About the New Mexico Bowl

Colorado State is participating in the third annual New Mexico Bowl against Fresno State.  This will be the first appearance by both teams in this particular bowl. 

Tickets for the general public  range from $23 to $30 and may be purchased online or by calling (505) 925-5999. 

The bowl will be played at University Stadium which is the home of the New Mexico Lobos.  This stadium opened on Sept. 17, 1960. 

From Colorado State University, it will take travelers around 7 and a half hours to get to the stadium. 

 

The New Mexico Bowl Trophy

CSU Football Season Recap

The Colorado State football team ended their regular season play with a final record of 6 and 6. This was good enough to take them to compete in the New Mexico Bowl on Saturday December 20 against Fresno State. Here is how their season played out:

• Aug. 31: Loss to Colorado University 38-17 in Denver, CO
• Sept. 6: Win over Sacramento State 23-20 in Fort Collins, CO
• Sept. 20: Win over Houston 28-25 in Fort Collins, CO
• Sept. 27: Loss to California 42-7 in Berkeley, CA
• Oct. 4: Win over UNLV 41-28 in Fort Collins, CO
• Oct. 11: Loss to Texas Christian University 13-7 in Fort Collins, CO
• Oct. 18: Loss to Utah 49-16 in Salt Lake City, Utah
• Oct. 25: Win over San Diego State 38-34 in San Diego, CA
• Nov. 1: Loss to Brigham Young University 45-42 in Fort Collins, CO
• Nov. 8: Loss to Air Force 38-17 in Colorado Springs, CO
• Nov. 15: Win over New Mexico 20-6 in Fort Collins, CO
• Nov. 22: Win over Wyoming 31-20 in Laramie, WY.

The Rams ended their regular season play with 1,557 rushing yards and 2,970 passing yards. 

They had 42 kick returns for a total of 912 yards compared to their oppositions’ 42 kick returns for 1,079 yards. 

The Rams made 14 of their 16 total field goal attempts and scored 80 percent of the time in the red-zone.

CSU is Heading to New Mexico Bowl

The CSU football team has accepted the invitation to participate in the New Mexico Bowl.  This is their first bowl since 2005 when they played in Poinsettia Bowl.  Navy took down the Rams in this bowl with a final score of 51-30.  This will be Colorado State’s 12th bowl appearance.  The football program made its first bowl visit in 1949 where they lost a close one (21-20) to  Occidental College during the Raisin Bowl in Fresno, California.

Fum McGraw is a well-known Aggie who played in the 1949 bowl game.

 

In their prior 11 bowls, CSU has won four.  They defeated Oregon in 1990, Missouri in 1997, Louisville in 2000 and North Texas in 2001.   The Rams are hoping to end their bowl losing streak this year as they have lost their previous three bowl appearances. 

Head coach Steve Fairchild has made a huge impression on the program as the team went from a losing record of 3-9 last season to a 6-6 record this year.  No other head coach in CSU history has advanced to a bowl game during his first year of coaching. 

CSU will be matching up against Fresno State who finished off their season with a 7-5 record.   The Bulldogs have put up 4,600 yards offensively so far this season in 789 plays.  Quarterback Tom Brandstater has completed 208 of his 348 pass attempts this season for 2,478 and has thrown 11 interceptions.    Seyi Ajirotutu has caught for 714 yards and five touchdowns this year. 

Anthony Harding has rushed for over 700 yards this season has scored 4 touchdowns, while Ryan Matthews has rushed for 603 yards but has put eight touchdowns on the board for the Bulldogs.  Fresno has scored three touchdowns off of punt returns and one off of a kick return so the Rams’ special teams need to watch out for that.  Kevin Goessling is 15 for 22 in field goals this year adding to a total of 86 points.

Fresno State typically starts off the game slow scoring a few various points in the first half but comes out deadly in the second part of the game.  The Bulldogs have scored nearly 200 total points in second-half play this season compared to 139 in the first half.  Their strongest scoring quarter is typically their third quarter, so the Rams will need to come out of the half with a fierce defense.  CSU needs to be ahead at halftime, and then they will need to play tough defense and consistent offense in the second half if they want to come out of this bowl game victoriously.

These two teams have only played each other 11 times in football.  Colorado State is hoping to finish off with a win like they did the last time these two teams matched up.  That game was played in 2006 and ended with the Rams on top 35-23.

Athletic Director Paul Kowalczyk made the Rams’ bowl announcement today.  The game will be played on December 20 at University Stadium in Albuquerque.  It will also be televised on ESPN at 12:30 MT.

Running Back Rushes His Way into CSU History

After this season, Gartrell Johnson ran his way into the fifth best season by a running back in Colorado State history.  This season Johnson rushed for 1,191 yards.   This six foot, 225 pound senior put away ten touchdowns during play this year.  Johnson averaged 99.2 yards each game. 

