| |
RECAP
|
BOX SCORE
DENVER (AP) -- After throwing a career-high four touchdown passes
to help his team beat in-state rival Colorado for the second
straight year, Colorado State quarterback Matt Newton allowed
himself a brief moment to gloat.
|  | | Despite 250 passing yards from Bobby Pesavento, the Buffaloes fell to Colorado State for the second straight time. |
"I guess there's a new sheriff in town," Newton said Saturday
after his Rams defeated Colorado 28-24.
The Rams, who shocked then-No. 14 Colorado 41-14 a year ago, did
it again Saturday despite being a four-point underdog.
Newton's 30-yard touchdown pass to tight end Jose Ochoa with
10:31 remaining proved to be the clincher.
Newton said the Buffaloes "were all about revenge, but revenge
only takes you so far. We've always been the `guys up the road.'
We'll probably still have no respect, and they'll think this was a
fluke. But so be it. It's all about wins, and we beat them twice."
In the season opener for both teams, No. 23 Colorado fell behind
14-0 but rallied to take a 24-14 lead early in the third quarter
behind backup quarterback Bobby Pesavento.
Newton subsequently was intercepted twice by cornerback Terrence
Wood, but Newton and Frank Rice hooked up on their second scoring
pass of the game, a 42-yarder with 2:32 left in the period.
After the Buffaloes missed a long field-goal attempt, Colorado
State went 64 yards in eight plays for its fourth touchdown.
Colorado State had only 5 net yards rushing through three
quarters, but Cecil Sapp promptly broke off a 20-yard run and later
added a 5-yarder. On third-and-10 from the Colorado 30, Newton
found a wide-open Ochoa over the middle, and freshman cornerback
Phil Jackson, closing fast, was unable to bring the 255-pound Ochoa
down short of the goal line.
Colorado had three possessions after that but failed to advance
beyond midfield.
Asked if the outcome means his team owns the state, CSU coach
Sonny Lubick said, "I means we beat them two years in a row, and
it means we're damn happy about it. Coach (Gary) Barnett did a hell
of a job with his kids and they played well. They were out for
revenge, they were out for blood. That motivational factor worried
me."
Colorado outgained the Rams 532-392 in total offense, including
121 yards rushing by Cortlen Johnson and 98 by highly recruited
freshman Marcus Houston. But shoddy coverage by the Colorado
secondary proved to be the Buffs' undoing. Newton victimized Buffs
cornerback Nate Wright on three of his TD throws.
"They took advantage of our young guys, our inexperienced guys,
with a veteran quarterback," Barnett said. "We had to go to man
coverage in order to bring pressure. We put our corners on an
island, and they just didn't hold up."
Wide receiver Javon Green expressed the disbelief of many of his
teammates. "I never thought in a million years that CSU would beat
us two straight years," he said.
The Rams scored six minutes into the game when Rice got behind
Wright and hauled in Newton's pass in-stride at the 15 for a
52-yard scoring play.
Colorado's Mark Mariscal was short on a 54-yard field-goal
attempt later in the quarter.
After a short Colorado punt early in the second quarter, Newton
passed 12 yards to Pete Rebstock and then found a wide-open Joey
Cuppari, who had beaten Wright, for a 34-yard scoring play with
14:01 left in the half and a 14-0 lead.
Pesavento, who took over in the second quarter after starter Zac
Colvin bruised his right elbow, led the Buffs on a nine-play,
88-yard scoring drive. Pesavento completed 4-of-4 passes, including
a 26-yarder to Cedric Cormier and an 18-yarder to Scott Nemeth, and
Houston ran 5 yards for a touchdown with 9:41 to go in the half.
Pesavento's 17-yard pass to Roman Hollowell got the Buffs moving
again later in the half, and Pesavento hit Javon Green on a 15-yard
scoring pass with 2:35 left.
Thanks to defensive end Anwawn Jones' sack of Newton, Colorado
took possession again at midfield in the waning seconds.
Pesavento's 28-yard pass to Eric McCready set up Mariscal's 36-yard
field goal as time expired.
The Buffs took the second-half kickoff and marched 75 yards for
another touchdown and a 24-14 lead. Johnson had a pair of 15-yard
runs, and Pesavento sneaked the final yard with 11:55 left in the
period.
Nine minutes later, Rice wrestled an underthrown ball away from
Wright to make it 24-21.
A no-alcohol policy at Mile High Stadium and police presence on
the field at the end of the game -- including six patrolmen on
horseback -- prevented a repeat of the rowdiness that followed last
year's game here.
| |
ALSO SEE
COLLEGE FOOTBALL Scoreboard
Colorado Clubhouse
Colorado State Clubhouse
AUDIO/VIDEO
 CSU's Frank Rice scores on the 52-yard pass from Matt Newton.
avi: 1081 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Colorado's Marcus Houston powers his way into the end zone for his first career score.
avi: 863 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
CSU's Matt Newton finds Joey Cuppari down field for the 33-yard TD strike.
avi: 1072 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
|
