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Colorado State football prevails against Air Force and earns the rivalry victory

Posted on by Vanessa
Colorado State football prevails against Air Force and earns the rivalry victory

AIR FORCE ACADEMY – A trophy is heading back to Fort Collins.

The Colorado State football team won the Ram-Falcon Trophy with a 21-13 victory over Air Force at Falcon Stadium on Saturday night.

The Rams appeared to be in complete control for most of the second half, but were forced to step up late when CSU broke up and brought Air Force back into the game.

The CSU did just enough to defend the victory after holding on for dear life for a long time.

Here are four takeaways from the CSU's second win in a row.

The CSU's terrible rivalry crisis has finally broken

CSU's record in both this series and all rivalries is the stuff of nightmares (and coaching changes).

Jay Norvell was 0-6 in trophy rivalry games against Air Force, Colorado and Wyoming.

The Rams had lost seven straight times to Air Force. CSU hadn't won in the academy since 2002, when many of those Rams weren't even born yet.

CSU's losing streak in rivalry games stretched eight times Saturday and dates back to the Steve Addazio era.

The Rams had lost 20 of the last 21 trophy games, with the only victory coming in 2020 over Wyoming.

CSU hadn't won a rivalry game with fans in the stands since 2015 (the 2020 win over Wyoming was played in an empty Canvas Stadium due to COVID).

Considering how bad this Air Force team was, winning was a must and the Rams did it.

“Explosive” plays a key role for the CSU

CSU's defense has really struggled to make explosive plays this year. The Rams haven't forced many turnovers (six on Saturday) or had sacks (five in this game).

The offense gradually develops more and more explosive plays, but there are never too many of them.

The Rams (4-3, 2-0 Mountain West) had explosives in every phase during this period. Here's a look at some of the key plays in each phase.

Defense:

  • Three sacks, even against the Luftwaffe!
  • Gabe Kirschke forced a fumble (and Buom Jock recovered), leading to CSU's second touchdown.
  • Kirschke had two sacks late in the fourth as the Rams maintained their one-point lead.
  • An interception by Dom Jones secured the win with 2:30 to play.
  • In the second half, Dylan Phelps intercepted a deep ball in the end zone.

On the offensive:

  • Caleb Goodie made a sensational one-handed grab and raced past the defense for an 85-yard touchdown that made it 21-0 in the third quarter.
  • CSU scored first in the first quarter with a well-timed trick play. Running back Kobe Johnson took a pitch and then threw a pass to a wide-open Vince Brown for a 23-yard score.

On special teams:

  • Kirschke blocked a 45-yard Air Force field goal attempt at the end of the first half to keep the Falcons scoreless.

These plays contributed to the Rams' victory.

Lots of worrying moments

A win is the most important thing in this game and CSU did just that.

As mentioned above, there were some good moments to win the game. There was also too much bad.

Make no mistake, this is a very bad Air Force team (1-6, 0-4 Mountain West) and the Rams should have won by a significant margin.

CSU had two fumbles, including Avery Morrow losing one on the Air Force 1 on the first drive of the game when it looked like CSU was going to score early.

The defense allowed Air Force two consecutive big pass plays in the fourth quarter, including a 36-yard score with poor tackling, to keep the Falcons somewhat in the game.

The offense never seemed to find its full rhythm and was inconsistent. When CSU fell by a three-pointer to Air Force's 21-7 score, it made Rams fans more nervous than they should have been about coming late in this game against an overmatched Falcons team.

In fact, CSU allowed Air Force to break through in the passing game, rushing downfield and scoring to make it 21-13 with 5:50 left (after the two-point attempt failed).

CSU's defense, particularly its pass defense, is predictably weak late in games when it has the lead.

With about 2:30 left, CSU got the ball back and had a chance to run it out, but a penalty pushed the Rams back. The Rams mismanaged the clock and left a full 1:43 left on the clock when Air Force got them back at their own 19.

Air Force reached its 43 in the final seconds but was stopped. The Rams held on, but barely.

Winning record in the second half

CSU is now 4-3 overall on the season and 2-0 in Mountain West play.

It's a decent record, but nothing spectacular. Until you take a look at recent history. CSU hasn't posted a winning record in the second half of the season since posting a 5-3 record at the end of October of the 2017 season.

This was followed by three defeats in a row.

Being on the plus side of .500 at the end of October is territory the Rams haven't entered in a while.

There's a big home game against New Mexico on October 26th that will likely be a sellout crowd.

The Lobos have an explosive offense and it won't be easy, but CSU has now put itself in position to play big games late this season.

Keep following sports reporter Kevin Lytle X and Instagram @Kevin_Lytle.

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