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FORT COLLINS, Colo. — Colorado State junior quarterback Bradlee Van Pelt rushed for 106 yards and a touchdown as the 20th-ranked Rams held on to narrowly defeat a gritty University of New Mexico squad, 22-14, on Saturday night at Hughes Stadium in Fort Collins. CSU (10-2, 6-0 MWC) clinched its third Mountain West Conference title, while New Mexico (6-6, 4-2 MWC), which received a 181-yard rushing effort by freshman DonTrell Moore, now must win its season-finale at home versus Wyoming to earn its first bowl berth since 1997.
New Mexico advanced to the CSU 35-yard line with 3:19 remaining in the game, but turned the ball over on downs when Moore was unable to pick up any yardage on a short swing pass on fourth-and-11. CSU was then able to run out the clock as it earned its fifth-straight victory over the Lobos.
UNM dominated play in the second half, outscoring Colorado State 14-3 in the final two quarters. However, the Lobos’ first half mistakes, which included a pair of costly turnovers and a blocked punt, proved to be too much to overcome.
The first quarter belonged to Colorado State. The Rams got on the board first, five minutes into the contest, after forcing New Mexico to punt from its own endzone. Reserve wide receiver David Anderson blocked Tyler Gaus’ punt, causing the ball to trickle out of the back of the endzone for a safety. It was the first time the Lobos had a punt blocked in four years since Air Force accomplished the feat in 1999.
The Rams moved to the UNM 6-yard line on the ensuing series after a 34-yard run by Van Pelt on a draw play. However, the Lobo defense stiffened and limited CSU to a 23-yard field goal by Jeff Babcock for a 5-0 lead.
New Mexico dug itself into a deeper hole on the following series when Moore coughed up the ball, which was recovered by CSU on the Lobo 26-yard line. Six plays later, Van Pelt found the endzone on a 3-yard option run to give Colorado State a 12-0 lead with one minute remaining in the first quarter.
Moore appeared to be leading UNM back as he picked up 48 yards on the Lobos’ second possession of the second quarter. However, following an 18-yard gain up the middle, Moore was stripped of the ball by CSU safety David Vickers before the officials ruled that his forward progress had been stopped. Linebacker Adam Wade recovered the fumble for the Rams and ran 9 yards before pitching the ball back to cornerback Rhett Nelson, who went the remaining 54 yards down the for the touchdown.
Trailing 19-0, New Mexico gave itself a much needed lift when reserve quarterback Justin Millea capped a season-long 17-play, 78-yard drive with a one yard touchdown run. The drive, which ran 7:15 off the clock, was kept alive by a 10-yard pass from Casey Kelly to Dwight Counter on fourth-and-six from the UNM 42-yard line. Kelly then hit Adrian Boyd, who made a phenomenal sideline catch at the CSU 4-yard line to set up Millea’s touchdown, cutting the Ram lead to 19-7 at the half.
After failing to convert a fourth-and-one play on its opening drive of the second half, New Mexico was flawless on a critical fourth-and-one play from the Ram 12-yard line. Moore took a counter pitch on the right sideline and with no CSU defenders in sight, was able to jog into the endzone to cut the lead to 22-14 with 2:47 left in the third quarter.
Moore’s 181 yards on 30 carries broke his own Mountain West Conference freshman record he set with his 166-yard performance at Utah State. He added a career-high five catches for 13 yards, but also had the two costly fumbles. Kelly finished with 121 yards on 19-30 passing and no interceptions, while Boyd had four receptions for 43 yards, despite suffering a painful ankle injury on the first play of the game.
New Mexico limited the Rams to their worst offensive performance of the season, allowing CSU just 252 yards of offense and nine first downs. Colorado State junior running back Cecil Sapp finished with a mere 36 yards on the ground, 82 below his MWC-leading season average.