On Wednesday, the Mountain West Conference announced that Johnson is a first-team all-conference selection.  The last time a running back for CSU  had been a first-team selection was in 2002 by Cecil Sapp.  Johnson was among individuals like Utah quarterback Brian Johnson and BYU wide receiver Austin Collie. 

All-conference second-team selections included junior wide receiver Rashaun Greer, senior tight end Kory Sperry, junior offensive lineman Shelley Smith and punter Anthony Hartz.

Rams are Bowl Eligible

After defeating the Wyoming Cowboys on Saturday, CSU is now eligible to participate in a bowl.  The Rams took down the Cowboys with a final score of 31 to 20.  Billy Farris threw three touchdown passes to Dion Morton.  Farris finished off the game with 15 completions out of 25 attempts for a total of 235 yards.

Wyoming put points on the board first with a touchdown in the first quarter.  At the beginning of the second quarter, Jason Smith knocked in a 23-yard field goal to make the score seven to three.  The Cowboys scored another touchdown after Farris threw an interception.  With ten seconds left in the first half, Farris threw a 51-yard pass to Dion Morton for another touchdown.  This made the score 14 to ten at the start of the second half. 

The Rams came out strong with another Farris to Morton connection to put the Rams up by three.  Wyoming’s Nick Landess made two more field goals in the final minutes of the third quarter which made the score 20 to 17 to start off the fourth quarter, with Wyoming in the lead.

To start off the fourth quarter, Billy Farris threw a 31-yard pass to Dion Morton which put the Rams back in the lead 24-20.  With a little over two minutes left in the game Gartrell Johnson ran five yards to make the final score of the game 31 to 20. 

This game made the Rams’ record 6 and 6 which gives them eligibility to participate in a bowl this year.  They took down Sacramento State (23-20), Houston (28-25), UNLV (41-28), San Diego State (38-34), New Mexico (20-6) and Wyoming (31-20).

CSU Needs A Win

Colorado State heads to Wyoming today to play the Cowboys in their last game of the regular season.  This also marks the Rams’ last chance to put away a win for bowl eligibility.  If they win, CSU will finish off the season with a record of six and six. 

Wyoming is currently four and seven after a loss last weekend in Las Vegas to UNLV with a final score of 22 to 14.  The Cowboys have gotten most of their yards this season from rushing the ball.  They have nearly 2,000 yards so far this season off of the run.  Their opposition has done the most damage against them with passing yardage. 

The Cowboys play pretty consistently with little scoring during the first quarter and the entire second half.  They tend to put up a lot of points during the second quarter right before the half.   Wyoming has scored 132 points so far this season compared to their oppositions’ 302. 

Kick-off will be today at noon in Laramie, Wyoming.

CSU One Game Closer to Bowl

Colorado State defeated the New Mexico Lobos on Saturday with a final score of 20 to 6.  This puts them at one game away from being bowl-eligible. 

The Rams were the only team to put points up on the board during the first quarter as Jason Smith put away a 25-yard field goal.  With five minutes left in the second quarter the Lobos made their mark with a 36-yard field goal by James Aho to tie up the game at three points each.  At just under two minutes left in the half, Gartrell Johnson ran the ball 12 yards for the first touchdown of the game. 

Colorado State led at halftime with a score of 10-3.  Dion Morton caught a six-yard pass from Billy Farris in the thrid quarter for a touchdown.  At the start of the fourth quarter, Jason Smith put away another field goal, this time for 42 yards.  This made the score 20 to 3 with 14 minutes left to play.  12 plays and 68 yards later, New Mexico’s James Aho fired a 25-yard field goal to make the final score of the game 20 to 6.

The Lobos only had 30 less offensive yards than the Rams, but could not seem to pull their offense together.  Brad Gruner of New Mexico threw for 204 yards.  Rodney Ferguson, the main star athlete on the Lobos, rushed for 88 yards and only lost three yards during the game.

Billy Farris, of CSU, finished off the game completing 16 passes out of his 27 attempts and threw two interceptions.   Gartrell Johnson had a net rushing yards of 127.  This put him over the 1,000 mark for rushing yards which is the first time he has achieved this in his career.  Dion Morton finished the game with 92 yards and a touchdown. 

The Rams will be heading to Wyoming next weekend for their last regular season game.

Rams Last Home Game

Colorado State will be matching up against the New Mexico Lobos for their last home game of the season tomorrow at Hughes Stadium.  The Rams have won three of their five home games so far this season. 

This game marks the end of the season for New Mexico.  They have won four games so far this season including defeating San Diego State with a final score of 70 to 7, who the Rams also defeated.  The Lobos lost to UNLV last weekend 27 to 20. 

