FORT COLLINS — The Rams held on for dear life in their get-right, gimmie game on Saturday.
After getting roughed up by rival CU last week, and with the schedule stiffening with Oregon State and conference play in October, CSU picked up a harder-than-it-should’ve-been win over UTEP at Canvas Stadium.
In the 27-17 victory, the Rams’ well-oiled running game paved the way. Avery Morrow led with 21 carries for 156 yards amid a 224-yard rushing day overall. Special teams also had a big play to set up an easy score, which made up for the defense’s dominant first-half performance turning somewhat sour in the second half.
While Canvas Stadium reverted to its typical half-empty form following the record crowd in the Rocky Mountain Showdown, the Rams turned in a much-needed response on the field seven days after their letdown against the Buffs.
It was an ugly triumph, but a triumph nonetheless, even as the uneven performance didn’t allay many overarching concerns about the Rams’ ability to get back to a bowl this season for the first time since 2017.
CSU let winless UTEP hang around for much of the first half and then rally in the second half. But behind Morrow, Justin Marshall (14 carries for 43 yards) and a defensive line that finally flexed its muscle — the Rams held the Miners to just 48 rushing yards and had three sacks, more than their first three games combined — CSU moved to 2-2 entering its bye week.
The Rams took control quickly on the opening possession with a 12-play, 75-yard drive finished off by Morrow’s 2-yard touchdown run to put the home team ahead 7-0 midway through the first quarter.
But as the CSU defense forced punts on UTEP’s first three drives, the Rams offense also lost its mojo.
They were stopped on fourth down twice, punted once, and then midway through the second quarter Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi gave the Miners their first significant momentum swing of the game. While scrambling, the redshirt sophomore QB threw an ill-advised interception to UTEP cornerback AJ Odums.
That set the Miners up at the CSU 27-yard line and led to a 45-yard field goal to cut the score to 7-3 with 6:12 left in the half.
But CSU had a swift response, as less than a minute later, Murrow burst through a hole wide enough to drive a truck through and dashed untouched for a 73-yard touchdown.
In the second half, CSU continued to add on. After stuffing UTEP to begin the third quarter, Dane Olson blocked the Miners’ punt, which the Rams recovered at the visitors’ seven-yard line. Three plays later, CSU converted that special teams highlight into Fowler-Nicolosi’s 5-yard TD pass to Armani Winfield to go ahead 21-3.
Jordan Noyes’ 37-yard field goal on the Rams’ next drive pushed the score to 24-3, a three-touchdown advantage that appeared to put the game well out of reach for the sputtering Miners offense.
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But UTEP finally found the end zone on the next possession, when the Miners went on a seven-play, 75-yard march capped by Cade McConnell’s 28-yard touchdown pass to Kenny Odom. That cut the score to 24-10 with 4:33 left in the third. The substitution of McConnell, who took over for Skyler Locklear at halftime, jump-started the Miners.
Then on the first play of the fourth quarter, after the Rams lost senior safety Jack Howell to injury earlier in the drive, McConnell hit Odom for another TD. This one came on a screen pass that went for 55 yards, making it 24-17 and quieting the Canvas crowd.
UTEP had a chance to tie the game on its next possession, but their drive stalled out on downs at midfield, and CSU took back over.
At the two-minute mark, Fowler-Nicolosi threw a pick-six on a tipped bubble screen, but the Rams averted disaster, as the score was nullified by an offsides call on the Miners. That was the closest UTEP would come to an improbable comeback as two plays later, Noyes hit a 39-yard field goal to give the Rams a two-score cushion with 1:32 left.
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