Colorado State blows lead at home with loss to Vanderbilt

FORT COLLINS — Colorado State and Vanderbilt were among six FBS teams to suffer to lower-level FCS squads successful Week 1, truthful Saturday night’s matchup astatine Canvas Stadium featured 2 schools that aimed to bounce backmost and reconstruct programme respectability.

The Rams would person accomplished that by beating the SEC Commodores, who failed to people a touchdown against East Tennessee State past week. But CSU, which was blown retired by visiting South Dakota State successful Week 1, suffered a mid-game violative illness and Vanderbilt stormed backmost from a two-touchdown shortage to decision the Rams 24-21 earlier an announced assemblage of 27,233.

“I thought we battled. I thought we improved. I thought we played hard but we’re inactive excessively overmuch of a roller-coaster ride. We’ve got to beryllium cleaner,” CSU manager Steve Addazio said.

The winning points came connected a 38-yard tract extremity by Commodores kicker Joseph Bulovas with 19 seconds remaining. The winning thrust was aided by CSU walk interference and targeting penalties.

The Rams, who led 14-0 early, tied it 21-21 connected a fourth-and-goal from Vandy’s 3-yard enactment with 3:07 remaining, with All-American choky extremity Trey McBride hauling successful a walk from backmost Todd Centeio.

“I thought we pressed successful the extremity to triumph that crippled and, of course, connected the past (Vanderbilt) thrust determination is simply a PI telephone and a targeting call,” Addazio said. “I’ll person to look astatine the tape. But we didn’t play good capable successful the 3rd period, the 3rd play truly wounded us. And we didn’t enactment the crippled (away) erstwhile we had a accidental successful the 2nd period. You can’t bash that. You person to larn however to enactment a knockout punch in.”

He added: “When we went into halftime I conscionable said to myself, ‘We had a accidental to enactment this crippled distant and we didn’t bash it.’ I was hoping that wouldn’t travel backmost to haunt us. I truly felt similar it should person been 28-0 astatine the half.”

CSU’s archetypal 5 second-half possessions ended successful an interception and 4 three-and-outs, drives that lasted lone 52 seconds, 1:23, 1:27 and 43 seconds. Vanderbilt, meanwhile, tied it 14-14 aboriginal successful the 3rd 4th by capitalizing connected an interception by Jaylen Mahoney, who stepped successful beforehand of Centeio’s target, Dante Wright.

Vandy backmost Ken Seals went connected to headdress a nine-play, 53-yard thrust with a nine-yard TD walk to Cam Johnson.

After CSU’s ensuing three-and-out, Seals led a 75-yard thrust that led to his 1-yard TD tally for a 21-14 lead.

From the outset, CSU created scoring opportunities successful 4 of its archetypal drives. But the Rams lone produced 14 points due to the fact that kicker Cayden Camper missed 2 tract goals from 39 and 46 yards.

The touchdowns came from tailback David Bailey, who caught a 3-yard TD to unfastened the scoring conscionable 2:03 into the crippled and scored connected a 17 gait tally successful the archetypal infinitesimal of the 2nd quarter.

The Rams scored rapidly connected the game’s archetypal possession. They needed conscionable 5 plays to spell 75 yards, capped by Bailey’s abbreviated reception successful the close flat. The thrust included 21- and 27-yard walk plays from Centeio to McBride.

CSU’s 2nd touchdown came disconnected a Vanderbilt turnover. A fumble by Seals was recovered by antiaircraft extremity Scott Patchen astatine Vandy’s 27-yard line. Three plays later, Bailey broke escaped up the mediate for his 17-yard TD.

“I thought we played arsenic bully arsenic we tin play successful that archetypal 4th (and) I thought we had an accidental successful the archetypal fractional to enactment that crippled away,” Addazio. “We didn’t people capable points astatine halftime. It was wholly a lopsided crippled statistically astatine halftime.”

Vanderbilt chopped its shortage successful the fractional with its archetypal touchdown of the play with 47 seconds remaining successful the 2nd quarter. Seals recovered wide receiver Chris Pierce for a 20-yard TD to headdress a six-play, 58-yard thrust that began aft Camper’s 2nd failed tract goal.