ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Darius Curry had Colorado State driving, the Rams’ first lead of the game in reach, when disaster struck.
Facing third-and-9 at the New Mexico 27-yard line with the score knotted at 10 and 12:44 to go, the redshirt freshman quarterback dropped back, set and fired — only to see his pass tipped high in the air at the line of scrimmage and flutter helplessly into safety Austin Brawley’s waiting arms.
Fifty-six yards later, Brawley had the Lobos back in business. And four plays after that, they were in the end zone and on their way to a white-knuckle 20-17 victory over Colorado State at University Stadium.
The Rams (2-8, 1-5 Mountain West) came into the game as 14.5-point underdogs, but stuck to the Lobos (7-3, 4-2) for much of the afternoon thanks to a defense that forced four turnovers. The one problem? CSU turned the ball over four times as well.
The tipped interception was one of two fourth-quarter picks for Curry that led to 10 points for the Lobos and threw cold water on an otherwise encouraging performance in relief of sophomore Jackson Brousseau. The latter was pulled after three straight fruitless drives in the first quarter. Curry then came in and completed 26 of 34 passes for 248 yards, three interceptions and two touchdowns, the first coming after the Rams defense’s third takeaway of the game.
Curry found senior tight end Rocky Beers streaking across the goal line for a 3-yard touchdown on fourth-and-goal to pull the Rams to within 10-7 with 7:32 left in the third quarter. He then led the Rams on a 14-play, 68-yard march on their next drive that ended with a 30-yard Isaiah Hankins field goal to tie the game at 10-all with 18 seconds left in the third.
On New Mexico’s ensuing possession, Owen Long produced the Rams’ fourth takeaway after he recovered a fumble forced by Lemondre Joe at the New Mexico 38-yard line. But six plays later, Brawley picked off Curry’s tipped pass and was off to the races.
Jack Layne gave the Lobos the lead for good with a 12-yard touchdown run, and a 35-yard field goal by Luke Drzewiecki — following Curry’s third pick — proved to be the winning score.
Layne was 13-of-25 passing for 226 yards and added 23 rushing yards on 10 carries. D.J. McKinney led with 52 yards and a touchdown on 17 carries.
The Denver Post contributed to this report.
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