All Colorado State had to do was spike … the … damn … ball.
The clock stops after first downs in college football in order to move the chains.
Somehow, Colorado State lost track of this and wound up losing to Utah State, 26-24, on a missed field goal Friday after a Keystone Cops scramble to get its special teams on the field.
All the Rams needed was a field goal. They were in a position to kick the game-winner after Tyler Centeio hit Ty McCullough for a 15-yard gain to the Utah State 24 for a first down with 11 seconds left.
The Rams had moved 61 yards in 44 seconds when their “fast-field goal unit” lost its collective mind.
Head coach Steve Addazio said he told the field-goal unit “No” and wanted Centeio to spike the ball.
The Rams would have had time to run another play before trying the possible game-winning kick.
And then this happened:
Instead of spiking it on first down and stopping the clock, Colorado State rushed their field goal unit onto the field.
With the clock running, they then missed the potential game-winning field goal. Utah State wins the game. pic.twitter.com/vw3sXclgDP
— CBS Sports Network (@CBSSportsNet) October 23, 2021
In the chaos, Colorado State’s Cayden Camper missed the 42-yard attempt as the clock ticked to a final second.
The sounds of the game:
It is truly difficult to express just how BADLY Steve Addazio mismanaged the end of this game https://t.co/0X10JUuOm2
— RedditCFB (@RedditCFB) October 23, 2021
As called on CSU Rams radio: pic.twitter.com/tEwUSM4dtD
— Timothy Burke (@bubbaprog) October 23, 2021
As called on Utah State radio: pic.twitter.com/cTOujP93lL
— Timothy Burke (@bubbaprog) October 23, 2021
Steve Addazio says they wanted to spike the ball, but the "fast field goal" team was ready in case it was short for a 4th down. Said they kind of just rushed on, weren't sent on. "No one sent them in, but they took off on the field."
— Kevin Lytle (@Kevin_Lytle) October 23, 2021
“They weren’t sent, but they went and it created that confusion at the end, which is just a shame,” Addazio said. “We really got set up, it wasn’t like we weren’t set up to kick the field goal. We were set up to kick the field goal, we just didn’t strike it. That’s what happened at the end there. No one sent them in, but they took off on the field.”
Here is Steve Addazio's full comments about the final field goal sequence. Says Colorado State's field goal unit went on the field on their own when there should have been a spike.https://t.co/0OGgz3dTue pic.twitter.com/3TRYiNaSBZ
— Kevin Lytle (@Kevin_Lytle) October 23, 2021
Someone in the Twitterverse remembered another Addazio-coached team’s clock mismanagement gaffe.
The mistake in the Colorado State/Utah State game might not even be Steve Addazio’s worst clock mismanagement of his head coaching career.
Wake Forest at Boston College was just as bad back in 2015 pic.twitter.com/beRzu1POAi
— Ben Cary (@Ben_Cary_) October 23, 2021
