2013 New Mexico Bowl, Washington State vs. Colorado State: Epic Cougars collapse

Washington State head coach Mike Leach bristled at criticism of his late-game strategy from reporters following the Cougars’ 48-45 loss in the New Mexico Bowl Saturday.

Leach stated the obvious when asked what happened. “Colorado State finished the game. We didn’t. Down the stretch, I thought they were more consistent than we were on offense, they were more disciplined than we were on defense, and they finished the game better than we did.”

Record attendance at Saturday night’s R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl. Local matters in minor bowls, and two local teams, Tulane and UL Lafayette, filled quite a bit of the Superdome. Those on hand saw an intense, dramatic, not very well-played game -- a 24-21 win for the Cajuns of Lafayette, their third straight New Orleans Bowl win -- but the latter doesn’t necessarily matter if you have enough of the former.

Percentage of San Diego State’s drives that finished in Buffalo territory during a 49-24 Aztec win. SDSU went three-and-out once, in the second quarter. Otherwise, the Aztecs’ 13 drives finished on the other side of the 50.

Colorado State athletic director Jack Graham saw the video, and told reporters he would be launching a further investigation of what happened.

After the game, Lupfer issued an apology after the game, through the team’s official Twitter account.

Remember the dancing Ram fan from the NCAA Tournament? Of course you do.

Well, it turns out he also likes football. CSU fans rushed the field following the Rams’ 18-point comeback win in the New Mexico Bowl and dancing Ram fan was among them.

Up eight points with under two minutes left, the Washington State Cougars looked safe to take home the New Mexico Bowl in a shootout win. Two fumbles later, the Cougs lost the game in regulation, gifting the Colorado State Rams a 48-45 victory in dramatic fashion Saturday afternoon. Colorado State scored 18 points in the last 2:52 to secure the win.

Halliday threw his career-best sixth touchdown pass near the start of the final quarter of regulation, pushing the Cougars’ lead to 45-30. Grayson responded with another touchdown pass of his own, and poor clock management from Halliday led to Jeremiah Laufasa fumbling on the next drive, giving the Rams one last chance.

You’ll note CSU assistant strength and conditioning coach Rashad Harris firmly escorting Halliday away from the Rams sideline.

GIF credit: ESPN

Two high-powered offenses are returning from bowl hiatuses to square of in Albuquerque, as the Washington State Cougars will take on the Colorado State Rams.

For Washington State, it’s their first bowl game in 10 years, since the 2003 Holiday Bowl under first-year coach Bill Doba. The Cougars missed the postseason for the rest of Doba’s reign and the entirety of Paul Wulff’s, but here they are under second-year head coach Mike Leach. Washington State runs Leach’s spread attack, and is ranked fourth in the nation in passing offense. They pulled off three dramatic Pac-12 wins to get here (and one not-so dramatic Pac-12 win against Cal) -- defeating a ranked USC team in September before late-season wins over Arizona and Utah clinched their bowl eligibility.

Former Alabama offensive coordinator Jim McElwain has taken Colorado State bowling for the first time since 2008, going 7-6 and finishing third in the Mountain division of the Mountain West. Out of those seven wins, none came against teams that finished with a winning record, but the Rams have a legitimate star in running back Kapri Bibbs. The sophomore led the nation with 28 touchdown runs this season on fewer than 20 carries per game, and has set school records in rushing touchdowns, total touchdowns and points scored.

Carr is one of the very best quarterbacks in the country, passing for 48 touchdowns and nearly 5,000 yards on the season. The Bulldogs started the year 10-0, with notable wins over Rutgers, Boise State and San Diego State before a dramatic Friday night loss to San Jose State. Fresno State still won the conference, defeating Utah State in the conference title game.

It is rare that you’re going to see two elite teams facing off in a pre-Christmas bowl, and the Dec. 21 Gildan New Mexico Bowl will in no way give you elite play. But what you’re looking for early in bowl season is motivation, energy, and interesting back stories. Washington State and Colorado State will probably bring plenty of that to the table.

If this were 2002, of course, a bowl matchup between these two teams would have been second-tier at worst. But since a November ‘02 peak (Wazzu reached as high as third in the AP polls, CSU 16th) and some solid play in 2003, both programs suffered nine seasons that were somewhere between unmemorable and downright cruel.

The Colorado State Rams rallied to qualify for a bowl game this season with a 3-1 run to close out the season, including a 58-13 pasting of Air Force in their season finale as 17-point favorites at home.

They earned a spot in the first bowl game of the year, the Gildan New Mexico Bowl, where they opened as 3.5-point underdogs to the Washington State Cougars on the New Mexico Bowl odds menu.