Rams’ Sapp Has Cardinals On the Run
Cecil Sapp and the Colorado State Rams played a great game of keepaway Friday.
The sophomore ran for a career-high 160 yards and a touchdown, and C.W. Hurst kicked three field goals as the No. 23 Rams kept the ball for more than 35 minutes in beating Louisville, 22-17, in the Liberty Bowl.
Louisville (9-3) came in looking for its second 10-victory season and first since 1990 with an offense that averaged 35.3 points and defense that was the nation’s fourth-best against the run.
But Sapp wore down the 22nd-ranked Cardinals, who had allowed only Florida State’s Travis Minor to top 100 yards this season. Sapp said it all went according to plan for the Rams (10-2).
“The offensive coordinator told me he wanted to give me the ball 40 times,” said Sapp, who had a bowl-record 36 carries, topping the 35 attempts by Colorado’s Bob Anderson in 1969 against Alabama.
“I ran 36 times for 160 yards. I could still go out there and play another football game.”
Running the ball was an excellent idea on a day when the temperature dipped into the mid-20s by halftime with the wind chill hovering at zero because of gusts up to 28 mph.
Louisville end Dewayne White said Sapp took advantage of the Rams’ big bodies on the offensive line, popping out whenever he saw light. Teammate Rashad Harris said Colorado State just controlled the game.
“At the end of the game, they just stuffed it down our throats,” Harris said.
The weather didn’t bother Louisville as much as Colorado State’s defense did. The Cardinals, who had scored at least 32 points in their victories this season, outgained the Rams, 397 yards to 315, but they had the ball for only 25 offensive plays in the first half.
The Rams also shut out Louisville in the third quarter, only the second time that’s happened this season.
“They’re a physical group and did a good job running it,” said Louisville Coach John L. Smith, 0-3 in bowl games with the Cardinals. “When it came time to control the game and be physical, they did that. They got after us on the line of scrimmage and made it the type of game they wanted to play, which was more of a physical game, and it worked.”
The Cardinals also had forced more turnovers this season than any other Division I-A team except Florida. But Colorado State recovered three fumbles, one of which it converted into a 16-yard reverse by Frank Rice that gave the Rams a 16-10 lead at halftime.
“We cannot turn the ball over and expect to beat a good football team like they are,” Smith said. “We had to win the turnover battle, and we did not get it done.”
Dave Ragone, Conference USA’s offensive player of the year, pulled the Cardinals to 19-17 early in the fourth quarter with a 14-yard touchdown pass to Deion Branch, who tied a bowl record with 10 receptions. But that would be all the Cardinals would get, and their final drive ended with 3:10 left as John Howell sacked Ragone on fourth and seven.
Ragone was 24 of 37 for 321 yards and two touchdowns. Branch finished with 170 yards receiving.