Victorious once again.
Colorado State football notched their first win since their Sept. 12 matchup against Southern Utah, defeating conference foe San Diego State 56-49. The victory snapped a four-game losing streak in high-scoring fashion, with the CSU offense putting up 549 total yards.
The Rams took the lead with an opening-drive touchdown and survived several counterpunches from SDSU, trailing three separate times in the first half but overcoming the deficits all three times.
CSU looks to turn a cold streak into a hot one as they improve to 3-4 with five games remaining in the season.
Hauss Hejny is on another level
Playing in his first game since Sept. 19 against BYU, Hejny showed no signs of the hamstring injury that sidelined him for three games. While K’Saan Farrar held down the fort in the time Hejny was injured, he demonstrated tonight why he was named the Week 1 starter.
A final line of 333 passing yards and three touchdowns while completing 77% of his passes in a spectacular showing in his return.
Hejny also demonstrated his stellar running ability, rushing for 85 yards on 11 carries, picking up first downs with his legs in numerous critical situations.
Getting Hejny back clearly invigorated a CSU offense that had missed his play-making ability during the time he was sidelined.
Tommy Maher deserves more playing time
Maher was far and away Hejny’s favorite target on the night, finishing with 6 receptions on 7 targets for 108 yards and two touchdowns.
Maher has been relatively quiet to start the season, putting up little production and not seeing the field much. His chemistry with Hejny was on full display, and could further build to a strong finish to the season if offensive coordinator Pryce Tracy continues to provide him with opportunities.
Tonight, Maher also showed off his big play ability when he snagged a 54-yard touchdown pass from Hejny with 10:19 remaining in the second quarter to put CSU up 21-17.
If Tracy rides the hot hand, Maher could be seeing a lot more targets come his way to close out the season.
Defense showing signs of progress
In Kenny McClendon’s second full week as the defensive play caller for CSU, the Rams defense showed signs of improvement in a number of areas.
A pick six from Tre’Shawn Moore with 1:33 left in the first half marked the first interception the Rams grabbed since Sept. 19 against BYU, and D’Mon Brinson added another interception with 8:26 to go in the fourth quarter. The defense was also able to notch its first sack since Oct. 3 against Oregon State.
With the improvements, however, came more of the same.
Tackling issues continued to persist, and the SDSU offense was able to capitalize on a number of chunk plays.
In spite of this, the defense is clearly beginning to take steps in the right direction.
The run game allows the offense to thrive
A quality run game allows the offense to stretch the field, control possession and take deep shots on play-action passes.
A run game that head coach Jim Mora wanted to see become more consistent early in the season has done just that.
Durell Robinson was the lead back in the victory, rushing for 86 yards on 19 carries and two rushing touchdowns. While Robinson was the workhorse, Mel Brown added five carries for 23 yards before leaving the game with an injury.
Hejny showed off his dual-threat ability for the Rams as well, rushing for 85 yards on 11 carries, adding two rushing touchdowns into the mix.
Having a number of playmakers in the backfield who can make noise with their legs has allowed the offensive play calling to morph, becoming more creative as the run game is established and the game goes on. The Rams’ quality run game in their victory opened up the playbook and spread the Aztec defense thin.
The run game will look to remain consistent in the Rams’ next matchup on Oct. 31 against Utah State on the road.
Reach Jack Randels at sports@collegian.com or on social media @jackrandelsmedia.
