Nov. 17, 2000

By Tim Mimick
The Gazette

FORT COLLINS, Colo. - Defense is supposed to win championships, but this got out of hand. One fumble return for a touchdown would be common. Another return for a touchdown, this time off an interception, would be memorable. However, a third return for a touchdown became the highly unusual path that Colorado State traveled Thursday night to secure a 37-13 victory over Wyoming at Hughes Stadium.

"Turnovers are contagious," said Colorado State cornerback Jason Gallimore, who delivered one of the scores.

The victory gave Colorado State the Mountain West Conference championship. Even if Air Force beats San Diego State on Saturday afternoon, the Falcons can't grab a piece of the title. The Las Vegas Bowl or the Silicon Valley Classic will be the Falcons' destination.

Immediately after the game, Mountain West commissioner Craig Thompson presented the championship trophy to Colorado State coach Sonny Lubick and his team. Liberty Bowl officials also invited the Rams to Memphis, Tenn., for their Dec. 29 game. The few thousand chilled fans remaining in the stands saluted the team, which was defending the title it shared with Utah and Brigham Young in the inaugural Mountain West season of 1999.

"This way there is no dispute," Lubick said. "All the coaches in the conference would agree that we were the best team in the conference."

The opponent in the Liberty Bowl will be the Conference USA champion. First-place Louisville closes its regular season Saturday afternoon at struggling Houston. If Louisville falters, Southern Mississippi is next in line for the CUSA crown. Colorado State lost to Southern Miss in the 1999 Liberty Bowl.

The Rams (9-2, 6-1 Mountain West) can sit and wait now. They rebounded from the 44-40 loss Saturday night at Air Force that kept them from securing their first undefeated league season since 1925.

For the first quarter, Colorado State was in disarray. The offense couldn't do much right and the defense was barely able to halt Wyoming (1-10, 0-7), allowing two field goals.

It all turned on a fumbled reception by Wyoming's Malcom Floyd. The football flew right to Colorado State's Jason Gallimore, who darted 52 yards for a touchdown with 6:48 remaining before halftime.

Less than 2 minutes later, Colorado State linebacker Rick Crowell picked off a Jay Stoner pass and dashed 32 yards for another score. The third defensive touchdown came early in the third quarter when Justin Gallimore, Jason's twin brother, ran 63 yards with an interception off Stoner.

"We were saying on defense, 'Who's going to come up with the big play? Who's going to?'" Jason Gallimore said. "The ball just floated up to me and I got a great block from John Howell."

The defensive flurry by the Rams meant their offense sat on the bench for a long time. In fact, after Colorado State punted with 8:45 remaining in the second quarter, its offense had only three plays for 49 yards over the next 17 minutes.

One of those plays was a 41-yard scoring pass from Matt Newton to running back Cecil Sapp down the left sideline 2 minutes before halftime. It gave Newton, who passed for 205 yards Thursday, the Colorado State career record for touchdown passes with 41.

Sapp's 2-yard touchdown run early in the final quarter ended the scoring.

"In the fourth quarter, I finally started breathing," Lubick said.