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For the second year in a row the Colorado State Rams looked like they didn’t want to play in their bowl game. Final score for this game Idaho 61-50 Rams.
The Rams put on an embarrassing show against the soon-to-be FCS Idaho Vandals. Allowing close to 600 yards, 9 touchdowns and 61 points. Now you might look at the final score and think that it was a close game, a close game this was not.
The Rams did the most of their scoring after the game was out of reach. Idaho was up 41-7 before the Rams attempted to mount a comeback. The defense didn’t show up and the field conditions were of no help either.
The Rams put up 445 yards passing and 155 yards rushing. Olabisi Johnson had a career day. He caught 7 balls for 265 yards and 2 touchdowns. Michael Gallup continued his scoring streak, catching a TD for the 8th consecutive game. He finished the day with 6 catches, 108 yards, and 3 touchdowns.
The rushing attack for CSU was considered the backbone of the offense. But field conditions combined with poor execution didn’t do the Rams any favors today. While the Rams were able to get a respectable 5.2 yards a carry, Idaho basically shut the running game down.
Idaho had a gameplan and the executed. Matt Linehan had 381 yards passing and 4 touchdowns. He also rushed 7 times for 4 yards and a touchdown. Linehan spread the ball around as eight different receivers had a catch.
Deon Watson had the most receptions with 5 and the most receiving yards with 140, he also had a receiving touchdown. Jacob Sannon had the most TD receptions with 2. Jordan Frysinger made a SportsCenter Top 10 catch for the other touchdown.
Idaho had a punishing running attack that seemed at times like CSU couldn’t stop it. Isaiah Saunders was the workhorse of the night as he 33 rushing attempts for 147 yards and 3 touchdowns. As a whole the Vandals rushed for 225 yards on 51 carries and had 5 touchdowns.
The following is a representation of the field conditions on the blue turf tonight:
But in all seriousness the field conditions were absolutely horrible tonight. Players from both teams were sliding all over the place. Idaho seemed to deal with the conditions better than the Rams did. It’s a surprise more players didn’t get seriously hurt.
The Rams need to take the lessons learned tonight and push forward. They must use this game as fuel to show what happens when you take a team lightly.