The Colorado St. Rams picked up a 22-17 victory against the Colorado Buffaloes in the 2012 Rocky Mountain Showdown, giving Jim McElwain victory No. 1 as a head coach in his debut. After an uneven first half by both teams, Colorado State came out in the second half to play smart football, scoring 13 points and six unanswered to close things out. The Colorado State defense stifled Jordan Webb and the Colorado offense by consistently beating the offensive line.
Both McElwain and CU coach Jon Embree gambled throughout this game by going for it on fourth down -- it was windy -- but the final fourth-down attempt the Buffaloes tried came up one yard short on a 4th-and-2 play. The ball went into Colorado State's possession and the clock ticked down to zero after that.
Colorado State quarterback Garrett Grayson threw for two touchdowns on 14-of-21 passing. The first went for 20 yards and came with 26 seconds left in the first half. The Rams narrowed the gap to 14-9 at halftime. Midway through the third quarter, Grayson connected with Joe Hansley for a 32-yard touchdown and the 16-14 lead.
Colorado took a 17-14 lead early in the fourth quarter on Will Oliver's 30-yard field goal, but Jared Roberts' 48-yard field goal at 6:39 in the final quarter put the Rams back in the lead. Roberts added some breathing room to the score at 2:56 with a 32-yard field goal. He also had a 47-yard field goal in the first quarter.
Jordan Webb got beat around all by the Colorado State defense, sacked a total of five times. His played through a leg injury and took hard shots to his chest late in the game. He finished the game 23-of-42 for 204 yards and two touchdown passes. His second was to Tyler McCulloch, who made a one-handed grab.
Colorado State running back Chris Nwoke left late in the game following an injury and had 47 yards on 11 carries. Donnell Alexander finished the game with eight carries for 66 yards.
Colorado State (1-0) hosts the defending FCS Playoff champion North Dakota State Bison next week while Colorado (0-1) hosts Sacramento State.
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