Sanders awakes offense with career high day

Out gained by 11 yards, and tied at the end of the first quarter

0-0 with an overmatched Weber State team, Rahsaan Sanders decided

to be the one to wake up his teammates.

Sanders ran for a career high 123 yards and one score in the

Rams 31-7 victory on Saturday. It was his third 100-yard game of

his career. His one touchdown came during the first drive of the

second quarter, which saw CSU march 68 yards down the field, thanks

in large part to Sanders.

“The hole just opened up.” Sanders said. “I don’t think that I

got touched. It was real nice.”

Sanders also had a chance to score his second touchdown of the

game during the first drive of the fourth quarter when he broke a

38-yard run, but was caught from behind at the Weber State 32-yard

line.

Former star running back Cecil Sapp, who now resides on the

Denver Broncos’ practice squad after an impressive preseason, was

on hand to witness Sanders get caught from behind.

“I was disappointed,” Sapp said with a laugh. “I told him if

that were me, I would have scored.”

Sanders didn’t have to worry too much about scoring that final

touchdown because by then, thanks to his second quarter

performance, the Rams had the game well in hand. After Sanders

found the end zone, backfield mate Marcus Houston also found the

end zone with an impressive 7-yard run that concluded with Houston

spinning out of a tackle and crawling over a pile of Wildcat

players. The Sanders-Houston duo totaled 213 yards on 36 carries

and two touchdowns while alternating every possession in the

backfield.

“We get to mix it up this way,” Sanders said. “It’s the best

thing for us. The switching keeps both backs fresh.”

Weber State Head Coach Jerry Greybeal seemed to agree.

“Both backs are talented running backs,” Greybeal said. “Both

are obviously able to run the ball well and bring a different

approach to the game.”

With the two-headed monster taking care of the groundwork, the

Ram offense found its groove collecting 494 yards of total offense.

Weber State finished with 212 yards, 131 of those yards coming in

the final three quarters.

“When you have two quality backs, it’s real nice,” said

quarterback Bradlee Van Pelt. “Whenever we struggle it’s nice to

hand off the ball to both of these guys.”

Sanders also finds motivation while watching Houston run.

“It gets me motivated to see Marcus make a nice run,” Sanders

said. “It makes me wish that I was in there running the ball. We

are real happy to see each other run for 100 yards, it’s a great

one-two tandem.”

In the end, Sanders turned out to be the back doing the

motivating on Saturday.