Colorado State’s Hail Mary fail is the most heartbreaking way to lose

Just win the Colorado State Rams thought they beat the Utah State Aggies on a Hail Mary, that catch was waived off because a Rams receiver stepped out.

2018 has not been kind to the Colorado State Rams in the Mountain West. Mike Bobo’s team was already eliminated from bowl eligibility with their 3-7 record entering play on Saturday afternoon. Their mid-November opponent was none other than the No. 23 Utah State Aggies.

Utah State had won an impressive nine games in a row since narrowly falling to the Michigan State Spartans on the road in East Lansing on Labor Day Weekend. The Aggies look to be the favorite to win the Mountain West and have a sliver of hope at getting the Group of 5’s New Year’s Six bowl bid depending on how the UCF Knights season ends.

Though the Rams were only playing for pride, they gave their best effort in this home game in Fort Collins. Down 29-24 with seconds on the clock, quarterback Collin Hill thought he had completed a game-winning 34-yard Hail Mary touchdown pass to wide receiver Preston Williams.

Williams had already had two touchdown receptions in the ball game. Canvas Stadium was erupting with what thought to be a huge upset victory over Utah State. Unfortunately for Bobo, Hill, Williams and the rest of the Rams, Williams stepped out of bounds before coming down with the would-be game-winning grab.

The sideline view possibly shows that Williams did step out of bounds on his own accord, thus making him ineligible to receive the ball on that play. Utah State should be thanking its lucky stars that Williams didn’t know where he was on the field in relation to the sidelines.

This win for the Aggies has them still perfect in conference play and on the cusp of a potential New Year’s Six bowl appearance. As for the Rams, this is nothing but pure heartbreak for the Colorado State program.

In his first three seasons in Fort Collins, Bobo was ultra-consistent. The Rams went 7-6 each year, going 5-3 in Mountain West play and losing their holiday season bowl game. While it was already a lost season for Colorado State standards during the Bobo era, this thrilling win over Utah State would have been huge for the Rams entering next season.

As for Utah State, they’ll stay in the mix as one of the better Group of 5 teams. However, this was about as close to a loss as one could expect. Dropping a game like that would have almost certainly knocked the Aggies out of the College Football Playoff Rankings, to only play for a conference championship and nothing more. You have to feel for the Rams in this one. Pure heartbreak.