CSU Rams close out Mountain West era with loss to Air Force

FORT COLLINS Colorado State bowed out of the Mountain West Conference on Friday with its th loss of the season and the distinction of having the initiative s worst record in almost years The Rams lost to Air Force - at Canvas Stadium surrendering the Ram-Falcon trophy back to the visitors with no clear timeline for when it might make another appearance in Fort Collins The Rams and Falcons aren t scheduled to play again once CSU leaves for the Pac- Conference and the Falcons remain in the Mountain West next year The last time the Rams had a worse record than the - mark they finished with this season was in when the unit went - Disappointing is a nice way of saying it CSU interim head coach Tyson Summers reported Frustrating is too It s been hard Any time you go through things that are hard you re able to find avenues to balance being able to find strengths and continue to grow And I think you re going to see so much maturity out of these kids Summers who had been the Rams interim head coach since Jay Norvell was fired Oct led the club onto the field for the last time CSU has hired Jim Mora to be its next head coach Mora will be introduced Monday at Canvas Stadium First however the Rams needed to go out on a positive note While there were several positive moments against the Falcons the conclusion was the same as it was in nine of the Rams previous games CSU trailed - coming out of halftime but scored on its first possession of the second half to cut Air Force s lead to - Lloyd Avant scored from yards out with left in the third quarter to make it a one-possession match again That would be as close as the Rams would get as the Falcons answered right back on their next drive With left in the third period Josh Johnson scored on a -yard run to push the Air Force lead back to two possessions at - Early in the fourth quarter the Falcons scored again on a -yard pass from Johnson to Bruin Fleischmann to make it - with left CSU did total one more time on a -yard touchdown pass from Jackson Brousseau to Rocky Beers with remaining It was Beers seventh touchdown of the season a single-season initiative record for touchdown receptions by a tight end Colorado State quarterback Jackson Brousseau throws a pass just before being hit against Air Force on Friday at Canvas Stadium in Fort Collins Nathan Wright Loveland Reporter-Herald Once people caught wind that I was in striking distance of a record they were really pushing me forward and rallying in my corner Beers declared When coach Grant Chesnut became the OC and was kind of force-feeding me at a few points of the season I was just trying to do as much as I could for this gang Air Force added one more touchdown on a -yard run by Owen Allen his second of the tournament The Falcons scored twice in the first quarter to take a - lead after the opening period On fourth-and- at their own Johnson completed a -yard touchdown pass to Fleischmann to give the Falcons a - lead Allen then scored on a -yard run to push Air Force s lead to - The Rams scored their first touchdown early in the second quarter to cut the Falcons lead to - Tay Lanier scored on a -yard reception from Brousseau with left in the first half Just before halftime however the Falcons pushed their lead back to Kemper Hodges ran one in from a yard out with seconds remaining to give Air Force a - lead going into the break Although the Rams got within striking distance again in the second half Air Force - was able to hold them off enough eventually ending CSU s Mountain West run with a loss and taking the rivalry trophy back to the base Through the all the adversity the organization went through this season from season-ending injuries to a mid-season coaching change and multiple offensive play callers to athletes leaving the band before Friday s conclusion the players were proud of the way they persevered through it all Obviously nothing really went our way this year CSU linebacker Owen Long announced This is not how we intended the season to go but something that stood out to me was we had a locker room full of guys that never really gave up and came to work every day with the same mindset That s something I m proud of and something I know we are all proud of