Colorado State vs. Minnesota final score: Rams fall short against Golden Gophers

The Colorado State Rams had a chance at the end of the game against the Minnesota Gophers and threw it away. The Rams came up short, 31-24.

Colorado State preformed well considering most gave them no chance coming into this game. The spread at game time was -17 in favor of the Gophers.

Collin Hill started well he led the Rams downfield, but the drive stopped short due to an overthrow by Hill which was intercepted. The Gophers drove down and the field and Mitch Leidner ran it in from 6 yards out.

Colorado State responded by running the ball down the field. On CSU’s second possession they didn’t throw the ball once, they played smash mouth football and ran right at the Gophers. The drive ended with Marvin Kinsey’s second career rushing touchdown.

Minnesota responded as well driving 75 yards and finishing with a Rodney Smith rushing TD.

The highlight of the day came at the expense of freshman QB Collin Hill. Tai’yon Devers delivered a Jadeveon Clowney-esque hit against Hill that led to a fumble and field goal for the Gophers.

CSU ended the half with an interception by Braylin Scott (his third in as many games) and a missed field goal.

In the second half CSU had the momentum slightly switch in their favor. They were able to stop Minnesota on their first drive and then score on their own first drive. Detrich Clark scored his first career Division 1 touchdown by taking a direct snap and running it in from 2 yards.

Minnesota responded right away with a 9 yard touchdown run from the recently returned Shannon Brooks.

CSU responded with a field goal and then Minnesota seemed to put the game out of reach. Rodney Smith ran for 2 yard touchdown that seemed to put the game on ice for the Gophers.

Colorado State didn’t quit. Hill led a scoring drive that at first seemed to stall out. The Rams were forced to punt, but Bobo pulled a play from his hat and the Rams ran a fake punt pass for 29 yards. Hill took over from there and threw a touchdown pass to Michael Gallup (Hill’s favorite target on the day).

The Rams defense stepped up on their next drive too. They held strong and got a sack to get the ball back for their offense.

The Rams had a chance as they were in Minnesota territory with plenty of time left, but Hill threw an incomplete pass on 4th down and the Gophers were able to run the clock out on their next drive.

Overall the Rams played decent. There were some bad things and there were some good things. The defense needs to step up more as Leidner was allowed to complete 80% of his passes and the Gophers ran for 243 yards.

The offense did some things that should be viewed as positives by Rams fans. They were able to move the ball and were in this game until the end.

This game should be viewed as a positive for the Rams. Collin Hill’s poise, especially after that giant hit should show that the Rams have positive things to come in the upcoming games and future seasons.