Rams ready to end year in Frisco

By winning five of its last seven games, the Colorado State Rams

football team earned its school-record fifth straight bowl trip,

which will occur on New Year’s Eve in San Francisco.

Expect plenty of offensive fireworks on New Year’s Eve, as CSU

and Boston College, two of the nation’s elite scoring teams, battle

it out in the City by the Bay in the second annual Diamond Walnut

San Francisco Bowl.

Now in his 11th season as head coach, Sonny Lubick has led CSU

to eight postseason contests in the past decade. Lubick’s overall

record with the Rams stands at 91-43, and he has guided his team to

10 consecutive winning seasons.

“We’ve had some good practices,” Lubick said. “Its good to see

the guys running around and having fun.”

Rams quarterback Bradlee Van Pelt, the two-time Mountain West

Conference Offensive Player of the Year, is still nursing a broken

hand injury that he suffered in the team’s regular season finale in

Las Vegas against UNLV three weeks ago.

He had surgery to repair the injury, and was on the field for

practice on Thursday, but he did not throw the football.

In 2003, Van Pelt tallied 3,526 total yards of offense and

scored 27 touchdowns to lead the MWC. In his third year behind

center, Van Pelt became just the fourth quarterback in Division I-A

football history to pass for at least 5,000 yards and rush for more

than 2,000 yards during his collegiate career.

Tom O’Brien, Boston College’s head coach, has led the resurgence

of Eagles football since taking charge of the program in 1997.

O’Brien’s record with the Eagles is currently 47-36, and he too has

led Boston College to five straight bowl appearances. In the San

Francisco Bowl, the Eagles will be seeking their 4th consecutive

bowl victory.

“This is a great opportunity for our football team and our

fans,” O’Brien said in a press release. “The timing of the game is

perfect. It’s important for our team, when making the change to the

(Atlantic Coast Conference), that we show the new conference that

our fans will travel and they will support this team.”

Senior running back Derrick Knight is the leader of Boston

College’s high-powered offense. Knight led the Big East Conference

in both rushing with 1,599 yards and in all-purpose yards, gaining

1,826 total yards. He ranked third in the nation in rushing in

2003, and capped off his Boston College career as the school’s

all-time rushing leader with 3,603 yards.

“Boston College is a solid team,” Lubick said. “They are going

to be physical and try to run the ball. They have a very good

running back and are sound all the way around.”

The Eagles lead the Big East in total offense, averaging 407.8

yards per game, with 42 touchdowns this season. The Rams lead the

Mountain West in total offense, averaging 443.2 yards per game, and

is second in the conference in scoring offense, averaging 30 points

per game.

“We’re very excited to select Boston College to face Colorado

State in the second annual Diamond Walnut San Francisco Bowl,” said

Gary Cavalli, executive director of the San Francisco Bowl in a

press release. “We got the match-up we’ve wanted. In CSU

quarterback Bradlee Van Pelt and Boston College running back

Derrick Knight we have two of the best offensive players in college

football. It promises to be an exciting, high-scoring game.”

The game will kick-off at 8:30 p.m. (Mountain Time) and can been

seen on ESPN2. It will be played at Pac Bell Park in San

Francisco.