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The Colorado State Rams improved to 5-2 on the season (3-0 Mountain West) with a thrilling 44-42 win over Nevada (1-6, 1-2 Mountain West) on Saturday night in Fort Collins. The matchup marked the Rams’ first night game on campus since 1966, and the homecoming sell-out crowd of 36,765 was the fourth-largest ever for a CSU home game.
Senior wide receiver Michael Gallup had yet another super-human performance, recording a career-high 263 yards and three touchdowns on 13 catches. His 13 catches tied a career best and his 263 yards fell just two short of the CSU single-game record, set last season by Olabisi Johnson.
Not to be outdone by his superstar wideout, senior quarterback Nick Stevens completed 71.3 percent of his passes (26-of-37) for 384 yards and four touchdowns with no interceptions. Stevens has now eclipsed 300 yards in five games this season and has thrown for multiple touchdowns in all but one. Through three Mountain West games, the signal-caller has passed for 1,028 yards and 11 touchdowns with no interceptions, all while completing 73.3 percent of his passes (66-of-90).
On the ground, senior running back Dalyn Dawkins rushed for a career-best 191 yards and a touchdown on just 17 carries, for an impressive 11.2 yards per carry average. It marks the 12th career 100-yard game for Dawkins—fifth-most by a Ram—and his the third consecutive to open Mountain West play. Junior running back Izzy Matthews scored his fifth rushing touchdown of the season, to crack the school’s top-10 career list (23), while carrying 10 times for 40 yards.
The Rams opened up a quick 14-0 lead, but struggled to stop the Wolf Pack offense after a strong start, and found themselves trailing 42-31 late in the third quarter. Gallup’s third touchdown of the game, coming with 12:08 remaining in the fourth quarter, gave the Rams a 44-42 lead. A CSU defensive unit that gave up a season-high 508 passing yards stood strong when it mattered most, not allowing a point in the fourth quarter and closing the game with a crucial fourth-down stop. Junior linebacker Josh Watson, who tallied a team-high-tying seven tackles, recorded the game-winning pass breakup on Nevada’s fourth-down play.
The CSU offensive line was dominant yet again, allowing just one tackle for loss to a Wolf Pack defense that came into the game averaging 8.3 per game, a figure that ranks sixth in the country. The Rams are allowing 0.29 sacks per game this season and have now gone 22 consecutive quarters without allowing one.
