams are able to score in those red zone situations, it really flips the momentum tremendously,” Moran said.
The defense for CSU forced four turnovers, further building off of a turnover-filled game against Wyoming in week one. On the first offensive play of the game for SUU, safety Tre’Shawn Moore punched the ball out of the hands of Mark Bails. This turnover would lead to the Rams second score of the game just two plays later, when Hejny would connect with Terrence Smith Jr. for a 38-yard touchdown.
Two of the four turnovers that the defense forced turned into points for CSU, with an interception by CJ Blocker leading to a booming 51-yard Kali Nguma field goal to close out the first half.
“I think our mentality is just playing with elite effort on every single play,” Moran said. “I think it’s really turned out for us, showing up with those turnovers.”
While the Rams came away with a resounding win, Mora still believes there is much to improve upon ahead of their next matchup, when ranked BYU comes to town on Sept. 19.
“I was not happy with the way they split our defense a couple times for big gainers,” Mora said. “It’s just gonna have to get fixed quick because, you know, BYU’s a really good football team.”
In the weeks to come, Mora would like to see the team get more consistent in a handful of areas, including the rushing attack.
While the Rams broke off a number of big plays on the ground, their run game was relatively inconsistent.
“I’d like to see us run the ball more consistently early in the game,” Mora said. “Get some more five and six yard (runs) rather than two or three.”
Even though the Rams played a Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) team, a 34-point win is a good sign for the rest of the season to come. The defense gave up some explosive plays, but came up big in clutch situations to ensure that the Rams held on to the lead for the entirety of the game. The offense absolutely carved up the SUU defense, putting up the fourth-most total yards in a game, and scoring the second-most points in a half in program history.
The Rams will have a tough challenge ahead of them in week three against BYU, but if tonight’s game is any indication, they may have a chance to upset a ranked team on home turf.
Reach Jack Randels at sports@collegian.com or on social media @RMCollegian.
