Colorado State 41, Air Force 21
FORT COLLINS, Colo. -- Kevin McDougal rushed for 200 yards and a touchdown and threw for another as Colorado State ended a two-game losing streak to its arch-rival, beating Air Force 41-21 Thursday night.Matt Newton threw two TD passes to Pete Rebstock and scrambled 4 yards for a third score as the Rams (7-3, 4-2 Mountain West) stayed in contention for both a bowl bid and a share of the Mountain West Conference title.
Colorado State, posting its fourth straight victory, scored three touchdowns in the third quarter to take a 41-6 lead.
Air Force (6-4, 2-4), punchless under starting quarterback Mike Thiessen, got its first touchdown late in the third quarter behind backup Cale Bonds, who engineered an 80-yard drive that ended on Jeremy Laster's 10-yard run.
The hard-running McDougal, raising his conference-leading rushing total to 1,051, set up three touchdowns with runs of 66, 22 and 34 yards.
Late in the first half, he took a pitchout and tossed a 3-yard TD pass to tight end Leon Smith. He burst 2 yards up the middle for a score midway through the third period, triggering the Rams' 21-point outburst in the period.
McDougal's 34-yard run preceded freshman Rahsaan Sanders' 14-yard scoring run with 4:30 left in the period. The Rams then scored again just a minute later after Thiessen fumbled a snap. Newton passed 18 yards to Rebstock for the TD.
The Falcons struck first on Dave Adams' 52-yard field goal in the first quarter, aided by a wind gusting to 70 mph but which gradually subsided.
Colorado State countered with an 80-yard touchdown drive that included Newton's third-down passes of 14 yards to Dallas Davis and 31 yards to Rebstock. Newton scrambled the final 4 yards for a 7-3 lead with 3:46 left in the first quarter.
Thiessen's 36-yard run helped set up Jackson Whiting's 24-yard field goal early in the second period.
Later in the period, Air Force's Scott Gribben punted out of bounds at the Colorado State 3-yard line, but McDougal promptly reversed that poor field position, bolting 66 yards up the middle on the first play. Three plays later, Rebstock made a leaping 23-yard TD reception over cornerback Tony Jones.
The Rams lost backup tight end Cory Woolstenhulme in the first quarter. Woolstenhulme was removed from the field in an ambulance.