BOULDER, CO – Colorado Head Coach Mel Tucker says that he doesn’t want his players to feel “relieved” following the 52-31 win over the CSU Rams on Friday night at Mile High, but the team should be satisfied to finally move forward from the seven consecutive losses they suffered to end last season.
Beyond winning the Centennial Cup in his head coaching debut and giving the Buffs their fifth Rocky Mountain Showdown win in a row, Tucker had the chance to see his guys in action. On his team’s first win, Tucker said, “I’ve got a really good idea right now of where we are. On offense, defense, special teams. This is just the starting point, this is just the beginning of what we want to see out of our program.”
The Buffs executed the ideal first drive that ended with a Steven Montez 1-yard touchdown pass to Jalen Harris. Rams QB Colin Hill immediately followed up with a swift two and a half minute drive down the field capitalized by a 39-yard toss to Dante Wright to tie the game at seven. The rest of the first half followed a similar theme as both sides found the endzone than punted and ending with five total lead-changes. A clutch catch in the endzone by Laviska Shenault with just seconds remaining gave Colorado the 24-21 lead to end the half.
Colorado State deserved to feel like they had a chance to steal a win, but after a fumble and loss of possession to start the 2nd half, the Rams could not regain control. Fontenot completed the Buffs drive with a 6-yard touchdown, making it 31-21. After an interception by Hill and a wild snap on the following possession, the sheer number of turnovers decimated their ability to find the endzone. Mikial Onu provided Rams’ Hill with his only two interceptions on the night.
The Colorado running core has been a question mark leading up to the season, but after 243 rushing yards and four touchdowns, it is realistic that they can balance the offensive scheme for Montez moving forward. Sophomore Alex Fontenot was named first-string tailback during training camp, but the window is open for both him and freshman Jaren Mangham. Mangham scored in the first half but Fontenot took over the game the rest of the way.
Fontenot went on to score two more touchdowns to put Colorado up 45-21 with nine minutes left and finished with 3 TDs and 125 rushing yards.
The win is surely a positive note for the Buffs start, but players pulling back on the celebration after the final whistle showed that they need to handle business and put teams away that they are capable of beating. Their next test is fast approaching with the Nebraska Cornhuskers heading to Folsom Field, Saturday, September 7th.
On the upcoming matchup, Tucker said, “I feel the energy and the passion from the fans and our alums and our players about how big this next game is. But you can’t get overwhelmed by the moment or the magnitude of the game because they’re all big.”
Colorado State will look to bounce back on Saturday at home against the Western Illinois Leathernecks.
Written by Paul Fritz