New Mexico has nearly 1,000 more rushing yards than they do passing.  They have scored 23 of their touchdowns from running plays as opposed to only four from passing. 

Rodney Ferguson, a tailback, has done the bulk of the offensive work for the team as he has rushed for 1,088 yards so far this season and has scored 13 touchdowns.  The next closest on the team for rushing yardage is Paul Baker with 411 and two touchdowns.  Chris Hernandez has 377 receiving yards this year. 

The Lobos tend to let their opponents score the most points during the first quarter of the game.  New Mexico plays fairly consistently throughout the game.  Their total number of points in the first quarter is 69, 68 in the second quarter, 46 in the third and 64 in the final quarter of the game. 

Rocky Long, the New Mexico coach, said that this game should be a pretty even match, but that the Rams have a little more incentive than they do because Colorado State still has a chance to make it to a bowl game.  He said he is not looking to spoil things for the Rams, but he says if they (New Mexico) play hard then they will win.  This is the first time in eight years that New Mexico is not bowl eligible.

If Colorado State wins their final two games they will be bowl eligible.  Utah, TCU, Brigham Young (BYU) and Air Force are already in. 

Kick-off will be on Saturday at noon.

Keeping Fans Safe

To hear about Positive Impact at Colorado State please click on the audio track pi_audio on the sidebar or click here

The script of the story is written below:

ANGIE PITTMAN:  (soundbite of band playing during tailgating) Positive Impact at Colorado State was founded in 1991, when rowdy fan behavior caused the university to consider ending beer sales at Hughes Stadium.  This program is designed to be a first level intervention with student fans at athletic events in a positive manner to encourage responsible alcohol consumption.

RANDY HAMMOND: In participating in Positive Impact it lessens the burden on authorities by reducing the amount of situations that they have to deal with, and I think it shows that students can be responsible by holding each other accountable.  I mean, one of the main reasons Positive Impact is around is to promote responsible drinking.

ANGIE PITTMAN: That was Randy Hammond the president of the Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity at CSU.  With nearly 22,000 people attending home games, the program likes to have 30 volunteers at each.  The TKE fraternity has volunteered at every home game so far this year.

RANDY HAMMOND: We definitely do it to support the ideals behind Positive Impact.  We think that it’s a great program, and our participation in P. I. counts toward our community service.

(soundbite of band warming up and people talking)

AMY ALLMOND: I know that I really like tailgating because it’s a lot of fun, and the camaraderie with everyone just getting ready for the big game.

ANGIE PITTMAN: As CSU fan Amy Allmond put it, tailgating is supposed to be a fun time spend with friends, and Positive Impact ensures that it stays that way.

Falcons Fly Over Rams

Rashaun Greer

Air Force beat the Rams on Saturday by a dismal final score of 38 to 17.  Colorado State played well the first half of the game but could not get any points on the board during the second half.  They were out-played 17 to nothing in the last part of the game. 

With a little over nine minutes left to play in the first quarter, the Rams were the first to score.  Gartrell Johnson ran the ball in for a seven to nothing start.  About two minutes later, Kyle Lumpkin of the Falcons tied the game up with a four-yard run.  After Colorado State was forced to punt, Air Force’s Asher Clark had a 41-yard run to put the Falcon’s up 14-7 to end the first quarter. 

At the start of the second quarter, Billy Farris threw a four-yard pass to Dion Morton for the Ram’s last touchdown of the game.  13 seconds later Air Force responded with a 74-yard throw from Tim Jefferson to Kyle Halderman to put the Falcons up 21-14.   The Rams added a late field goal from Jason Smith to finish off the half.

The second half of the game belonged to Air Force.  With two touchdowns in the third quarter, including one from a 45-yard run by Asher Clark, and an early field goal in the fourth quarter, the Ram’s could never pull their offense together enough to catch back up. 

Air Force ended the game continuing their trend of running the ball a lot more than passing it, as they had over 100 more yards from rushing than from passing.  However, when they do pass the ball, the Falcons are very consistent as they had six completions off of eight attempts.  This was much better than the Ram’s 19 of 36 and two interceptions. 

Rashaun Greer had a strong game with seven catches totaling 145 yards.  Gartrell Johnson ran for 82 yards and put away one touchdown.  The Rams were three of four in the red zone, and they did a good job under pressure as they were two out of three in fourth-down conversions.  The Falcons just dominated the second half.  Controlling the ball for nearly 12 minutes in the final quarter. 

With the win over Colorado State, the Falcons are now 8 and 2 as they prepare to play BYU next Saturday in Colorado Springs.  Colorado State will play their last home game of the season this Saturday against New Mexico.