By Jake Levin
Colorado State will play Miami (Ohio) in the Snoop Dogg Arizona Bowl presented by Gin & Juice by Dre and Snoop on December 28 at 2:30 p.m. Mountain Time. The CW will televise the game. CSU GAME NOTES
Colorado State has an 8-4 overall record and tied with UNLV for second place in the Mountain West Conference with a 5-1 record.
The Rams are playing in a bowl game for the first time since the 2017 Gildan New Mexico Bowl. They had their most wins overall and in the Mountain West since 2014. They played in the first Arizona Bowl in 2015 against Nevada, another Mountain West school.
Colorado State will play in its 18th bowl game.
The two schools have played each other twice, and the RedHawks have won both times.
The Rams had an average of 170.6 rushing yards per game this season. They had 92.8 rushing yards per game in 2023. This is the seventh-largest increase by any team in the FBS. A rise of 77.8 rushing yards per game is the largest by any Mountain West team. The Rams had 10 rushing touchdowns last season; they had 19 this season.
Rams center Jacob Gardner was named a third-team All-American by the Associated Press, and he was on the Mountain West football first team. He was the first-ever Colorado State offensive lineman named to the Associated Press All-American team. He has started 57 consecutive games. There were only two centers in the FBS to be graded at better than 90 percent by Pro Football Focus in pass blocking Gardner was one of them. Gardner had the highest overall run and pass ranking by Pro Football Focus this season, at 88.6 percent. He also did not allow a sack this season.
Looking at all games, Avery Morrow is sixth in the Mountain West in rushing. In 12 games, he had 166 attempts for 956 yards and nine touchdowns. He averaged 5.76 yards per rush and 79.67 rushing yards per game.
Morrow was fifth in the Mountain West in yards per rush, fourth in the Mountain West in rush attempts, sixth in total rush yards, and tied for sixth in rushing touchdowns.
Colorado State’s offensive line only allowed 10 sacks and .83 sacks per game for 73 yards this season, which is second in the Mountain West and tied for fourth in the FBS.
Colorado State’s offensive line also had a student athlete on the All-Mountain West Football Second team. Drew Moss was on the second team of All-Mountain West Football.
| Season | Coach | Bowl | Opponent | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1948 | Bob Davis | Raisin Bowl | Occidental | L 20–21 |
| 1990 | Earle Bruce | Freedom Bowl | Oregon | W 32–31 |
| 1994 | Sonny Lubick | Holiday Bowl | Michigan | L 14–24 |
| 1995 | Sonny Lubick | Holiday Bowl | Kansas State | L 21–54 |
| 1997 | Sonny Lubick | Holiday Bowl | Missouri | W 35–24 |
| 1999 | Sonny Lubick | Liberty Bowl | Southern Miss | L 17–23 |
| 2000 | Sonny Lubick | Liberty Bowl | Louisville | W 22–17 |
| 2001 | Sonny Lubick | New Orleans Bowl | North Texas | W 45–20 |
| 2002 | Sonny Lubick | Liberty Bowl | TCU | L 3–17 |
| 2003 | Sonny Lubick | San Francisco Bowl | Boston College | L 21–35 |
| 2005 | Sonny Lubick | Poinsettia Bowl | Navy | L 30–51 |
| 2008 | Steve Fairchild | New Mexico Bowl | Fresno State | W 40–35 |
| 2013 | Jim McElwain | New Mexico Bowl | Washington State | W 48–45 |
| 2014 | Dave Baldwin (interim) | Las Vegas Bowl | Utah | L 10–45 |
| 2015 | Mike Bobo | Arizona Bowl | Nevada | L 23–28 |
| 2016 | Mike Bobo | Famous Idaho Potato Bowl | Idaho | L 50–61 |
| 2017 | Mike Bobo | New Mexico Bowl | Marshall | L 28–31 |
