• Final score: Colorado State 24, Minnesota 31
• Line: Minnesota +17
• Venue: TCF Bank Stadium

It would have been really cool to knock off a Big 10 opponent in their stadium, but it’s hard to get upset at a loss when you have a true freshman making his first start in a road game. That’s why this game doesn’t rank higher (lower?).

Collin Hill was okay in this game, but Minnesota had a true freshman of their own who almost took Collin Hill’s head off:

Just imagine being Collin Hill. It’s your second start, broadcast all over the country on ESPNU. Then this happens and you know that a video of you getting nearly decapitated will be the lead on SportsCenter for the entire weekend. How do you deal with this when you’re a friggin’ teenager? I’m telling you, the older I get the more respect I have for these college kids. They go out there and put it all on the line so millions of dorks like me can sit on our couches and critique them.

Over the years I’ve gotten a lot softer on my criticism of college kids and way more tough on the coaches. Like this play, whose idea was it to leave a tight end one-on-one with Minnesota’s best pass rusher? 100% the coach’s fault.

The true freshman pass rusher for Minnesota was Tai’yon Devers. The guy had three sacks and three forced fumbles in the first three games of his college career. I’m sure Minnesota fans were stoked. Devers looked like a “can’t miss” prospect, but he did absolutely nothing the rest of his career:

Moving on… Nolan Peralta is one of my favorite Rams ever and this game featured one of my favorite Nolan Peralta plays ever:

LOL. Poor #5, just an innocent bystander, adjusting his chinstrap and then BOOM, sit your ass down! Never fails to crack me up.

Minnesota led the entire game, but the Rams were able to hang around. It wasn’t until the 4th quarter that the Gophers were finally in a position to put the game away. 31-17 with 9 minutes left, Rams are forced to punt. Game over…

IT’S A FAKE! HAYDEN HUNT, THE LEGEND!

A couple plays later:

Gallup touchdown! (Rams picking on poor #5 again.)

Defense forces a Minnesota 3-and-out and CSU gets the ball back with four minutes left, down seven, all three timeouts.

And the Rams took their sweet-ass time on this drive. They started the drive off with some Faton Bauta wildcat plays. Is it really the time and place for that? “What the hell are we doing?” I shouted at my television set. It took CSU two minutes just to get to the 50 yard line!

Rams miss on a 4th and 5 from the 50 with two minutes left, game over. (For real this time. Hayden Hunt can’t save us now.)

You can watch a replay of the game here: