Say this for the Rams: They’re just good enough to break your heart after dark.
But they’re not good enough yet to beat two teams on the road, let alone one, on a given weekend.
Oregon State needed double overtime to outlast CSU at Reser Stadium in Corvallis, 39-31, a teaser of a future Pac-12 rivalry game for the Rams, who’ll join the league in 2026.
The scoreline, given that CSU (2-3) was an 11-point underdog, will look like a moral victory in the papers and on smartphones and in media guides for years to come.
But the reality is it was a missed opportunity. A missed chance to stun a bigger-name brand/team/program (the Beavers) with all kinds of flaws. A coach-defining, program-salvaging victory that was knocked out of wideout Tory Horton’s hands as he slid into the corner of the end zone.
CSU quarterback Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi was forced to throw a fourth-and-goal fade from his own 11. Why? The Rams’ 13th penalty of the ballgame. Saturday was the Rams’ second tilt this season — along with CU — in which they’ve been flagged 10 or more times.
It was the sixth with double digits over their last 16 contests. It was their 20th of 10 or more flags over their last 29 games, all under coach Jay Norvell.
Perspective: In its previous 29 games, spanning the Mike Bobo and Steve Addazio eras, CSU reached double-digit penalties in a game just four times.
In this tussle, those self-inflicted wounds proved fatal — and dampened a valiant comeback from a 21-10 deficit. The Rams snatched a 24-21 lead with 1:56 left in regulation on Avery Morrow’s 1-yard touchdown plunge off a Wildcat snap. They couldn’t keep it.
By the time the second overtime rolled around, one in which former CU Buffs running back Anthony Hankerson’s 25-yard score proved to be the game-winner, CSU looked gassed.
The Rams’ opening drive started hopefully enough, as the visitors drove to midfield on five plays, two on short throws to Horton and two more on physical runs by Justin Marshall.
On third-and-1 at the 50, BFN took the snap behind center, stumbling as he turned left, somehow flipping a pitch as he fell to Marshall, who found a seam and pounded his way to an 8-yard gain. One problem: BFN’s knee was down before he completed the short pitch, as confirmed by replay, turning a first down at the Beavers 42 into a fourth-and-5 and a punt-and-pin situation.
It paid off. The hosts’ offense looked even more discombobulated than CSU’s, incurring a false start on first down from its own 10 and a hold by former CU lineman Van Wells on second-and-4 from its 16. On second-and-12 at the Oregon State 8, a short pass intended for Jordan Anderson was tipped into the air by Rams linebacker Chase Wilson and high-pointed for a pick by teammate Gabe Kirschke.
Gifted the ball back at the Beavers 12, Marshall picked right back up where he left off, bouncing a first-down carry off left tackle, cutting upfield and rambling for the first score of the afternoon and a 6-0 CSU lead with 10:15 left in the opening stanza.
The Beavers marched their second drive to midfield when the Rams produced another massive takeaway. On first-and-10 from the CSU 47 with 7:45 to go in the first, Beavers tailback Jam Griffin took a zone-read handoff from QB Gevani McCoy only to be surrounded by CSU defenders. One of them, defensive lineman Nuer Gatkuoth, pulled Griffin down while the back’s knee was buckling at a queasy angle on the Reser Stadium turf. The ball popped loose and fellow D-lineman Will Prendergast fell on it at the CSU 49.
The Rams couldn’t take advantage, though, as a third-and-7 pass to Horton managed just 5 yards and Norvell elected to punt from midfield on fourth-and-2.
CSU’s defense wasn’t threatened early by McCoy’s arm, but the Oregon State signal-caller’s legs became a problem. The Rams forced a third-and-6 but McCoy squirted free for a first down. CSU stuffed Hankerson for a 1-yard gain on third-and-2 at the Rams 30. But the Beavers went with the option on fourth-and-1, and McCoy elected to keep, found a seam to his right, and turned on the jets for a 29-yard touchdown. The extra point with 11:04 until halftime knotted the game at 7-7.
The Rams had a golden chance to take a touchdown lead into halftime, but couldn’t get out of their own way. CSU’s offense committed two costly penalties after driving into Oregon State’s red zone that wiped a touchdown off the board. The defense joined the sin bin on the Beavers’ next drive, as two CSU flags gave the hosts the ball at the Rams’ 1-yard line with 11 seconds left in the first half.
The offense continued to rip off big chunks on the ground, but an 11-yard score by Marshall with 7:19 left in the second quarter was nullified by an illegal formation call. A delay-of-game flag turned a second-and-8 play at the Beavers 9 into a second-and-13 at the 14, and CSU wound up settling for a 25-yard field goal and a 10-7 cushion with 5:19 left until the break.
Oregon State was there for the taking. The Beavers can’t throw the ball and can’t defend the run. In other words, they were the kind of opponent where once you go up by two scores early, the fat lady knows to start warming up. CSU never got there. And until they learn to stop being their own worst enemies on the road, they never will.
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